Abstract

In Lectures poetiques, Professor Johnston offers a provocative rereading of Rousseau's major writings by arguing that Rousseau created networks of communication that involve controlling systems based on certain universal principles and elective affinities. Using Louis Marin's model of representation to show how Rousseau's ideals result from processes in which representation manufactures structures that are inseparable from their natural constitution, this study examines the elements in Rousseau's discourse which emphasize the supremacy of the unity of being. It thus brings out poetic qualities on Rousseau's works that trigger recognition in the reader by offering "textual" reflections of the reader's interiority within the context of specific universal qualities.