Le Siecle de la legerete : emergences d'un paradigme du XVIIIe siecle francais

La France est une nation legere - ce lieu commun antique est abondamment repris tout au long du XVIIIe siecle, temoignant de profonds bouleversements axiologiques, scientifiques et ethiques, dont ce volume collectif cherche a mesurer l'importance et les enjeux, en racontant l'histoire d'un autre siecle des Lumieres : celle d'un siecle de la Legerete. Propre aux representations que le XVIIIe siecle francais construit de lui-meme, tant par rapport aux siecles qui l'ont precede que dans une logique de parallele entre les nations europeennes, la legerete du XVIIIe siecle est un important paradigme de l'historiographie qui s'est constituee sitot apres la Revolution. Les heritiers du XVIIIe siecle ne reconnaissent pas seulement en lui l'age de la raison et du progres, des Lumieres et des droits du citoyen, mais eprouvent aussi tantot du mepris, tantot de la nostalgie pour la pretendue legerete de ses moeurs, la futilite de ses gouts ou la frivolite de ses enfantillages. Entre la bourgeoisie industrieuse du XIXe siecle tirant profit des representations voluptueuses des fetes galantes et l'interet de notre epoque celebrant l'aimable frivolite du siecle de Marie-Antoinette, le XVIIIe siecle en sa legerete n'a jamais cesse de seduire certes, mais aussi de questionner le recit progressiste de la raison et de l'utilite dans la definition des valeurs qui fondent notre communaute. Aussi importe-t-il d'interroger les conceptions et les valeurs qui sont associees a la notion de legerete au XVIIIe siecle, de maniere a mieux comprendre dans quelle mesure elle a pu etre associee a la fois au caractere de la nation francaise en general et au XVIIIe siecle en particulier. --- The age-old cliche that France is a light-hearted nation is echoed repeatedly throughout the eighteenth century and bears witness to the deep axiological, scientific and ethical upheavals which this volume explores. By analysing the importance of, and issues at stake in, these transformations, the articles gathered here tell the story of another age of Enlightenment: the story of an age of lightness. Lightness is at the crux of how the French eighteenth century represents itself both in contrast with previous centuries and through parallels between European nations. The concept of lightness therefore constitutes an essential paradigm of the historiography that developed immediately after the French Revolution. The intellectual heirs of the eighteenth century do not only find in this period an age of reason, progress, Enlightenment and citizens' rights; they also feel, at times, contempt, at other times, nostalgia for the alleged lightness of its mores, the futility of its taste or the frivolity of its childish ways. Between the industrious bourgeoisie of the 19th century exploiting the voluptuous representations of fetes galantes and the fascination of our own 21st century for the delightful frivolity of Marie-Antoinette's era, the 18th century in its lightness has never lost its charm. Yet, crucially, it also challenges the progressive narrative of the history of reason and usefulness in the definition of the very values on which our community is built. It is therefore essential to analyse the concepts and values associated to the notion of lightness in the 18th century. Such an approach yields breakthroughs in understanding why, and to what extent, this idea of lightness has been related to the French national character in general as well as, more particularly, to its 18th century.