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UTOPIA UNDER SIEGE: THE FIRST PHASE OF RETIF'S REFORMING VISION There is a well-documented tendency to regard Retif, with his array of reforming projects and utopian schemes, as an influential precursor of the uto pian socialists and communists of the nineteenth century. He has also been seen as a repressive social reactionary. The impression left by these widely differing views is one of incoherence and inconsistency in Retifs thought, despite the occasional attempt to perceive some logic of intent. I should like to suggest that the complexities inherent in these contradictory impressions may be understood in the context of Retifs obsessive concern with the notion of patriarchal control, both at the intimate level of the family, and on the broader canvas of society as a whole. I have argued elsewhere that there is, for Retif, an interpenetration of private and public history which encourages him to draw conclusions about social morality on the basis of the experience provided by personal emotional trauma. The present article is an attempt to assess the impact of the theme of patriarchalism on Retif's utopian ideas up to the stage at which their stresses and contradictions can no longer be contained within the bounds
Nottingham French Studies – Edinburgh University Press
Published: Jan 1, 1985
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