“THE CONFESSIONS” BY J.-J. ROUSSEAU: TRADITIONS AND NOVATIONS

Abstract

“The Confessions” by J.-J. Rousseau is analyzed in terms of traditions that were established by his predecessors in the field of self-description such as Augustine of Hippo and Peter Abelard. The article claims that Rousseau fixes the transit of a literature confession from the religious sphere to the laic one. “The Confessions” inherits the main traditions of the literature process of the 18th century (sentimentalism and rococo). However, Rousseau redefines and develops the existing artistic methods. First of all, in the center of the narration there is not a fictitious hero, but an autobiographical hero. The author subverts the aristocratic social pattern and its social conventions. Besides, he asserts a new understanding of the individual value that was determined not by the social standing, but the natural disposition and
continuous self-improvement. It was stated that “The Confessions” is a predecessor of romanticism, psychological autobiography, realistic novel of the 19th century. Rousseau establishes a framework for a modern theoretical understanding of the fictional autobiography as a genre.