Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Philosophy, , Allameh Tabatabaei’ University

2 Philosophy, Faculty of Allameh Tabatabaei’ University, Tahran. Iran.

Abstract

In Confessions, Rousseau is looking for his representation with all its true and natural characteristics. He claims that his true and natural self can only be understood by considering the chain of his feelings, understanding the origin of these feelings and distinguishing between them in terms of being genuine or inauthentic. Rousseau leaves the conclusion about who he is to the readers in order to clear the charge of deception and self-deception. . In addition, Rousseau believes that the only valid reading is for readers to pay attention to the chain of his feelings instead of the chain of events. In this article, by using Ricoeur's analysis of the structure and design of the narrative, the narrative identity and the art of Aristotle's poetry, it is determined that the events in Confessions are configured in the form of discordant harmony and the genre of tragedy. This narrative structure imposes a form of reading on the reader that is different from Rousseau's intended reading. In the sense that based on Ricoeur's analysis of narrative identity, Rousseau's character is formed for the audience of Confessions based on the chain of narrative events and not based on the chain of Rousseau's feelings.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Bertram, Christopher. (Winter 2020 Edition). "Jean Jacques Rousseau", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy  Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2020/entries/rousseau/>.
Cuddon, J. A. (1999). The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. London: Penguin Croup.
DiBattista, Maria. Wittman O, Emily. (2014). The Cambrige Companion to Autobiography (Cambrige Companion to Litreture). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Halliwell, Stephen. (1987). The Poetics of Aristotle translation and commentary. Chapel hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Ferrara, Alessandro. (2016). Rousseau and Critical Theory, Leiden: Brill.
Lam Wing Kwan, Anselm (2019). “Rethinking the source of evil in Rousseau’s Confessions”. In: Grace Eve, Kelly Cristopher. (2019). The Rousseauian Mind. London: Routledge.
Ricœur, Paul. (1984). Time and Narrative. Vol. 1. Translated by Kathleen McLaughlin and David Pellauer. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Ricœur, Paul. (1992). Oneself as Another. translated by Kathleen Blamey. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Rousseau. (1979). Emile, or on Education. translated by Allan Bloom. New York: Basic Books.
Rousseau. (1990). Rousseau Judge of Jean-Jacques: Dialogue. translated by Judith R. Bush, Christopher Kelly and Roger D. Masters. Chicago: Dartmouth College Press.
Taylor, Charles. (2001). SOURCE of the SELF. Massachusetts: Cambridge.
Biblography
Rousseau, Jean Jacques. (2013a). Confessions. Translated by Mahasti Bahraini. Tehran: Nilofar. [In Persian].
-------------------------------. (2013b). Fantasy. Translated by Ahmad Samii. Tehran: Nilofar. [In Persian].*