Abstract
This chapter analyses the use by Caveirac, a notorious reactionary who had defended the St. Bartholomewe Day's massacre and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, of language characteristic of the Enlightenment discourse of toleration. It also considers similar usage, including terms like 'droits humains', in official documents of the 1760s dealing with French Protestants, whose religion was still legally banned in France. I argue that this illustrates how, as in every era, a rising or dominant discourse imposes its own terms and vocabulary on even those who oppose its values and seek to react against it.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Voltaire and the 1760s: Essays for John Renwick |
| Editors | NIcholas Cronk |
| Place of Publication | Oxford |
| Publisher | University of Oxford |
| Pages | 123-132 |
| Volume | SVEC 2 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978 0 7294 0949 0 |
| Publication status | Published - 2008 |
Keywords
- Voltaire
- Caveirac
- toleration
- France
- religion
- Enlightenment. 1760s
- dominant discourse
Fingerprint Dive into the research topics of ''Caveirac, Protestants and the presence of Voltairean discourse in late-eighteenth-century France''. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
Cite this
Gargett, G. (2008). 'Caveirac, Protestants and the presence of Voltairean discourse in late-eighteenth-century France'. In NI. Cronk (Ed.), Voltaire and the 1760s: Essays for John Renwick (Vol. SVEC 2, pp. 123-132). Oxford: University of Oxford.