Jean-Charles Darmon is a French

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

born in 1961.

Biography

After entering the ''

École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

'' in 1982, his first teaching post was at

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

(USA). While a fellow of the ''Fondation Thiers'', he completed his thesis titled ''Philosophie épicurienne et littérature au xviie siècle en France : études sur Gassendi, Cyrano de Bergerac, La Fontaine, Saint-Évremond'' (Epicurean philosophy and literature in seventeenth-century France: studies on Gassendi, Cyrano de Bergerac, La Fontaine, Saint-Evremond), concerning the heterodox currents of thought in classical France. He is Professor of French literature at the Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University, Honorary Member of the ''

Institut Universitaire de France The Institut Universitaire de France (IUF, Academic Institute of France), is a service of the French Ministry of Higher Education that distinguishes each year a small number of university professors for their research excellence, as evidenced by t ...

'' (2001-2006) and from 2005 to 2009 he was deputy director of the ''

''. A specialist in connections between

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...

in the

classical age Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

, he is the author of numerous books on Erudite Libertinism and

Epicureanism Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded around 307 BC based upon the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus. Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism. Later its main opponent became Stoicism. Few writings by Epi ...

and the forms of

fable Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular mo ...

and

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

from an interdisciplinary perspective. His editions of La Fontaine and Cyrano de Bergerac, "swordsman scholar and polygraph" seized by a "demon of freedom", are now considered reference works.Pierre Ronzeaud, ''Revue d’Histoire littéraire de la France'', 2002/1, vol. 102, p. 158–159.

Bibliography

* ''Philosophie épicurienne et littérature au xviie siècle en France. Études sur Gassendi, Cyrano, La Fontaine, Saint-Évremond'' (Epicurean philosophy and literature in seventeenth-century France. Studies on Gassendi, Cyrano, La Fontaine, Saint-Evremond), Paris, PUF, « Perspectives littéraires », 1998. * ''Cyrano de Bergerac, Lettres satiriques et amoureuses, précédées de Lettres diverses (édition)'' (Cyrano de Bergerac, satirical and love letters, preceded by various letters (edit)), Paris, Desjonquères, « Dix-septième siècle », 1999. * ''La Fontaine, Fables (édition)'' (La Fontaine, Fables (edit)), Paris, LGF, 2002. * ''Philosophies de la Fable. La Fontaine et la crise du lyrisme'' (Philosophies of Fable. La Fountaine and the crisis of lyricism), Paris, PUF, « Écritures », 2003. * ''Le Songe libertin. Cyrano de Bergerac d’un monde à l’autre'' (The Dream libertine. Cyrano de Bergerac from one world to another), Paris, Klincksieck, « Bibliothèque française et romane », 2004. * ''L’athée, la politique et la mort. Essai suivi d’une édition critique de La Mort d’Agrippine de Cyrano de Bergerac'' (The atheist, politics and death. Test followed by a critical edition of The Death of Agrippina from Cyrano de Bergerac), Fougères, Encre Marine, « La Bibliothèque hédoniste », 2005. * ''Histoire de la France littéraire, tome 2. Classicismes xviie – xviiie siècle'' (Literary history of France, Volume 2. Classicisms seventeenth - eighteenth century), Paris, PUF, « Quadrige », 2006. * ''Le moraliste, la politique et l’histoire. De La Rochefoucauld à Derrida'' (The moralist, politics and history. From De La Rochefoucauld to Derrida), Desjonquères, « L’Esprit des lettres », 2007. * ''Variations épicuriennes : une philosophie et ses marges, entre science, morale et politique. Études sur Montaigne, Gassendi, Cyrano de Bergerac, Bernier, Saint-Evremond'' (Epicurean variations: a philosophy and margins between science, ethics and politics. Studies of Montaigne, Gassendi, Cyrano de Bergerac, Bernier, Saint-Evremond), Paris, Honoré Champion, « Lumière classique », 2008. * ''Pensée morale et genres littéraires'' (Moral thought and literary genres), with Philippe Desan, Paris, PUF, 2009. * ''Philosophie du divertissement. Le jardin imparfait des Modernes'' (Philosophy entertainment. Modern garden imperfect), Paris, Desjonquères, « Le bon sens », 2009. * ''« Philosophies de la Fable. Poésie et pensée dans l’œuvre de La Fontaine »'' ("Philosophies of Fable. Poetry and thought in the work of La Fontaine "), Paris, Éditions Hermann, coll. « Savoir Lettres », 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darmon, Jean-Charles French literary critics 1961 births École Normale Supérieure alumni Academic staff of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University Living people French male non-fiction writers