Senancour écocritique : la conception pastorale

Abstract

 The relationship of man with nature is just as much a relationship of man with his nature. This is Étienne Pivert de Senancour’s (1770-1846) fundamental contribution to the studies of nature. He analyses the conversion from the human to the natural by identifying, though in a problematic way, the deviant paths of anthropization. His analysis identifies different elements pointing to a form of misguidance that makes sense, but also counter-sense: the illusion of a destination conceived as an indefinite extension, but also as a distortion and equal devaluation of man and nature. Senancour thus advocates a form of restoration of value, of a use value of nature, and a reassessment of the place and mission of mankind in what could be called a new pastoral conception. 

Keywords: Senancour, nature, pastoral (life), romanticism, ecocriticism.