The genre of literary scientific dialogue in 18th century France

The subject of the research is the genre of literary scientific dialogue, which revived in the 17th century in France and developed further in the second half of the 18th century. The task is to identify the characteristic features of this genre of fictional literature, which are most brightly manifested in the works of D. Diderot, one of the prominent figures in French culture, a philosopher, prose writer, and playwright who made a significant contribution to the literary enlightenment of French society. It is specified that D. Diderot, as the author of literary scientific dialogues, pursued several goals: the search for like-minded individuals, educating and conveying knowledge to his fellow citizens, and encouraging further scientific inquiries by scholars, philosophers, and metaphysicians. The function of the literary scientific dialogue as a genre was to transform science into a value and a legitimate object of public interest. The research employs a cultural-historical method, allowing for the interpretation of the emergence of the literary scientific dialogue as a result of the cultural-historical conditions of life during the Enlightenment era and tracing the connections of the revived genre with historical tradition. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the complex analysis and determination of the uniqueness of the interaction between scientific dialogue and fictional literature, manifested in the emergence of a new literary genre during the Enlightenment. The main conclusion of the conducted research is the thesis that the literary scientific dialogue has a didactic character, as, by presenting new scientific discoveries of the era, D. Diderot, as the author, seeks to enlighten his fellow citizens through the exposition of his materialistic views on nature and humanity's place within it. This genre did not claim to provide a deep exposition of scientific phenomena and facts compared to specialized scientific literature and became a new means of communication with the interested, literate reader. Among the social reasons for the emergence of the literary scientific dialogue as one of the first artistic forms of popularizing science in the 17th century and its further development in the 18th century, we can mention: the need of the reading audience for new means of acquiring knowledge, the simplification of information transmission through the use of the national, French language, and the diminished role of Latin as the international language of science.

literary scientific dialogue, Denis Diderot, Age of Enlightenment, poetics of dialogue, popularization of science, dialogue of ideas, dialogues of Plato, Diderot's first dialogue, DAlembert's Dream, Continuation of the Conversation