Sénancour (English spelling) Étienne Pivert de Sénancour

French novelist. Born into a wealthy family in Paris, his father was a government official during the monarchy. Disliking his father's desire for him to become a clergyman, he fled to Switzerland in 1789. From then on, he spent most of his youth as a solitary wanderer in the beautiful Swiss countryside. He was strongly influenced by Rousseau from an early age, and his innate tendency as a dreamer and love of nature were further strengthened by his life in Switzerland. At the same time, it is impossible to overlook the ideological climate of the 18th century Encyclopedists in which he grew up, which underlies his work. His major works include "Reveries on the fundamental character of mankind" (1798) and "Obermann" (1804). The former expresses his desire to abandon the extremely fragmented social life of modern times and return to the simple, pastoral life of early mankind, proving that he was indeed a direct disciple of Rousseau. The latter is an autobiographical novel, and the confession of a lonely and anxious soul told in the beautiful natural surroundings, together with the description of the so-called "disease of the century", became the forerunner of the Romantic generation of the 1830s. He also wrote the unique "De romantia" (1805). After living a lonely and poor life in Paris in his later years, he died in Saint-Cloud, a suburb of Paris.

[Yamashita Kayoko]

"Love Theory" (translated by Takemura Takeshi, 1949, Kantosha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

フランスの小説家。王政時代の官吏を父としてパリの富裕な家庭に生まれる。父の希望する聖職者の道を嫌って、1789年スイスへ逃れる。以後、青年期の大半をスイスの美しい自然のなかで孤独な放浪者として過ごす。少年時代に早くもルソーの強い影響を受けたが、生来の夢想家の傾向と自然への愛は、スイス生活によっていっそう強められた。同時に、彼の作品の根底には、彼が育った18世紀の百科全書派(アンシクロペデイスト)の思想風土を見逃すことはできない。主要な作品に『人類の根源的性格に関する夢想』（1798）および『オーベルマン』（1804）がある。前者は、近代の極端に細分化された社会生活を捨て、人類初期の単純な牧歌的な生活への回帰を望む考えを述べて、彼がまさにルソーの直系の弟子であることを立証している。後者は自伝的小説であり、美しい自然のなかで語られる孤独と不安の魂の告白は、いわゆる「世紀病」の描写とともに、1830年代のロマン派の世代の先駆となった。ほかに特異な『恋愛論』（1805）がある。晩年の貧困と孤独なパリ生活ののち、パリ近郊サン・クルーに没す。

［山下佳代子］

『竹村猛訳『恋愛論』（1949・酣燈社）』

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