c. 1680–1800
Enlightenment
Reason takes the floor. The philosophical tale, the confession, and the dictionary become weapons of light.
The climate of the age
Salons, journals, and encyclopedias spread a new faith in inquiry. Writers attack superstition and privilege while discovering the costs of pure reason. The novel and the personal confession become laboratories for society and the self.
Enlightenment letters make criticism a central literary act. They bequeath the secular essay, the novel of ideas, and the stubborn hope that writing can change a mind.
- Philosophical tale and argumentative prose
- Satire in the service of reform
- The rise of the public sphere
- Confession as a modern literary mode
Leading authors
Enlightenment
Voltaire
1694–1778
The Enlightenment’s most agile public writer—poet, historian, campaigner. Candide is his portable weapon against metaphysical comfort.
Enlightenment
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
1712–1778
Genevan contrarian who recast politics, education, and the self. His Confessions announce that a life can be literature because it is uniquely felt.
Enlightenment
Samuel Johnson
1709–1784
Lexicographer, moralist, and the great talker of London letters. His prose treats common life as a field for dignity and dread.