Jean-Jacques: The early life and work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712–1754

The paper presents important new information about the life of Jean Barbeyrac, the famous Huguenot translator of Grotius, Pufendorf, and Cumberland. Based on extensive research in the Secret State Archives (Geheimes Staatsarchiv) and the archive of the French Church (Französicher Dom) in Berlin, it discusses two previously unknown letters of Barbeyrac to court officials, and the role of this interaction in his departure, in 1710, to the University of Lausanne. It also reintroduces a relatively unknown work by Barbeyrac on gambling, the Traité du Jeu (1709), and clarifies the role of various personages in the French Colony of Berlin in the early eighteenth century. The investigation articulates various family relationships of Barbeyrac and follows him to the University of Groningen (in 1717)—a relatively unexplored period of his life—whose archives have recently yielded a comprehensive inventory of his possessions. Also, by analyzing documents dealing with the life of Barbeyrac's brother, Jacques, the paper contributes to our understanding of the early modern pastorate in Brandenburg (Prussia). A prelude to a larger study of Barbeyrac and the Huguenot diaspora in Berlin, it focuses on essential texts, both old and new, which are needed for an adequate understanding of this formative period of the early German Enlightenment and its main figures.     

Educating Émile: Jean-Jacques Rousseau on Cosmopolitanism

Rousseau tries to show that civic patriotism is compatible with genuine moral cosmopolitanism as well as republican cosmopolitanism (the compatibility thesis). I try to clarify these concepts, and distinguish them from other types of cosmopolitanism, such as moral, cultural, economic, and epistemological cosmopolitanisms. Rousseau winds up with a form of rooted cosmopolitanism that tries to strike a balance between republican patriotism and republican as well as thin moral cosmopolitanism, offering a synthesis through education. A careful reading of Émile shows that this is a book about the formation of a moral and cognitive cosmopolitan who avoids the deformations of a commercial society influenced by processes of globalisation.     

The Noble Savage in the Voyage of La Perouse (1785–1788)

The gaucho is an almost mythical character in Argentine Literature, sometimes because of his barbarism and other times as a result of his heroism. In the nineteenth century the gaucho was characterized in very antagonistic ways; the spectrum extends from symbolizing the national backwardness to personifying the country's national identity. Sarmiento describes gauchos in Facundo (1845) as uncivilized and lazy individuals inclined to the savage ways of the caudillos. On the other hand, José Hernández in Martín Fierro (1872) portrays the gaucho as a brave wise man who is worthy of being considered the model citizen for the new nation. Both representations give a glimpse to the lack of objectivity, obscured by the passionate views of the authors in whose works the gaucho is either attacked or mystified. The characterization of the gaucho as a barbarian or national hero are the two more popular and known positions, but they are not the only views. Another nineteenth-century Argentine writer, Juana Manuela Gorriti in Panoramas de la vida (1876) offers a conciliating and intriguing position in her foundational narrative that was conveniently silenced for almost a century. Her approach reflects the complexity of the gaucho, indicating that this individual can be heroic—like the General Güemes and his troop of gauchos who defended the freedom of the incipient country—or uncivilized, like Facundo Quiroga and Juan Manuel de Rosas who did not respect the citizens’ rights. But most importantly, she offers an insight into the gaucho's way of life that subverts the well-known ‘civilization versus barbarism’ discourse, positioning the gaucho and his wife, the paisana, as a crucial link of the economic national wealth. In other words, Gorriti presented this marginalized group as legitimate citizens of the territory who distinctly deserved to maintain their property and freedom, since they contributed to building the motherland.     

The Vertigo Years: Europe, 1900–1914

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