An interdisciplinary conversation between Silke Segler-Messner and Ralph Kaufmann, moderated by Franziska Kutzick.
In the 17th century, the Port Royal des Champs monastery became not only a space of resonance for Jansenism but also for critical engagement with a Christian lifestyle characterized by renunciation and self-denial, setting itself apart from centralist cultural and social policies. This colloquium explores this “other place” from literary and philosophical perspectives in two complementary lectures.
Perspective I: The Literary Retreat In La Princesse de Clèves, Madame de Lafayette questions the viability of a Jansenist way of life within court society. The author paints a highly critical picture of life at court; one characterized above all by intrigue and deception. The protagonist recognizes the fleeting nature of male desire and critically reflects on her own role. Her monastic retreat (Retraite) at the end of the novel, reminiscent of the life of the Solitaires at Port-Royal, becomes a sovereign act of female self-assertion against the illusion of court life.
Perspective II: Architecture of Empty Resonance Blaise Pascal deconstructs courtly divertissement and reconstructs it in accordance with his trois ordres. This deconstruction and reconstruction of a fulfilled void must be understood in physical, mathematical, and philosophical terms in Pascal’s work. Against the chaos of chance, he sets stochastics, the wager Le Pari, and the “automaton.” These elements stand in direct relation to Port-Royal and its concrete, symbolic, and catalytic effect.
Venue
University of Hamburg
Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1 / Emil-Artin-Hörsaal (ESA M)