From a poet-philosopher to a great author: the evolution of French poetics in the 16th century

In the second half of the 16th century, the Late Medieval notion of poetry as fabula (an allegoric fiction that conceals great truths and serves as the language of philosophy) undergoes a significant transformation. The idea of “poetic theology” no longer refers to the essence of poetry, but to its origins. Following Plato, the art of poetry itself is interpreted as an innate divine gift: this understanding of it is first encountered in T. Sebillet’s “Poetic Art” and is developed in J. Peletier du Mans’ treatise of the same name (1555). As a consequence, the concept of poetry-philosophy, which describes the universe in all its earthly and heavenly manifestations, becomes a prerequisite for the creation of perfect works. The change also affects the issue of patterns that the poet should emulate. In French Renaissance poetic theory, the notion of imitation (crucial for Horace and Aristotle) combined the imitation of nature and the imitation of classical authors, the lists of which had already become a poetic topos since the late Middle Ages. Under the influence of the theories of the Pleiades, the poet is transformed from a wise philosopher and instructor in virtue into a creator of works ideal in terms of form. There is a heightened interest in the figure of the “great author”, the glory of the French nation, whose emergence would signify the achievement of a golden age for national culture. The “great author” as it were takes over all other poets, acting as a symbol of poetry and culture as such. Ronsard became this “great author” for France after the publication of “La Franciade” (1572).