Maternal rituals: Rousseau, Ecocriticism and the Ancient Myth of “The State of Nature”

This paper argues that many methodological approaches that currently dominate in the field of literary studies accept (more or less tacitly) the myth of anthropogenesis established in the works of Jean Jacques Rousseau. The myth is a specific elaboration of the myths on the origins of man as a social creature present in the humanistic tradition. Thus the narration of Rousseau distorts the way the older, especially humanist, literary works are now interpreted. It is also connected with the limited reception of such works within the new currents, which are declaratively non-anthropocentric and anti-essentialist. Not only the humanistic writings, but also their ancient sources, are commonly inscribed with the supposition about the separated status of man and the existence of the strict division between the human and the non-human. The aim of the aforementioned new studies is to challenge such division.
The role of the thought of Rousseau in the modern reception of ancient texts has been acknowledged in the works of Denise Leduc-Fayette and Ralph A. Leigh. However, even the very first interpreters of Rousseau’s ideas pointed to his powerful employment of the plots taken from the ancient authors, especially the stoics. In contrast to the existing research literature, the aim of the paper is not to be an exhaustive comparative analysis of the ideas of Seneca and Rousseau. Such analyses have been largely presented within the existing literature, i.e. in the works of Georges Pire, Raymond Trousson, Lucien Nouis, Mikołaj Olszewski. Instead, the author attempts to identify the specific elements of the ancient antropogenetic myth, which were ignored by the 18th century philosopher in his devastating criticism of humanistic literary culture.
The first section of the paper is devoted to the reconstruction of the plot with Rousseau in mind. It is illustrated with the analyses of the educational treatise Emile. The following sections refer to the ancient texts whose authors in varied ways employed Hesiod’s myth of the origins of humanity. The analyses include not only the commonly addressed Letter XC of Seneca, but also (inter alia) the multiple fragments of the works of Cicero and the Platonian dialogue Protagoras. The author adopted the assumption that only such wider comparative analyses of different versions of the myth disclose its interesting but seriously overlooked elements.
The paper emphasizes the role of common metaphors referring to maternity. They appear functional for expressing the relation between human arts and the social condition of man. It also describes the internal hierarchic relations between various realms of human actions and creations. Rousseau, as well as the ancient authors, recreates the rituals relating to childbirth and nurture. The author argues that all such descriptions have a similar function in the analysed texts. As a specific metaphor they express the ambiguous, ontological status of a human community. They also imply that such a community should not be perceived as a durable social structure but as a constantly recreated experience. At the same time, the analyses provide an interpretation of the widespread humanistic motif of the arts (and later literature) as “bounding the community together”.
In the conclusion of the paper, the ancient metaphors are related to the concepts of modern anthropology, such as the idea of liminality in the works of Victor Turner. The author stresses the necessity to read the old metaphors anew. She claims that they express enthralling but still seriously under-read ideas about human experience, creations and communities.

This paper argues that many methodological approaches that currently dominate in the field of literary studies accept (more or less tacitly) the myth of anthropogenesis established in the works of Jean Jacques Rousseau. The myth is a specific elaboration of the myths on the origins of man as a social creature present in the humanistic tradition. Thus the narration of Rousseau distorts the way the older, especially humanist, literary works are now interpreted. It is also connected with the limited reception of such works within the new currents, which are declaratively non-anthropocentric and anti-essentialist. Not only the humanistic writings, but also their ancient sources, are commonly inscribed with the supposition about the separated status of man and the existence of the strict division between the human and the non-human. The aim of the aforementioned new studies is to challenge such division.
The role of the thought of Rousseau in the modern reception of ancient texts has been acknowledged in the works of Denise Leduc-Fayette and Ralph A. Leigh. However, even the very first interpreters of Rousseau’s ideas pointed to his powerful employment of the plots taken from the ancient authors, especially the stoics. In contrast to the existing research literature, the aim of the paper is not to be an exhaustive comparative analysis of the ideas of Seneca and Rousseau. Such analyses have been largely presented within the existing literature, i.e. in the works of Georges Pire, Raymond Trousson, Lucien Nouis, Mikołaj Olszewski. Instead, the author attempts to identify the specific elements of the ancient antropogenetic myth, which were ignored by the 18th century philosopher in his devastating criticism of humanistic literary culture.
The first section of the paper is devoted to the reconstruction of the plot with Rousseau in mind. It is illustrated with the analyses of the educational treatise Emile. The following sections refer to the ancient texts whose authors in varied ways employed Hesiod’s myth of the origins of humanity. The analyses include not only the commonly addressed Letter XC of Seneca, but also (inter alia) the multiple fragments of the works of Cicero and the Platonian dialogue Protagoras. The author adopted the assumption that only such wider comparative analyses of different versions of the myth disclose its interesting but seriously overlooked elements.
The paper emphasizes the role of common metaphors referring to maternity. They appear functional for expressing the relation between human arts and the social condition of man. It also describes the internal hierarchic relations between various realms of human actions and creations. Rousseau, as well as the ancient authors, recreates the rituals relating to childbirth and nurture. The author argues that all such descriptions have a similar function in the analysed texts. As a specific metaphor they express the ambiguous, ontological status of a human community. They also imply that such a community should not be perceived as a durable social structure but as a constantly recreated experience. At the same time, the analyses provide an interpretation of the widespread humanistic motif of the arts (and later literature) as “bounding the community together”.
In the conclusion of the paper, the ancient metaphors are related to the concepts of modern anthropology, such as the idea of liminality in the works of Victor Turner. The author stresses the necessity to read the old metaphors anew. She claims that they express enthralling but still seriously under-read ideas about human experience, creations and communities.