Histoire Épistémologie Langage (Jul 2023)
Les visages de Janus
Abstract
The article is a free discussion of the book Jacques François (2020) has devoted to Johann Christoph Adelung (1732-1806). After a brief presentation of the book’s chapters, the guiding principles of François’ study are outlined: a refusal to confine the study to Adelung’s lexicographical work and Mithridates, an effort to put them back in their context and an integration of the various commentaries they have inspired. François’s book shows that the project of “popular” Aufklärung can provide a guide for reading in Adelung’s prolific production, but also that this work, heir to the Enlightenment while presenting similarities with the great typologies of the 19th century, does not fit into the established frameworks of “normal science”, which is embodied in this case by comparative grammar. Being located in a gap between two periods, his work thus poses specific difficulties of interpretation. If comparisons with the productions of later periods prove to be heuristically fruitful, they also present intrinsic limits. These various issues are discussed in the paper.
Keywords
