Conclusion: “Ce fagotage de tant de diverses pieces”/‘This Bundle of So Many Disparate Pieces’

Abstract

At the outset of this study, we cited Theodor Adorno’s principle: “The essay’s object, however, is the new in its newness, not as something than can be translated back into the old existing form” (Adorno 21). We began by linking the essay to the tradition of the short narrative tale, much in vogue at the time when Montaigne initiated his Essais. Newness, either renewing old material or recounting recent events is at the heart of the Renaissance fascination with the nouvelle. And yet, the novelty of Montaigne’s Essais exceeds not only his models but the Renaissance passion for innovation.

II, 37, 758A/574, “De la resemblance des enfans aux peres.” In a recent paper given at the Annual Meeting of the Renaissance Society of America, March 21–24, 2012, Richard Keatley demonstrated how Montaigne’s family illness and his attempts to withstand it is the “site of further production of texts.” He cites “ce fagotage de tant de diverses pieces” as a signifier for the texts emanating from his experience with the disease. My own thoughts on this citation were formed before hearing Keatley’s paper, but he aptly develops the theme of family inheritance—kidney stones—and the writing process.