Take that Baudrillard: The absurdity of narrative and the possibility of meaning in Candide
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published 30/06/2008
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SummaryVoltaire has been said to have been mocking Leibniz’s popular theory that “whatever is, is right,” (Pope, l.294) in Candide. While that is true, it only scratches the surface. The more significant fact is that the language and logic with which Candide satirizes Leibniz mock the very idea that philosophy provides definite answers about the nature of the universe, exemplified perfectly in Pangloss’ response to Candide’s inquiry as to whether or not he can “continue to believe that all was for the best:” “I hold firmly to my original views ... I am a philosopher after all: it would not do for me to recant” (88). Philosophy, instead, is the practice of trying to be right. The hilarity of all philosophic absolutes is pointed out through the marriage of the book’s disproof of optimism via proving its opposite—the worst of all possible worlds—with a destabilized narrative that allows the reader to understand that Candide itself is a narrative with its own tendencies and exaggerations.
Table of Contents
- Leibniz's theory is exhibited as ridiculous and indigestible from the get-go.
- El Dorado offers the concession; it is as perfect as could be.
- Jean Baudrillard and his concept of the 'murder of the real? .
- the reader finds that the disproof of optimism unconvincingly presented.
- Candide at least superficially plays into the idea of the worst of all possible worlds.
- Can Candide's characters escape the need to mythologize?
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