Micromégas

Écrit par Voltaire

Raconté par Michel Chaigneau

Micromégas constitue, sous ses aspects de fiction fantastique, une plaisante leçon de relativisme. C’est, pour Voltaire, l’occasion de démontrer la sottise de vouloir tirer orgueil de ce que l’on est et l’absurdité d’un sentiment de supériorité que nous revendiquons dans nos opinions et nos croyances. Le narrateur promet de remettre en conclusion à l’Académie un livre où nous verrons, écrit-il, «le bout des choses». Or, en l’ouvrant, on découvre des pages blanches... Il n’y a pas de savoir absolu et définitif nous suggère ainsi Voltaire. C’est au delà des certitudes que commence l’aventure de la réflexion qui fuit l’intolérance et s’ouvre à l’autre.

Texte lu par Michel Chaigneau, metteur en scène et acteur.

• Langue: Français
• Éditeur: VOolume Audio
• Date de sortie: 1 janv. 2010
• ISBN: 9782364060159

Voltaire

Born in Paris in 1694, François-Marie Arouet, who would later go by the nom-de-plume Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment philosopher, poet, historian, and author. Voltaire’s writing was often controversial, and in 1715 he was sent into his first exile in Tulle after a writing a satirical piece about the Duke of Orleans, the Regent of France. It was during this time that he produced his first major work, the play Oedipus. Although allowed to return to Paris a year later, Voltaire’s writing continued to land him in trouble. He was jailed in the Bastille two more times and was exiled from Paris for a good portion of his life. Throughout these troubles, Voltaire continued to write, producing works of poetry, a number of plays, and some historical and political texts. His most famous work is the satirical novel Candide, and many of his plays, including Oedipus and Socrates, are still performed today. Voltaire died in 1778.