Questões de cronologia rousseauísta: o caso do Ensaio sobre a origem das línguas

Abstract: The twentieth century saw an effervescent debate about Rousseau’s Essay on the origin of languages, especially with regard to its genesis, the period in which it was written, and its possible relations with the Discourse on the origin of inequality. The present article reviews the critical literature on the subject and proposes a chronology consonant with this literature. We focus on the themes that perhaps would have guided Rousseau, from the writing of the initial version of the text to its definitive version. Originally part of the musical polemics between Rousseau and Rameau, the Essay was gradually enriched, eventually covering in a unified way the author’s reflections on societies, languages, and musical systems.

摘要：二十世纪学界围绕卢梭《论语言的起源》展开了热烈纷呈的学术论争，尤其聚焦于该作品的创作缘起、成书时段，以及它与《论人类不平等的起源和基础》可能存在的关联。本文梳理了该主题的相关批判性研究文献，并提出一套与该类文献相契合的编年时序。我们聚焦于贯穿卢梭从该文本初稿到最终定稿全程的核心议题。《论语言的起源》最初本是卢梭与拉莫之间音乐论争的组成部分，后经逐步充实拓展，最终以统一的框架整合了作者对社会、语言与音乐体系的思考。