L’Encyclopédie as a Place of Memory

Abstract

Recognizing the importance of the Encyclopédie, this essay shows its role in the French Culture and the way that it defined itself as a place of memory.
The Encyclopédie provokes a change in the political and social paradigm, altering the world view for the modern man, also having an evident influence on the ideals of the French Revolution.
In a conflict with religious ideals and even with the absolutism established at the time, components that revealed themselves as impediments to freedom, the Encyclopédie appeared, and the guiding elements concerned freedom in the most diverse areas, from the individual, to thought, and to written expression.