http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
For 200 years, Benjamin Franklin's Passy-era bagatelles have defied traditional attempts at generic categorization. The author circulated these short, often-humorous writings-composed while he served as emissary to France-among his French friends and neighbors. Written primarily in French, the bagatelles not only served as language acquisition exercises, they were social actions meant to ingratiate the author to various audiences. This study challenges traditional classification systems that rely heavily on textual similarities to define bagatelles and focuses on the way Franklin used these jeux d'esprit to achieve specific rhetorical ends. Modern genre and performance theories support the conclusion that by bagatelling, Franklin transformed familiar generic models into social dynamics that he used to win his audiences' admiration, praise, and confidence. Further evidence is offered to show that Franklin performed these rhetorical acts not just while in France but throughout his life. Because earlier efforts by Franklin and similar works by other authors can be cited, the bagatelle no longer should be considered a genre particular to Franklin during his stay in Passy.
Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilm Inc.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 151-152).