French Literature Reviews - 2026

Agnès Vareille, Saint Augustine and Polyphonic Writing: Classical Citations and the Genesis of Thought in the City of God
Medieval and Renaissance Studies

Using the tools of contemporary linguistics, this work examines the classical citations in the City of God, primarily those of Cicero, Sallust, Varro, and Virgil, and aims to show how they actively contribute to the development of Augustine's thought. Divided into three parts, reflecting Augustine's varying relationships with these texts, the study first focuses on the ways in which citations appear, a concept defined as the “co-presence of two utterances.” The second part examines the polyphony created within the work by these secondary voices, analyzing them in close relation to their immediate and broader receptive contexts. Finally, it becomes clear that this “poetics of alterity,” far from encouraging digression, contributes to the construction of a discourse whose order guarantees its truth, thereby placing it at the very heart of the work's apologetic purpose. Nourished by an internalized and dramatized dialogue, the Augustinian text capitalizes on the ambiguities of these classical writings to conclude, at least in part, on the aporia of pagan philosophy. The study includes an appendix listing the classical citations in the City of God, presented within their context and accompanied by philological annotations.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Part One: Classical Texts in the City of God
Chapter I. Forms and Functions of Classical Borrowings in the City of God
Chapter II. Augustine as Reader

Part Two: The City of God, a Polyphonic Discourse
Chapter III. Augustine in Dialogue with His Contemporaries
Chapter IV. Citation in the City of God: A Poetics of Alterity

Part Three: Classical Texts and the Order of Discourse
Chapter V. Order Put to the Test of Polyphony
Chapter VI. Disputatio de re publica: The Republic in Question in Books II and XIX of the City of God

Conclusion

Appendices

Indices
Bibliography
Augustinian Index
Index of Classical Citations
Index of Concepts

Patristic studies and late antique literature have long engaged with how Christian writers incorporated pagan classical heritage into their theological frameworks. Saint Augustine's integration of classical authors like Cicero, Sallust, Varro, and Virgil represents a central point of intersection between classical antiquity and Christian apologetics. Readers interested in the literary techniques of late antiquity, patristic historiography, or the rhetorical strategies of the early Church Fathers may find this study relevant to their inquiries.

This work examines the classical citations in the City of God, primarily those of Cicero, Sallust, Varro, and Virgil, using the tools of contemporary linguistics. Divided into three parts, the study first focuses on the ways in which citations appear, defined as the co-presence of two utterances. The second part examines the polyphony created within the work by these secondary voices, analyzing them in close relation to their immediate and broader receptive contexts. Finally, the study includes an appendix listing the classical citations in the City of God, presented within their context and accompanied by philological annotations.