Zadig
Zadig or Fate ( Zadig ou la destinée - Histoire orientale , first Memnon - Histoire orientale ) is a philosophical tale by Voltaire from 1747.
background
Zadig , one of the so-called “little novels”, tells in the style of a thousand and one nights the checkered adventures of a young, virtuous Babylonian, whom divine providence - which finally reveals itself to him as a winged cherub - leads to a glorious, happy ending. The satirical depiction exposes religious fanaticism and the abuse of power in French society in the 18th century and raises the question of happiness and justice.
The fairy-tale Zadig or Fate was followed twelve years later, in 1759, as the literary counterpart Candide or Optimism , another short novel that - also in the guise of a travel adventure - represents a biting reckoning with Leibniz's " pre-established harmony ".
literature
- Jeanne Charpentier, Carmen Tercero: Micromégas . Zadig. Series of Balises' oeuvres. Fernand Nathan, Paris 1995 a. ö. ISBN 209180777X (interpretation, literary environment, etc., a reading aid )