Abstract
"Little by little, love asserted itself against the rules of endogamy, against patriarchal authority and that of the Church, and the control exercised by the community. A successful novel like Julie ou la Nouvelle Héloïse (1761) raised the question of the right of the individual to experience their feelings and, therefore, the right to choose the object of their love and to marry according to their wishes. Interiority, freedom, emotions and choice formed a single matrix which would revolutionize matrimonial practices and the vocation of marriage. This notion of "emotional modernity" and "self-ownership" that the sociologist evokes, associating it very closely with the event constituted by the publication of Rousseau's novel, goes hand in hand with an imperceptible evolution of editorial practices: certain forms wear out, new forms appear, according to a "progressive shift", of which the Letters of two lovers living in a small town at the foot of the Alps have, more than other works, the weight and grace to carry the imprint. This system of stylistic conservation and emancipation will guide our reflection on Julie's confession of love to Saint-Preux (I, 4). We will retain two angles of study of the declaration: the epistolary scenography, based on a substantial treatment of allocative modalities.