I “dizionari dei luoghi comuni” o i “prontuari delle frasi fatte” o “dei modi di dire” sono un po’ un genere letterario satirico a sé stante. Potrebbe darsi che l’antesignano sia stato proprio questo, compilato da Gustave Flaubert tra un capolavoro e l’altro, assieme a un suo amico e vicino di campagna, tale Edmond Laporte.

Certamente si tratta di un testo marginale nella produzione dello scrittore (e del suo amico, i cui contributi sono scritti in corsivo e paiono prevalenti su quelli di Flaubert), non è nemmeno troppo esteso e presenta il limite di non far capire quando i “luoghi comuni” siano veramente tali e quando non siano invece arguzie satiriche degli autorii. Comunque, un bello spaccato della vita e della mentalità francesi e borghesi del tardo Ottocento.

Il volumetto è integrato da altri due testi, l’Album della Marchesa, praticamente una serie di ricordi in memoria di un’anonima Marchesa rubati a molti scrittori all’epoca noti e certo non amati da Flaubert, con evidente intento satirico; un arguto lavoro di collage, in sostanza. E il Catalogo delle idee chic, solo due pagine di atteggiamenti e argomenti di moda con cui ben figurare in società.

Un piccolo testo (132 pagine a carattere grosso) utili soprattutto a chi studia l’autore e ne vuole trarre un quadro il più completo possibile.

Flaubert pokes fun at the commonplaces of his time and the conventions of the bourgeoisie and the 'philistines' in this satirical dictionary of clichés. Most terms are specific to French society, especially French 19th century society, and a good deal gets lost in translation, but there are some that still resonate today, even to non-French.

ABSINTHE. Extra-violent poison: one glass and you’re dead.
CHAMPAGNE. The sign of a ceremonial dinner. Pretend to despise it, saying: “It’s really not a wine.” Arouses the enthusiasm of petty folk. Russia drinks more of it than France.
DIPLOMA. Emblem of knowledge. Proves nothing.
EARLY RISER. To be one, a sign of good morals. If one goes to bed at four in the morning and rises at eight, one is lazy; but if one goes to bed at nine in the evening and gets up the next day at five, one is a hardy type.
FEUDALISM. No need to have one single precise notion about it: thunder against.
IDIOTS. Those who differ with you.
KORAN. Book entirely about women, by Mohammed.
LITERATURE. Idle pastime.
MACHIAVELLI. Though you have not read him, consider him a scoundrel.
PEDERASTY. Disease that afflicts all men of a certain age.
POETRY. Entirely useless; out of date.
RESTAURANT. You should order the dishes not usually served at home. When uncertain, look at what others around you are eating.
SELFISHNESS. Complain of other people’s; overlook your own.
WEALTH. Substitute for everything, including reputation.

Flaubert, Gustave. Say he was a genius, but some of his books are more accessible than others. Mention the ending of Madame Bovary.

Idées reçues, dictionnaire des. Praise it as incredibly funny and insightful. Ignore the hundreds of entries that aren't the least bit amusing.

‘To dissect is a form of revenge’
-Gustave Flaubert in a letter to George Sand

Flaubert’s Dictionary of Accepted Ideas is an ironic, witty, and outright humorous satire on the minds and manners of the everyday man, the philistines, as Flaubert would call them, that move within a higher society. Alphabetized within its pages are a wide variety of objects, ideas and people with a clichéd definition highlighting the ‘accepted’ opinions on them and instructions as to how to utilize such ideas to give the appearance of a culture-savvy citizen. For example:
‘BEETHOVEN: Do not pronounce Beathoven. Be sure to gush when one of his works is played.’
As noted on the back cover, much of the ‘devastating humor and irony are often dependent on the phrasing in vernacular French’, making a translation difficult, yet this New Directions edition, with introduction and translation by Jacques Barzun, does a well enough job of getting much of the general ideas, insults and irony across, making this a very funny read.

Barzun’s introduction offers a useful insight into the workings of this short book and Flaubert’s mindset in creating it. As Barzun points out, Flaubert was outspoken in his disgust with ‘philistines’ and considered the social norms of culture to be a direct affront on education and the educated artist. While there are statements made in this book which are at times necessarily true, Barzun asserts that ‘what damns them is the fact that they are the only thing ever said on the subject by the middling sensual man’. Flaubert, spending most of his time around society which was ‘not simply bourgeois and philistine, but invincibly repetitious and provincial’, created this book to denounce these repetitions of such cliched ideas that drove him mad. He stated that these ‘repetitions proved more than signs of dullness, they were philosophic clues from which he inferred the “transformation of the mind under machine capitalist”’(Barzun). This collection of repetitious ideas paints a comical caricature of this society Flaubert detested, yet offers such humorous depictions of the ideas presented that will have the reader laughing out loud at the bawdy satire. While writing this book, Flaubert stated in a letter, ‘After reading the book, one would be afraid to talk, for fear of using one of the phrases in it.’ The comedy is rich and, like a bad American comedy, desiring of quotation, yet quoting it ironically places you on the side of the philistines. If you can find this collection (especially if you speak French and can find it in it’s original form), I highly recommend flipping through it. It is often offensive, occasionally insightful, and always funny. Someone should remake this for the American redneck.

3/5 (while there are some gems, much of this is either lost on a modern/english speaking reader or just rather ordinary and un-funny. Worth reading for the funny though!)

A few gems include:

ARCHIMEDES: On hearing his name, shout “Eureka!”. Or else: ‘Give me a fulcrum and I will move the world.” There is also Archimedes’screw, but you are not expected to know that.

ARTIST: All charlatans. Praise their disintrestedness (old-fashioned). Express surprise that they dress like everyone else (old-fashioned). They earn huge sums and squander them. What artists do cannot be called work.

AUTHORS: One should ‘know a few’. Never mind their names

BUYING AND SELLING: The goal of life.

COFFE: Induces wit. Good only if it comes through Havre. After a big dinner party, it is taken standing up. Take is without sugar – very swank: gives the impression you’ve lived in the east.

EGG: Starting point for a philosophic lecture on the origin of life.

FAVOR: It is doing children a favor to slap them; animals, to beat them; servants, to fire them; criminals, to punish them.

GENTLEMEN: There aren't any left.

IMMORALITY: Distinctly enunciated, this word confers prestige on the user.

MACHIAVELLI: Though you have not read him, consider him a scoundrel.

NEIGHBORS: Try to have them do you favors without it costing you anything.

NOVELS: Corrupt the masses. Less immoral in serial than in volume form. Only historical novels should be allowed, because they teach history. Some novels are written on the point of a scalpel, others the point of a needle.

OPTIMIST: Synonym for imbecile.

PIDGIN: Always talk pidgin to make yourself understood by a foreigner, regardless of nationality. Use also for telegrams.

RELATIVES: Always a nuisance. Keep the poor ones out of sight.

REPUBLICANS: “The republicans are not all scoundrels, but all scoundrels are republicans!”

SELFISHNESS: Complain of other people's; overlook your own.

THINK (To): Painful. Things that compel us to think are generally neglected.

Here is you a bunch of biting and juicy sketches on the denizens in the days of Flaubert. A treat fit for gods :)

Literary sibling : The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary

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Un bouquet d'observations mordantes et savoureuses sur les contemporains de Flaubert ! Ça se déguste sans faim :)

Cousin littéraire : The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary

En comparación al "Diccionario del Diablo" de Ambrose Bierce, este "Diccionario de lugares comunes" de Flaubert es bastante flojo.

Stuff White People Like plus n  Speak your Branesn, but minus two hundred years. This is Flaubert being bitchy about C19th France bourgeoisie/hipsters: the contradictory and petty zeitgeist. I myself have used 'alabaster' to describe a woman, whoops.

Embarrassingly vapid and corny ideas were just as common among people in the late 19th century as they are today.

Célébrité. Les célébrités : s’inquiéter du moindre détail de leur vie privée, afin de pouvoir les dénigrer.
Érection. Ne se dit qu’en parlant des monuments.
Illusions. Affecter d’en avoir beaucoup, se plaindre de ce qu’on les a perdues.
Laconisme. Langue qu’on ne parle plus.
Littérature. Occupation des oisifs.
Melon. Joli sujet de conversation à table. Est-ce un légume ? est-ce un fruit ? — Les Anglais les mangent au dessert, ce qui étonne.
Minuit. Limite du bonheur et des plaisirs honnêtes ; tout ce qu’on fait au-delà est immoral.
Nerveux. Se dit à chaque fois qu’on ne comprend rien à une maladie ; cette explication satisfait l’auditeur.
Œuf. Point de départ pour une dissertation philosophique sur la genèse des êtres.
Paradoxe. Se dit toujours sur le boulevard des Italiens, entre deux bouffées de cigarette.
Romans. Pervertissent les masses. — Sont moins immoraux en feuilletons qu’en volumes. — Seuls les romans historiques peuvent être tolérés parce qu’ils enseignent l’histoire. — Il y a des romans écrits avec la pointe d’un scalpel, d’autres qui reposent sur la pointe d’une aiguille.

grinern

গুস্তাভ ফ্লবার্টের এই অদ্ভুত অভিধানের ভূয়সী প্রশংসা করেছিলেন তারাপদ রায়। সেই থেকে এই বইটি পড়ার ইচ্ছা। আজ পড়েই ফেললাম "Dictionary Of Accepted Ideas"। একই পুস্তক " Dictionary Of Received Ideas" নামেও বাজারে মেলে। বইটির বাংলায় চমৎকার চলনসই নাম দিয়েছেন চিন্ময় গুহ। তাঁর দেওয়া নাম 'আহম্মকের অভিধান'!

এইরূপ কিম্ভূতকিমাকার নাম কেন? ফরাসি ফ্লবার্ট সাহেবের অভিধানে A থেকে Z অবধি সকল বর্ণই আছে। তার মানেও বের করেছেন তিনি। পড়তে গিয়ে ফ্লবার্টের তীক্ষ্ণ পর্যবেক্ষণ শক্তির পরিচয় পেয়েছি। লক্ষ করেছি সমাজের প্রচলিত প্রথা,কানুনের অন্তঃসারশূন্যতাকে ব্যঙ্গ করার ক্ষমতা। ফ্লবার্টের স্বদেশি লা রোশফুকো'র ম্যাক্সিম আর আমাদের হুমায়ুন আজাদের প্রবচন গুচ্ছ'র সাথে সরাসরি মিল হয়তো নেই। অমিল যে খুববেশি তা বোধহয় বলা ঠিক হবেনা। উচ্চমার্গীয় গ্রন্থ এটি তা নয়। কিন্তু প্রথাগত বইপুস্তকের শ্রেণিতে একে ফেলা যায়না। সচারচর এমন উল্টোধারার অভিধানও চোখে পরেনা। তা লিখবার যে রীতির চর্চা আছে এমনও নয়। এসব দিক বিবেচনায় ফ্লবার্টের 'উল্টোপুরাণ' অভিনব। তাতে সন্দেহ নেই। গঁৎবাঁধা জনারার বই তো বেশি বৈ কম পড়া হল না। এবার নাহয় 'আহম্মকের অভিধান'ই পড়লাম। ফ্লবার্ট প্রণীত অভিধানের নমুনা পেশ করছি। বাকি বিবেচনা আপনার -

" AMERICA. Famous examples of injustice: Columbus discovered it and it is named after Amerigo Vespucci. If it weren’t for the discovery of America, we should not be suffering from syphilis and phylloxera.5 Exalt it all the same, expecially if you’ve never been there. Lecture people on self-government. "

" BATTLE. Always “bloody.” There are always two sets of victors: those who won and those who lost."

"CENSORSHIP. “Say what you will, it’s a good thing.”

"CONCERT. Respectable way to kill time."

"CRITIC. Always “eminent.” Supposed to know everything, read everything, see everything. When you dislike him, call him a Zoilus, a eunuch."

"CROCODILE. Imitates the cry of a child to lure men."

"DOG. Specially created to save its master’s life; man’s best friend."

"GIRAFFE. Polite word to avoid calling a woman an old cow."

"IDIOTS. Those who differ with you."

"MEDICINE. When in good health, make fun of it."

Yazar kendine has üslubuyla bir sözlük oluşturmuş, keyifle okudum.

YATAK ODASI (chambre à coucher): Eski bir şatonun yatak odasında Henri IV mutlaka bir gece geçirmiştir.