Francois Salignac de la Mothe-Fenelon, Archbishop of Cambrai (1651-1715) exerted a considerable influence on the development and spread of the Enlightenment. His most famous work, the Homeric novel Les Aventures de Telemaque, Fils d'Ulysse (1699), composed for the education of his pupil Duc de Bourgogne, was, after the Bible, the most widely read literary work in France throughout the eighteenth century. It was also translated and adapted into many other European languages. And yet oddly enough, the question as to why Fenelon's ideas resonated over such a wide span of space and time...

This volume explores how Jansenism was transmitted into Central European literatures and how it shaped the concept of literature in the region. It investigates how and through which translators, publishers and patrons Jansenist ideas, texts and readings arrived in this area; how, to what extent, in what form and with what transfers these ideas impacted literature. The authors connect research methodologies that have traditionally been used separately from each other. Another objective is to systematize and critically evaluate earlier results while also revealing new sources. The volume puts...