Els Passeigs de Rousseau: solitud, rememoració i herborització

Abstract

This paper, which aims to study the walks of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), is configured in two parts. On the one hand, we indicate that it is in the last stage of the author's life that one can more explicitly perceive his true Homo Viator. During that period, as can be seen in his autobiographical works, he was subjected to harsh accusations from encyclopaedists, and the act of walking became the most appropriate activity as it allowed him to think and recall the past and, at the same time, soothe his ego, which was sad, hurt and despised by high and enlightened French society. In any event, Rousseau's manner of walking about was a sort of lonely self-exile from the cities and social apparatus and characterized by contact with nature, and well demonstrates his new and main occupation: gathering plants. Lastly, this article attempts to reflect on the educational trend that emerged in the late nineteenth century (pedagogical neo-nomadism) as the author's mobile activity, which could be perceived as a field trip, is a clear precursor of Romantic Pedagogy.