Review
Five-volume treatise by Francois-Auguste-Rene Chateaubriand, published in French as Le Genie du christianisme, ou beautes de la religion chretienne in 1802. It included the novels Atala (1801) and Rene (1805, with a revised edition of Atala). Written shortly after the death of his mother, the work reveals Chateaubriand's own struggle to reconcile rationalism and religion and his eventual return to traditional Christianity. In response to the rationalism of Enlightenment writers, Chateaubriand defends Christianity by stressing its capacity to nurture and stimulate European culture, architecture, art, and literature. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature
