Jean-Jacques Rousseau écrivain polémique' focuses on the ways in which Rousseau?s career was constructed in a constant engagement with the practice of polemics and refutation in the fields of politics, religion, and philosophy. Known throughout Europe for his highly controversial writings and for the intense polemics to which they gave rise in the realm of public opinion, Jean-Jacques Rousseau became in his lifetime the object of unprecedented public interest and scrutiny. The very public quarrels and controversies that accompanied the publication and reception of his works were instrumental in establishing a new role for the writer, making Rousseau an ideal case study for this major shift in the relationship between writers and a rapidly changing and newly dynamic public sphere.