L'Ingénu is a satirical novella

Novella

A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...

 by the French writer Voltaire

Voltaire

François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...

, published in 1767

1767 in literature

See also: 1766 in literature, other events of 1767, 1768 in literature, list of years in literature.-Events:* The tax on tea and paper is imposed on the American colonies, leading to the Boston Tea Party.* New Testament translated into Manx....

. It tells the story of a Huron man transported to Paris in 1690. The story satirizes religious doctrine, government corruption, and the folly and injustices of French society.

L'Ingénu is a mix of genres; it shares characteristics with the conte philosophique, the apologue

Apologue

An apologue or apolog is a brief fable or allegorical story with pointed or exaggerated details, meant to serve as a pleasant vehicle for a moral doctrine or to convey a useful lesson without stating it explicitly. Unlike a fable, the moral is more important than the narrative details...

 and the novel.

Throughout L'Ingénu, Voltaire advocates deism

Deism

Deism in religious philosophy is the belief that reason and observation of the natural world, without the need for organized religion, can determine that the universe is the product of an all-powerful creator. According to deists, the creator does not intervene in human affairs or suspend the...

, and lambastes intolerance, fanaticism, superstitions, sects, and the Catholic clergy.

External links

L'Ingénu, audio version