La publicité iatrosophiste de Rabelais Captatio benevolentiae et persona de l’auteur du Tiers livre au Cinquiesme livre

This article traces the evolution of the persona that Rabelais adopts in his prologues, from the Third Book to the Fifth Book. Following the prescriptions of Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian for captatio benevolentiae, Rabelais presents himself as a doctor concerned only for the health of the reader, while at the same time implicitly admitting his manipulation of the latter; he presents himself as an iatrosophist so as to set the reader on his guard against the strategies of captatio.