Montaigne, le « paradigme cynegetique » et le « paradigme indiciaire »

This article seeks to apply Carlo Ginzburg’s “cynegetic paradigm” and ‘indexical paradigm’ to the Essais. Having analysed hunting vocabulary in several French books of the Renaissance – vocabulary considered, notably by Montaigne, as new, full of energy, and natural –, we try to see in terms that are more than metaphorical; a hermeneutic paradigm which allows us to understand Montaigne’s “hunt for knowledge”.