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A plusieurs reprises, Robert Musil confesse l’influence exercée par sa lecture des essais d’Emerson, s’interrogeant : « Que peut-on encore dire après Emerson ? » C’est cette question de l’héritage, telle qu’elle se manifeste dans le recours à la citation, que cet article se propose d’aborder. De l’influence à l’authenticité, il s’agit d’analyser la difficile articulation entre le langage commun, transmis, et le caractère original et personnel de l’expression. Faire entendre sa voix tout en reprenant les mots d’un autre, tel est l’impératif d’un rapport authentique au langage, qui est aussi un rapport moral impliquant la responsabilité à l’égard des mots que nous citons.

In his diaries, Robert Musil confessed his being influenced by his reading of Emerson’s essays. As a writer, he should have thought of Emerson, wondering what could be said after him. In fact, this paper focuses on the difficulty to inherit and the way quotation appears as a form of legacy. From influence to authenticity, I shall analyse the articulation between ordinary language, which is a common legacy and expression, which ought to be personal and genuine. We do care that our own voice should be heard through the use of others’ words. This is the condition of a true relationship to language, and moreover, of a moral use of words which implies responsability to the words we quote.