FRENCH NATIONAL MYTHS

AND THE MIDDLE AGES

WHY
MYTH
?
•HISTORICAL MYTH IS A FORM OF LANGUAGE
•IT IS OF SYMBOLIC NATURE
•IT PRESUPPOSES AN IDEOLOGICAL DISCOURSE
Roland Barthes

Le mythe ne cache rien et il n’affiche rien: il

déforme; le mythe n’est ni un mensonge ni un
aveu: c’est une inflexion.
Nous sommes ici au principe même du
mythe; il transforme l’histoire en nature.
… le mythe est lu comme un système factuel
alors qu’il n’est qu’un système sémiologique.
Mythologies, p. 202-204

Myth hides nothing and shows nothing: it

deforms; myth is neither a lie or a confession:
it is an inflection.
We have arrived to the principle of myth itself;
it turns history into nature. […] Myth is read as
a system of facts, when it is nothing but a
system of signs.
THE MEDIEVAL
IMAGINARY FIELD
 …Game of Thrones is
fundamentally ahistorical, taking
inspiration from popular myths
about many different periods and
places. But while it illuminates
little about the past, it reveals
much about how we imagine that
past.

THE MEDIEVAL IMAGINARY FIELD

POLITICS OF MEDIEVAL IMAGINATION
HISTORICAL DATES AND THE FRENCH SCHOOL SYSTE
KEY MEDIEVAL DATES IN THE
FRENCH SCHOOL SYSTEM
• 496 – 506 – Clovis is baptized
• 732 – Charles Martel stops ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi
at the battle of Poitiers
• 800 - Charlemagne becomes Emperor
• 843 - The Treaty of Verdun and the Oaths of Strasbourg
• 1095 - 1492 - The Crusades
• 1431 – Execution of Joan of Arc
FRENCH (MEDIEVAL) FANTASIES
CLODOVECHUS
CLOVIS AS A NATIONAL SYMBOL

• Christian France
• France
• Unity of the country under one king
IS
THIS
TRUE?
Paris, milieu du XIIIe siècle BnF, Manuscrits, N. acq. fr. 1098
fol. 50
 The legitimate origin of the monarchy

Paris, milieu du XIIIe siècle BnF, Manuscrits, N. acq. fr. 1098

fol. 50
HOW THE MYTH WAS CREATED

• Legitimizing the institutions (IX-X centuries)

• Creating a strong link between the Church

and the King of France
HOW THE MYTH WAS CREATED

• Legitimizing the institutions (IX-X centuries)

• Creating a strong link between the Church

and the King of France
HOW THE MYTH WAS CREATED

• Legitimizing the institutions (IX-X centuries)

• Creating a strong link between the Church

and the King of France
THE RIVALRY: WHOSE FRANCE IS
THIS???
FRENCH PRESIDENTS IN
GALLIC FORESTS
FRENCH PRESIDENTS IN
GALLIC FORESTS
MITTERRAND AND
VERCINGETORIX
 CHARLES MARTEL AND THE BATTLE OF POITIERS

• In the Grandes Chroniques de

France (1247) Charles was given
the surname « martel »,
• During the Third Republic (1870 –
1940) the myth is institutionalized.
 THE THIRD REPUBLIC AND CHARLES MARTEL

• Myths are created and re-used when they prove

suitable
• In the 19th century, he becomes useful again
• Helps to justify the existence of the French colonial
empire
JOAN OF ARC
JOAN OF ARC: A FORGOTTEN HERO

• Reasons for rehabilitation

• Joan of Arc and French diplomacy
LOUIS ARAGON

Mon parti m’a rendu mes yeux et ma mémoire

Mon parti m’a rendu le sens de l’épopée
Je vois Jeanne filer Roland sonne le cor
C’est le temps des héros qui renaît au Vercors
Les plus simples des mots font le bruit des épées
Mon parti m’a rendu le sens de l’épopée
Mon parti m’a rendu les couleurs de la France
Mon parti mon parti merci de tes leçons
Et depuis ce temps‐là tout me vient en chansons
La colère et l’amour la joie

(Louis Aragon, Du Poète à son Parti,1944)

LOUIS ARAGON

My party gave me back my eyes, gave back my memory

I knew nothing beyond what is known to a child
Nothing of my blood’s red or about my French heart,
I knew nothing, save for that night was pitch black
My party gave me back the sense of epic verse,
I see Joan flashing by, while Roland blows his horn,
As in Vercors the heroes tide again will rise,
The plainest words are swinging, rattling swords
My party gave me back the sense of epic verse,
My party gave me back France’s colors and arms,
My party, o my party, your lessons are a boon.
And ever since for me everything is a song
Both wrath and love, and also joy.
SYMBOLS AND MYTHS
OPEN CONCLUSIONS

• A historical myth is not an

eternal reality
• These symbols should be
unterstood in their historical
context
• They are often used to make
a specific politiical point
• It is only partially true
• They should be addressed
critically