Le mythe du peuple et la societe francaise du xixe siecle
Institution:
Université Pierre Mendès France (Grenoble)Disciplines:
Directors:
Abstract EN:
This thesis intends to treat, as its subject, mythical representation as a social fact. Departing from the experience, in the 19th century french society, of a high and frequent valorisation of the "people", we have defined all participating facts of this "french populism", in order to understant the social nature and scope of it. First, were studied the actors of populism -political activist, artists and writers, intectelluals- and the logip of the tie between their field of action, and the hope placed in the people. Then, were establis- hed, with reference to the myth of traditional society, the condition in witch it may be legitimate to talk about myths concerning modern societys, and to delimit the field of application ant the particular problems of a sociology of myths. Next, comes the sorting out, according to the methods of "mythocritic", of the documentary material : the works of hugo, sue, ballanche, leroux, sand, michelet ; the actions of blanqui and conspirators ; the larg movements of the revolution in the 19th century, etc. This leads to the construc- tion of a "frame work of populism", that is to say entire moral reflexes stable an coherent which are at the origin of all populist litterances in the 19th century. Last, we have examined way in which the 19th century brought out the myth of the people and this, essentially, through the study of proudhon's works.
Abstract FR:
Cette these se propose pour objet de traiter une representation mythique en tant que fait social. Partant de l'existence, dans la societe francaise du xixe siecle, d'une forte et frequente valorisation du "peuple", l'on circonscrit tous les faits participant de ce "populisme francais" pour en comprendre la nature et la portee sociale. Sont etudies d' abord les acteurs du "populisme", activistes politiques, artistes et ecrivains, intellectuels et la logique du lien entre leur domaine d'action, et l'esperance placee dans le peuple. Sont posees ensuite, par reference au mythe des societes traditionnelles, les traditions dans lesquelles il peut etre legitime de parler de mythe a propos des societes modernes, et circonscrit le domaine d'application et les problemes particuliers d'une sociologie du mythe. Vient ensuite le depouillement, selon les methodes de la mythocritique, du materiel documentaire : les oeuvres de hugo, sue, ballanche, leroux, sand, michelet, l'action de blanqui et des conspirateurs, les grands gestes de la revolution au xixe siecle, etc. Ceci conduit a la construction d'une structure elementaire du populisme, c'est-a-dire de de l'ensemble stable et coherent des reflexes mentaux qui se trouvent a la source de toutes les expressions populistes au xixe siecle. Enfin, l'on examine la maniere dont le xixe siecle est "sorti" du mythe du peuple, et ce essentiellement a travers l'etude de l'oeuvre de proudhon.