La Bretonne, terre d'ailleurs et de nulle part : famille et société chez Rétif de la Bretonne
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Abstract EN:
Nicolas Rétif de la Bretonne the son of a rich Burgundian peasant was forced, like many of his fellow men in the 18th century, to leave the land of his ancestors and settle in the big city. He became a writer. His many faceted works are stamped with that uprooting. In his books, Rétif gave contrasting views of the city. Inspired by the model of the country life he had known in his youth, he wanted to better the conditions of life in the city. The Burgundian countryside, identified with a family community, his own family, and not with a village community represented a place of happiness which was the source of his utopian creation. His archetype was the household and all institutions, beyond the distinction between town and country, were to be regarded as families. The family unit enlarged into a family community must, in the end, impose its structures to the civil and political society.
Abstract FR:
Nicolas Rétif de la Bretonne, fils d'un laboureur bourguignon doit, comme nombre de ses semblables au 18ème siècle, abandonner la terre de ses pères pour la ville. Il deviendra auteur. Son œuvre, multiple, est empreinte de ce déracinement : Rétif donne de la ville des représentations contrastées. Il réforme la cité et la corrige avec des souvenirs empruntés au village. La campagne bourguignonne qu'il identifie, non à la communauté villageoise, mais à la communauté familiale, à sa propre famille, représente un lieu de bonheur qui inspire sa création utopique. Les siens font figure d'archétype, et tout, par-delà le clivage ville - campagne, devient famille. La cellule domestique s'agrandit, constitue une communauté familiale et finit par s'imposer à la société civile et politique.