Abstract EN:

The aim of this doctoral work is to depict an image of “modern” Greece. We study the accounts by the French travellers who visited the East at the dawn of the Enlightenment (1665 – 1750). An analysis of the travels accounts allows us to observe the direct link existing between this literature and the cultural evolution of the French society. The political ambitions of France in the Orient and the diplomatic agreements established with the Sultan, such as the Capitulations that grant to the French important privileges, all these factors encourage several travellers to wander the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, and to visit Greece- then part of the Ottoman Empire. Though conceived as reference texts, the travel accounts speak of the authors themselves, of their personal history, of their erudition. An analysis of the various intertextual practices that can be found in these texts confirm their subjective nature. Often written in the first person, they are the personal achievements of the travellers, actors, authors and narrators. Acute or myopic observers as they may be, the travellers visit the Greek territory reporting information of paramount value for a sociological analysis of the life of the Greek people. The political administration and economy of the Empire is observed, as well as the commercial exchanges and the taxation system. Several aspects and episodes of the Greek reality capture the interest of the visitors. The people's activities, the orthodox Church and its ministers, the rites and the ceremonies, the songs and dances, the myths and superstitions, the customs of the locals, their domiciles and their language, all this is studied and offers us an clear vision. The vision of “modern” Greece by the French travellers in this dawn of the Enlightenment.