Vive nous! Les fondements nationalistes de La Guerre des boutons

Thèse de Master de l'année 2010 dans le domaine Didactique du français - Litérature Œuvres langue: français résumé: The author Louis Pergaud (1882-1915) lived during a fascinating and complex period in the development of the French national identity. It was a time when various forms of nationalism many fed by lingering memories of the disastrous defeat of 1870/71 came to exert an enormous influence on the evolution of political social and artistic expression in France. La Guerre des boutons is an example of a literary work deeply marked by the nationalistic tendencies prevalent in Belle Époque France. Without being a nationalist manifesto nor an allegory of the Franco-Prussian war Pergaud's novel is founded in a popular nationalism which developed within an intellectual and political context shaped by the memory of the année terrible (1870/71) and which promoted an attachment to a so-called ancestral homeland in-group/out-group rivalry as well as the policies of revenge and national defense.The research that went into supporting this thesis was firmly anchored in the belief that though La Guerre des boutons may be appreciated as a text in isolate it is best understood when viewed within a broad setting. Therefore in addition to analyzing structural thematic textual and paratexual aspects of Pergaud's novel the present study draws heavily from the works of eminent historians sociologists and linguists as well as literary sources in order to better understand the relationship between La Guerre des boutons and its context.In demonstrating the depth and sincerity of the nationalism underlying Louis Pergaud's novel this thesis challenges the notion that La Guerre des boutons is simply a coming of age story. It also questions the validity of interpretations that identify La Guerre des boutons as primarily a satirical tale whose message is strongly anti-war. The recognition of the work's nationalist underpinnings leads to the realization