Claire Le Guillou
148
her œuvre, Sand aimed to present archaeology and its associations as
part of a living and idealistic process, free from the macabre connotations which had struck her so clearly in Rome.
If La Famille de Germandre has been largely ignored by Sand
scholars, Jeanne and Nanon have, by contrast, aroused much more
critical interest. In these novels, the presence of standing stones is not
simply or exclusively an element of set-dressing, but serves rather to
situate the characters in a quasi-mythical era, favourable to the establishment of the “vrai moral”. In other respects, the novels seem almost
to reflect one another across a distance of twenty-eight years of the author’s life.
29 If the Celtic monuments, named “aire aux Fées” or “trou
aux fades” may only be accessed with great difficulty, the former will
ultimately serve as a kind of homeland for Jeanne, while Nanon will
eventually be exiled to the latter. These two mystical spaces, constructed as havens of peace and revelation, lead one of the heroines to
celibacy and death, and the other, by contrast, to marriage and fulfilment.
From the opening lines onward, it is clear that archaeology
and the passion for all things Celtic so beloved of the Romantics will
be dominant themes in the novel Jeanne. To the extent that archaeological relics remain hidden and the Jomâtre Stones are initially almost invisible in the text, the author establishes a need for them to be
in some way rediscovered. The narrator makes them visible in drawing them to the reader’s attention, even taking the trouble to point out
the road which leads to them.
30 These initially invisible locations thus
permit Sand to retrace a story forgotten by official history and its practitioners long ago, in recounting the tale of a disinherited people and
their homeland, of which the geographical and political outlines are so
ill-defined.
In the prologue, Sand compares Jeanne to a “druidesse endormie” and more specifically to Velléda (pp. 37-38),
31 thus setting
___________________________
29 Brigitte Lane, for her part, makes the following remark: “Nanon marque non
seulement un tournant majeur dans l’œuvre de George Sand, mais l’aboutissement de
la ‘quête’ idéologique et esthétique à laquelle l’écrivaine s’est livrée pendant près de
trente ans, depuis Jeanne.” See “George Sand, ‘ethnographe’ et utopiste”, Revue des
Sciences Humaines, avril-juin 1992, n°226, p. 156.
30 George Sand, Jeanne (Meylan: Editions de l’Aurore, 1986), pp. 33-34. Subsequent
references to this edition are given after quotations in the text.
31 See Ione Crummy, “Les réincarnations de la druidesse Velléda”, George Sand et
l’écriture (Montréal: Université de Montréal, 1996), pp. 405-14.
148
her œuvre, Sand aimed to present archaeology and its associations as
part of a living and idealistic process, free from the macabre connotations which had struck her so clearly in Rome.
If La Famille de Germandre has been largely ignored by Sand
scholars, Jeanne and Nanon have, by contrast, aroused much more
critical interest. In these novels, the presence of standing stones is not
simply or exclusively an element of set-dressing, but serves rather to
situate the characters in a quasi-mythical era, favourable to the establishment of the “vrai moral”. In other respects, the novels seem almost
to reflect one another across a distance of twenty-eight years of the author’s life.
29 If the Celtic monuments, named “aire aux Fées” or “trou
aux fades” may only be accessed with great difficulty, the former will
ultimately serve as a kind of homeland for Jeanne, while Nanon will
eventually be exiled to the latter. These two mystical spaces, constructed as havens of peace and revelation, lead one of the heroines to
celibacy and death, and the other, by contrast, to marriage and fulfilment.
From the opening lines onward, it is clear that archaeology
and the passion for all things Celtic so beloved of the Romantics will
be dominant themes in the novel Jeanne. To the extent that archaeological relics remain hidden and the Jomâtre Stones are initially almost invisible in the text, the author establishes a need for them to be
in some way rediscovered. The narrator makes them visible in drawing them to the reader’s attention, even taking the trouble to point out
the road which leads to them.
30 These initially invisible locations thus
permit Sand to retrace a story forgotten by official history and its practitioners long ago, in recounting the tale of a disinherited people and
their homeland, of which the geographical and political outlines are so
ill-defined.
In the prologue, Sand compares Jeanne to a “druidesse endormie” and more specifically to Velléda (pp. 37-38),
31 thus setting
___________________________
29 Brigitte Lane, for her part, makes the following remark: “Nanon marque non
seulement un tournant majeur dans l’œuvre de George Sand, mais l’aboutissement de
la ‘quête’ idéologique et esthétique à laquelle l’écrivaine s’est livrée pendant près de
trente ans, depuis Jeanne.” See “George Sand, ‘ethnographe’ et utopiste”, Revue des
Sciences Humaines, avril-juin 1992, n°226, p. 156.
30 George Sand, Jeanne (Meylan: Editions de l’Aurore, 1986), pp. 33-34. Subsequent
references to this edition are given after quotations in the text.
31 See Ione Crummy, “Les réincarnations de la druidesse Velléda”, George Sand et
l’écriture (Montréal: Université de Montréal, 1996), pp. 405-14.