Archaeology – A Passion of George Sand
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out the tragic destiny of her young heroine and insisting on the fact
that “nous croirions plutôt que le pur sang de la race gauloise primitive s’est conservé jusqu’à nos jours sans mélange, dans quelques tribus rustiques de nos provinces centrales” (p. 38). Jeanne’s Gallic
lineage is all the more clearly indicated by the fact that she is the
daughter of Tula, the feminized form of Tullum, which was the Latin
name of the town of Toulx. Sand thus lends a mythical dimension to
her peasant figures. In order to consolidate this theme, Sand places
great emphasis on the archaeological backdrops. Thus, in the first
chapter, entitled “La ville gauloise”, the author invites us to continue
our archaeological visit around Toulx-Sainte-Croix in the company of
Guillaume de Boussac, who is visibly enthused by the discipline. Sand
then describes the town, showing off both her own knowledge of history and archaeology, and that of the town-dwellers (pp. 43-45, 47).
Then, in Chapter V, it is the turn of the village priest to reveal his archaeological erudition and to explain the region’s Gallic history, in
comparing the site of the Jomâtre stones, once consecrated to the
bloodthirsty cults, and the stones at Ep-Nelle, a safe and beneficent
place. The stong insistence on the Gallic origins of this town and the
simultaneous refusal of any Roman contribution to its founding serves
as a means of contrasting it with Boussac, a modern town which will
become a prison for Jeanne in which she will finally end her life.
In Nanon, the Celtic monuments of Crevant are also described
as a safe place, in direct contradiction of their modern role as a site of
barbarism associated with the Revolutionary Terror. Nanon is a revolutionary novel, written in 1871, in the midst of another turbulent period of French history. The novel recounts the story of a peasant-girl
and a young nobleman caught up in the torments of the Revolution
and the Terror. Destined, despite his republican sentiments, to be arrested and condemned, Emilien de Franqueville is assisted in his attempts to escape and find a safe hiding-place by the young Nanon. It
is at a crucial point in the novel, taking place in his refuge in the village of Crevant, that Sand chooses to bring archaeological themes into
play. In the midst of this period of torment, it will be archaeology that
permits the two beleagured young people to find their way to safety:
Nous savions qu’il y avait une ancienne voie romaine qui allait dans la direction du
sud-est et nous n’avions pas d’étoile pour nous guider. Enfin, le ciel s’éclaircit et
nous vîmes au-dessus des arbres la Ceinture-d’Orion, que les paysans appellent les
149
out the tragic destiny of her young heroine and insisting on the fact
that “nous croirions plutôt que le pur sang de la race gauloise primitive s’est conservé jusqu’à nos jours sans mélange, dans quelques tribus rustiques de nos provinces centrales” (p. 38). Jeanne’s Gallic
lineage is all the more clearly indicated by the fact that she is the
daughter of Tula, the feminized form of Tullum, which was the Latin
name of the town of Toulx. Sand thus lends a mythical dimension to
her peasant figures. In order to consolidate this theme, Sand places
great emphasis on the archaeological backdrops. Thus, in the first
chapter, entitled “La ville gauloise”, the author invites us to continue
our archaeological visit around Toulx-Sainte-Croix in the company of
Guillaume de Boussac, who is visibly enthused by the discipline. Sand
then describes the town, showing off both her own knowledge of history and archaeology, and that of the town-dwellers (pp. 43-45, 47).
Then, in Chapter V, it is the turn of the village priest to reveal his archaeological erudition and to explain the region’s Gallic history, in
comparing the site of the Jomâtre stones, once consecrated to the
bloodthirsty cults, and the stones at Ep-Nelle, a safe and beneficent
place. The stong insistence on the Gallic origins of this town and the
simultaneous refusal of any Roman contribution to its founding serves
as a means of contrasting it with Boussac, a modern town which will
become a prison for Jeanne in which she will finally end her life.
In Nanon, the Celtic monuments of Crevant are also described
as a safe place, in direct contradiction of their modern role as a site of
barbarism associated with the Revolutionary Terror. Nanon is a revolutionary novel, written in 1871, in the midst of another turbulent period of French history. The novel recounts the story of a peasant-girl
and a young nobleman caught up in the torments of the Revolution
and the Terror. Destined, despite his republican sentiments, to be arrested and condemned, Emilien de Franqueville is assisted in his attempts to escape and find a safe hiding-place by the young Nanon. It
is at a crucial point in the novel, taking place in his refuge in the village of Crevant, that Sand chooses to bring archaeological themes into
play. In the midst of this period of torment, it will be archaeology that
permits the two beleagured young people to find their way to safety:
Nous savions qu’il y avait une ancienne voie romaine qui allait dans la direction du
sud-est et nous n’avions pas d’étoile pour nous guider. Enfin, le ciel s’éclaircit et
nous vîmes au-dessus des arbres la Ceinture-d’Orion, que les paysans appellent les