Archaeology – A Passion of George Sand
151
favoured by Emilien, that old Dumont will tell Nanon that Emilien is
in love with her (p. 175). By such means, George Sand contrives to
enrich the places she describes. For, in her opinion, archaeology
serves to reveal that the relics taken from the earth are neither dead
nor unmodifiable. They are rather an element of social reconciliation,
as when, for example, peasantry and aristocracy end up by being
united, as in Nanon and in La Famille de Germandre. They are, in
short, a portal leading the happy few towards fortune and happiness,
and as such, they constitute a return to a kind of golden age. In spite of
these positive associations, however, Sand on numerous occasions
evokes the partial, or even total, destruction of archaeological relics
that she so admires:
Le grand Durderin (corruption de Druiderin) est encore debout et l’ensemble de l’île
aux Fades n’a pas trop changé; mais elle a perdu son nom, les fées se sont envolées
et le voyageur qui chercherait leur ancien séjour serait forcé de demander à la ferme
voisine du Petit-Pommier, le chemin des Grosses-Pierres. Moins de poésie à présent,
mais plus de travail et moins de superstition. (p. 165)
Yet although Sand repeatedly emphasizes in Nanon the extent to
which the modern world has been rendered prosaic, the ultimate corruption of the site in fact gives rise to few real regrets. This becomes
all the more evident in “Le Marteau rouge”, in which Sand, who
shows once again her tremendous wealth of erudition, recounts the
history of an archaeological relic, from its creation to its final destruction. In the final analysis, then, the author’s use of archaeology facilitates the presentation of the steady evolution of the world, which is
depicted as an entity that is constantly in a state of becoming, and
which is subjected irrevocably not only to the whims of mankind, but
also and most especially, to the power of Nature.
The closing lines of this story, which represent the last trace
of interest in archaeology to be found in Sand’s corpus of writings,
may therefore be seen to offer the perfect conclusion to our present
deliberations:
Tel est le sort des choses. Elles n’existent que par le prix que nous y attachons, elles
n’ont point d’âme qui les fasse renaître, elles deviennent poussière; mais, sous cette
forme, tout ce qui possède la vie les utilise encore. La vie se sert de tout, et ce que le
temps et l’homme détruisent renaît sous des formes nouvelles, grâce à cette fée qui
151
favoured by Emilien, that old Dumont will tell Nanon that Emilien is
in love with her (p. 175). By such means, George Sand contrives to
enrich the places she describes. For, in her opinion, archaeology
serves to reveal that the relics taken from the earth are neither dead
nor unmodifiable. They are rather an element of social reconciliation,
as when, for example, peasantry and aristocracy end up by being
united, as in Nanon and in La Famille de Germandre. They are, in
short, a portal leading the happy few towards fortune and happiness,
and as such, they constitute a return to a kind of golden age. In spite of
these positive associations, however, Sand on numerous occasions
evokes the partial, or even total, destruction of archaeological relics
that she so admires:
Le grand Durderin (corruption de Druiderin) est encore debout et l’ensemble de l’île
aux Fades n’a pas trop changé; mais elle a perdu son nom, les fées se sont envolées
et le voyageur qui chercherait leur ancien séjour serait forcé de demander à la ferme
voisine du Petit-Pommier, le chemin des Grosses-Pierres. Moins de poésie à présent,
mais plus de travail et moins de superstition. (p. 165)
Yet although Sand repeatedly emphasizes in Nanon the extent to
which the modern world has been rendered prosaic, the ultimate corruption of the site in fact gives rise to few real regrets. This becomes
all the more evident in “Le Marteau rouge”, in which Sand, who
shows once again her tremendous wealth of erudition, recounts the
history of an archaeological relic, from its creation to its final destruction. In the final analysis, then, the author’s use of archaeology facilitates the presentation of the steady evolution of the world, which is
depicted as an entity that is constantly in a state of becoming, and
which is subjected irrevocably not only to the whims of mankind, but
also and most especially, to the power of Nature.
The closing lines of this story, which represent the last trace
of interest in archaeology to be found in Sand’s corpus of writings,
may therefore be seen to offer the perfect conclusion to our present
deliberations:
Tel est le sort des choses. Elles n’existent que par le prix que nous y attachons, elles
n’ont point d’âme qui les fasse renaître, elles deviennent poussière; mais, sous cette
forme, tout ce qui possède la vie les utilise encore. La vie se sert de tout, et ce que le
temps et l’homme détruisent renaît sous des formes nouvelles, grâce à cette fée qui