Une révolution vue d’en bas: l’épopée ordinaire du Tableau de Paris (1871)

Published under the pseudonym of Marius from 17 to 24 May 1871 by the communard paper Le Tribun du Peuple, the Tableau de Paris has long been a controversial issue in the history of French literature. In 1953 it was first attributed to Villiers de L’Isle-Adam. Three decades later, the editors of Villiers’ Œuvres complètes in the “Bibliothèque de la Pléiade” reproduced the article even though they seriously queried the attribution. Finally, in 2008 marxist publisher Sao Maï deconstructed their arguments by showing how fully supportive of the Commune Villiers was. Whoever its true author, the Tableau de Paris is in search of an epic manner based on the sense of grandeur. The epic is not centered on the battles against the troupes versaillaises. While the utopia of the Commune is coming to an end, it appears the grandeur lies in the everyday life and values of the Parisian people. (In French)