'L'Idole' déboulonnée, Auguste Barbier et le mythe napoléonien

History and myth are inextricably mixed in the appraisal of Bonaparte. Anti-Napoleonic writers including Hugo and Lamartine show ambiguity in their views, The poem of Auguste Barbier (1805-1869) "L'Idole," through historical perspective unwilling to forget both suffering and defeat, aims at discrediting all glorifying myths about Napoleon and at restoring instead his image as that of an insensitive and ambitious tyrant. The beautiful if vehement poem in five parts is succinctly analyzed in its form and content, and placed alongside the romantic eloquence of Hugolian lyricism. (In French) (DF-M)