La Fortune littéraire de Christophe Colomb au dix-neuvième siècle en France

Many well known historical characters have inspired literary men and become symbols of outstanding human traits. Christopher Columbus seems to have been of particular interest to nineteenth-century writers. His name is often quoted by Hugo and Balzac. For some he became the embodiment of the ideals of the new age. However, we find a polarity in the evolution of the theme due to the writings of Washington Irving on the one hand and Roselly de Lorgues, a French historian on the other. With Irving the stress is placed mainly on the discoverer of new frontiers, the bold adventurer and the lonely leader. Columbus almost stands as the figure of the Romantic hero. On the other hand, de Lorgues brings out the image of the saint, the follower of the ideal of the Crusades, ready to sacrifice all to spread Christianity. These two images intertwined throughout the nineteenth century and found their synthesis in Claudel's Christophe Colomb. (In French) (ML-S)