Cock and Bull Stories

Robert Zaretsky

Description

In the French Camargue—the delta surrounding the mouth of the Rhone River and part of the southern “nation” of Occitania—the bull is a powerful icon of nationalism, literature, and culture. How this came to be—how the Camargue bull came to confront the French cock, venerable symbol of a unified and republican France—is the story told in this ingenious study. Robert Zaretsky considers how in fin-de-siècle France the young writer Folco de Baroncelli, inspired by the history of the American West, in particular the fate of the Oglala Sioux and other Native American peoples, reinvented the history of Occitania. Galvanized by the example set by Buffalo Bill Cody, Baroncelli recast the Camargue as “le far-west” of France, creating the “immemorial” traditions he battled to protect.

 

Zaretsky’s study examines the creative tension between center and periphery in the making of modern France: just as the political and intellectual elite of the Third Republic “invented” a certain kind of France, so too did a coterie of southern writers, including Baroncelli, “invent” a certain kind of Camargue. The story of how the Camargue bull challenged the French cock in this ideological and cultural Wild West deepens our appreciation of the complex dynamic that has created contemporary France.

Sujets

• Lettres et linguistique
• 20th century
• History of Europe
• History
• France
• Europe

Informations

• Publié par: Nebraska Paperback
• Date de parution: 01 juin 2004
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780803204133
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Cock & Bull Stories

Cock & Bull Stories

Folco de Baroncelli and the Invention of the Camargue

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robert zaretsky

University of Nebraska Press Lincoln & London

∫2004 by the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America

! Chapter 1 has been revised from the previously published ‘‘On the Horns of a Dilemma: Paris, Languedoc and the Clash of Civilizations in Nineteenth- Century France,’’ co-authored with Lise Carretero, inFrench History16, no. 4 (December 2002), 416–40.

Chapter 3 is drawn from material that appears in ‘‘Playing Cowboys and Indians in the French Camargue,’’ the lead article inHistorical Reflections/Reflexions Historique30, no. 2 (Summer 2004).

All photographs are reproduced with the permission of the Archives du Palais du Roure, Ville d’Avignon, France.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Zaretsky, Robert, 1955– Cock and bull stories : Folco de Baroncelli and the invention of the Camargue / Robert Zaretsky. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn0-8032-4920-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Camargue (France)—History. 2. Camargue (France)—Social life and customs. 3. Baroncelli, Folco de 1869– 1943—Views on regionalism. 4. Regionalism—France. 5. Cowboys— France—Camargue. I. Title. dc611.c2z37 2004 944%.91—dc22 2003017905

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Map of the Camargue

Introduction

Contents q

1 On the Horns of a Dilemma

2 On Language, Land, and Ideology

3 Cowboys and Indians at Play

in the Camargue

4 The Enduring Empire of Language

5 War and Peace

Conclusion

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index

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1

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39

61

85

107

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Illustrations q

following page88

1. Folco de Baroncelli astride Sultan

2. Baroncelli and Charles Maurras

3. Mirèio vanquished by the Camargue

4. Philippe Pétain

5. The ruins of Baroncelli’smasof Simbèu

6. Baroncelli in civilian garb

7. Baroncelli, de Flandreysy, and Hamann

in Oglala Sioux costume

8. Jacob White Eyes

9. Postcard of Chief Red Cloud

Acknowledgments q

There are many people and institutions without whose support, advice, and encouragement I could never have written this book. My fellow historian and friend Lise Carretero first introduced me tola bouvino many years ago in Nîmes; her knowledge and passion led to this work. The Archives départementales du Gard were, as always, a great and welcoming resource, while the insights, documents, and generosity provided by Madame Sabine Barnicaud and her staff at the Archives du Palais du Roure in Avignon helped me greatly, from the start of my research to the mad scramble for photos on the eve of my deadline. My friends Jacqueline and Philippe Lebert have shared their home and lives in Nîmes during my research in the Midi, while my friends Maika Haddad and Claudine Giacchetti, Christine and Jean-Michel Sabatier, and Marie-Laure Quilici and Philippe Dubois did the same in Paris. Much of this book was drafted while I was a fellow at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis in 2001. I owe a great debt to the foundation; its director, Michael Pretina; and his staff for my room with a stunning view of the sea, as well as the quiet and resources to do my work. While at the foundation, I was fortunate enough to have an enthusiastic and brilliant collection of historians, writers, and artists as my fellow in- mates. Robert Duplessis, Judith Zinsser, and Jonathan Hart read and commented on my manuscript, while Patricia Hampl offered invalu- able encouragement and advice. I must also thank Eric Marty and Imi Hwangbo for their music, art, food, and friendship during this very special time. The University of Houston provided me with a Faculty Develop- ment Leave in 2001 in order to work on this project. At Houston I

have, as always, benefited from the advice and keen insights of my colleague and friend Sarah Fishman, as well as the comments and en- couragement of my colleagues Michael Moore and Dan Price. The enthusiasm, support, and encouragement of the dean of the Honors College, Ted Estess, have helped me enormously. I am the most fortu- nate of academics to have him as my dean, the most fortunate of men to have him as a friend and mentor. The folks at the University of Nebraska Press have been wonderful: calm, collected, and far more patient than they should have been with an occasionally frantic historian. I am especially grateful to Ladette Randolph for her early encouragement and interest; my editor, Eliz- abeth Demers, for her enthusiastic support; and my copyeditor, Bojana Ristich, for her critical eye and graceful emendations. I would also like to thank my two readers, especially Laurence Porter ofmsu,who gave my manuscript a very careful and thoughtful reading. I also wish to thank Judy Grainger, who generously shared her insights on the ties between Buffalo Bill and France, as well as a few important addresses. Phil Hubanek has patiently and repeatedly helped me with software and hardware issues, while Emily Bass guided me on the Web. Finally, I need to thank my family. I am not sure my mother, father, brother, and sister (and their wonderful spouses) always know what I am doing, but I am grateful for their support and love. As I am for the love of my wife, Julie, and stepson, Ruben. They arrived in my life as this book was preparing to leave it, and it is to them and our future that I wish to dedicate it.

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acknowledgments