Magical incantation
This commentary examines André Malraux and Jean Moulin. The "pantheonization" of Moulin in 1964, remains in French memory, not just because it was shown live and gave huge significance to Moulin but because of the strange, shamanic power of the oration; this speech was written and delivere...
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| Published in: | TLS, the Times Literary Supplement the Times Literary Supplement, 2014-12 (5828), p.14-16 |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | eng |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | This commentary examines André Malraux and Jean Moulin. The "pantheonization" of Moulin in 1964, remains in French memory, not just because it was shown live and gave huge significance to Moulin but because of the strange, shamanic power of the oration; this speech was written and delivered in an exalted and lyrical incantatory style by De Gaulle's Minister of Culture, Malraux. Moulin was the man who made de Gaulle aware of the potential importance of the burgeoning resistance in France. Malroux's moving speech was addressed to the youth of France, and in the audience stood privileged intellectual children from the nearby Lycée Henri IV, including future Maoist leaders of the May 1968 student revolt. The lesson that Malraux wanted to teach was that of national unity, obedience and sacrifice. His deliberately ecumenical account of the Resistance, mentioning the names of all of Moulin's rivals and highlighting the role of both the Communist Party and the maquis, focused all those forces on the person of Moulin and, behind him, the General in London. Malruax's speech was also, obliquely, about himself and his relationship to the Resistance; his credentials were shakier than he had led the world to believe, he subliminally inserted himself into the collective experience of the Resistance in his speech. It is the poetic lyricism of Malraux's peroration that the French most remember today, proclaimed by Malraux in a trembling voice at the foot of an enormous wind-lashed catafalque. Malraux died in 1976, and thirty-two years later was pantheonized by Jacques Chirac, but his left little trace in memory and made little difference one way or another to his own reputation. (Quotes from original text) |
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| ISSN: | 0307-661X 2517-7729 |