INTERVIEW – More and more public figures are taking up Charles Péguy, notes Dominique Ancelet-Netter, who regrets that the author remains largely unknown.
Dominique Ancelet-Netter is a member of the board of directors of the Amitié Charles Péguy, an association created in 1942, with the aim of making his work better known.
LE FIGARO. – 110 years after Péguy’s death on September 5, 1914, do you have the impression that his writings are arousing renewed interest?
Dominique ANCELET-NETTER. – I notice that more and more politicians, editorialists and media personalities have taken up Péguy in recent years. But often, they only quote him, taking short extracts from his texts… While his thinking, on the contrary, unfolds over long sentences, which one must take the time to read and integrate… Moreover, several reissues of his works in pocket format have recently seen the light of day, which is always a good sign and a mark of interest. In the field of research too, Péguy continues to be the subject of theses and studies.
Also readThe Death of Lieutenant Charles Péguy: Joan’s Flambe and the Ardor of Valmy
Many schools are called « Charles Peguy» In France, do schoolchildren really know who he was?
That’s true, and they are both public and private schools, which is rare enough to be noted! This is probably due in part to his brutal death on the battlefield in 1914, as well as his fierce defense of a secular and compulsory school. Péguy paid much homage to his schoolmasters in his writings. He himself was the pure product of republican meritocracy: the son of a chair re-sewer and an orphan of a father, he was nevertheless admitted to the École Normale Supérieure on his third attempt… before resigning to found a bookstore and his own magazine, the Cahiers de la Quinzaine.
As for the fact that Péguy is little known: his poems are generally taught in schools, like the famous “Farewell to the Meuse”but beyond that, his work is often considered too complex. This is a shame, because I have noticed that when students discover Péguy, they are often dazzled: There is certainly still a lot to do to disseminate his work to young audiences.
Also read“An author for the 21st century”: Charles Péguy seen by Alexandre de Vitry
Do you think that the fact that Péguy died a hero on the battlefield has distorted the way we read his texts today?
This is a debate. Some will tell you that his brutal death in 1914 was sacrificial, and that we must therefore reread Péguy in a patriotic, even nationalist, vision. It is true that he had published shortly before his death “Money”an essay in which he makes very bellicose remarks about Germany. But in this regard, we must recall the trauma, for this generation, of the Franco-German war of 1870. Others will tell you, on the contrary, that Péguy’s work is so abundant, and touches on so many different areas, that his death alone cannot sum up his entire life. Personally, I find him to be a genius of the French language.
Péguy was very critical of the modern world. Do you think this warning is still relevant today?
In fact, he had perceived the danger of certain phenomena such as transhumanism for example. Afterwards, I don’t like to make the dead speak, and Péguy is, whatever people say, a man from another century. I nevertheless believe that reading his texts allows us to anchor ourselves in a certain number of principles, and that it can help us seek the truth.
Also readA Wave of Dreams, by Louis Aragon: the poet and his dreamer friends
Are you afraid of Péguy’s political recoveries?
Of course, I fight against all the sweeping recoveries, when they only show one side of his work. But this desire to appropriate Péguy is not new, and had already begun during his lifetime! Besides, Péguy is an elusive author. It is in this sense that he is a genius for me. It is possible to have different readings of him. Everyone can have their own Péguy, in a certain way.
He spoke a lot in his texts about hope, « this little girl who is nothing at all. What form can she take?
Hope is that literature saves, and that it will save the world. This may seem rather grandiloquent, but I believe in the power of texts and words, and this is also what Péguy says. More broadly, we can of course talk about his faith: it greatly influenced his work. But we should not reduce him to a Catholic author. Because Péguy embraced so many different subjects… We must not ignore his spirituality of course. But let us remember that he was an anticlerical Christian: he did not marry religiously, he did not take communion; and yet he had a deep faith.
Also read“Michel Guérard, the death of a poet cook”, by Maurice Baudoin
To discover Péguy, what is the best entry point, in your opinion?
It depends on the age! For younger children, I would start with “Pierre, Beginning of a Bourgeois Life”. Or the “Ballad of the heart that beat so much”. Some also like to dip into his texts, like in a Bible. There is no single valid approach. On the other hand, I recommend that everyone read it out loud: this allows you to immerse yourself in the text as best as possible. Often we read diagonally: this is not possible with Péguy, because each sentence counts.
A commemoration of the 110th anniversary of the death of Charles Péguy will take place this Sunday, September 8 in Villeroy, starting at 10 a.m. More information on the Charles Péguy Friendship website.
