Abstract
This paper is a synoptic reading of the commemorative odes published in the royalist press on the occasions of the birth and of the baptism of the Duc of Bordeaux, in November 1820 and May 1821. It brings to light the tropes used by the royalist writers, the political concepts (future prospects, expectations) they develop and the literary tastes they cater to, in the hope of better getting their message across. The sentimentality of the odes, which is borrowed from the literature of the mal du siècle and regards the child as much as the young widow who was his mother, proves to be an attempt at political conquest through tenderness, an attempt which aims mainly at the middle classes whose domestic ideology is echoed in the scenes of domestic and family intimacy which the odes fantasize. A mixture of tenderness and hope, the discourse in these occasional poems gives us a glimpse into a little-explored aspect of the Bourbon Restoration.
| Original language | French |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 109-122 |
| Journal | Romantisme: revue du dix-neuvième siècle |
| Volume | 159 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2013 |