Maupassant et la guerr e de 1870

Abstract

Maupassant’s work occupies a most distinctive place in the abundant war literature that emerged after the disaster of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. He wrote about twenty short stories and a considerable number of newspaper columns exploiting the theme of war. In his war chronicles Maupassant displays a more radical attitude than in his stories, both marked by the intense aversion to governments eager to wage wars. Firstly, we will briefly reflect on Maupassant as a soldier in the war and Maupassant as the writer of newspaper columns on the war, and will then explore his depiction of the war and its consequences. We will identify the two challenges he faces in his writings: the representation of the Prussian occupant which is tainted by the dominant ideology and propaganda, and the ambiguous representation of the French, as he was torn between his sympathetic attitude towards their heroism and the negative attitude to the French resistance, sometimes considered even cruel and barbaric.