December 9, 2021
This document is linked to :
info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2605-8383
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess , https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Stéphane Zékian, « Vie et mort d’un concours. Le prix d’éloquence à l’Académie française (xixe-xxe siècle) », Recherches & travaux, ID : 10.4000/recherchestravaux.4082
The article reviews the history of the eloquence contest organized by the French Academy until the end of the Third Republic. After contributing to the progress of “l’esprit philosophique” in the last third of the 18th century, this competition became anachronistic after the French Revolution. The academic eulogy of great writers from the past seemed then more and more obsolete. By persisting in maintaining the tradition of the epidictic genre, the Academy met with disapproval even within the ranks of its candidates. Challenged by its own prizewinners, it ended up adapting the contest to new methods in the field of literary criticism. However, this change came too late to restore the image of a ritual that was out of step with the new literary history.