Prendre la grippe comme on prend les eaux : variations caricaturales sur un mal à la mode entre 1830 et 1848
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2020
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Abstract
La période de la Monarchie de Juillet est jalonnée d'épidémies de grippes, dont il est régulièrement rendu compte dans la presse. Étonnamment, tandis que les effets de ces épisodes contagieux sont systématiquement minorés, la grippe elle-même fait l'objet de nombreuses charges textuelles et visuelles et d'analogies avec la vie politique, sociale, économique et culturelle. La Grippe aux mille visages, mégère, diable ou femme du monde, est déjà celle que Cham nommera « la lionne de la saison » en 1858. Épidémie obligeante, elle s'associe au carnaval et aux bals qu ’elle perturbe ou agrémente. L'article s'interroge sur le choix d'un tel motif comme moyen satirique et évoque les modalités de cette charge qui passe simultanément par l'atténuation et l'outrance. C'est du côté de la littérature des Physiologies qu'il convient de chercher l'explication de cette typification de la grippe et celle de son statut de « mal à la mode ».
Under the reign of King Louis-Philippe, 1830-1848, France was severely visited by a number of epidemics, namely, influenza, which were regularly reported in the press. Although the effects of such epidemics were methodically undervalued, the flu was frequently caricatured as offering analogies with the political, social and cultural life of the time. It was often endowed with the characteristics of a rational being, she-devil, woman of distinction or termagant of a wife! In 1858, Cham will even call it “the lioness of the day”. The flu will be found congenial with such social assemblies as carnivals or balls, which it either disrupted or embellished. The present paper deals with the satirical purport of the flu, whether underrated or exaggerat- ed, showing at the same time how it became typified as a “mal à la mode” akin to Physiologies , a widely-discussed topic at that time.
Under the reign of King Louis-Philippe, 1830-1848, France was severely visited by a number of epidemics, namely, influenza, which were regularly reported in the press. Although the effects of such epidemics were methodically undervalued, the flu was frequently caricatured as offering analogies with the political, social and cultural life of the time. It was often endowed with the characteristics of a rational being, she-devil, woman of distinction or termagant of a wife! In 1858, Cham will even call it “the lioness of the day”. The flu will be found congenial with such social assemblies as carnivals or balls, which it either disrupted or embellished. The present paper deals with the satirical purport of the flu, whether underrated or exaggerated, showing at the same time how it became typified as a “mal à la mode” akin to Physiologies, a widely-discussed topic at that time.
Under the reign of King Louis-Philippe, 1830-1848, France was severely visited by a number of epidemics, namely, influenza, which were regularly reported in the press. Although the effects of such epidemics were methodically undervalued, the flu was frequently caricatured as offering analogies with the political, social and cultural life of the time. It was often endowed with the characteristics of a rational being, she-devil, woman of distinction or termagant of a wife! In 1858, Cham will even call it “the lioness of the day”. The flu will be found congenial with such social assemblies as carnivals or balls, which it either disrupted or embellished. The present paper deals with the satirical purport of the flu, whether underrated or exaggerat- ed, showing at the same time how it became typified as a “mal à la mode” akin to Physiologies , a widely-discussed topic at that time.
Under the reign of King Louis-Philippe, 1830-1848, France was severely visited by a number of epidemics, namely, influenza, which were regularly reported in the press. Although the effects of such epidemics were methodically undervalued, the flu was frequently caricatured as offering analogies with the political, social and cultural life of the time. It was often endowed with the characteristics of a rational being, she-devil, woman of distinction or termagant of a wife! In 1858, Cham will even call it “the lioness of the day”. The flu will be found congenial with such social assemblies as carnivals or balls, which it either disrupted or embellished. The present paper deals with the satirical purport of the flu, whether underrated or exaggerated, showing at the same time how it became typified as a “mal à la mode” akin to Physiologies, a widely-discussed topic at that time.
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grippe; épidémie; caricature; Physiologies; types; presse, influenza, epidemics, caricature, Physiologies , types, press, influenza; epidemics; caricature; Physiologies; types; press
Citation
"Quêtes littéraires" 2020, nº 10, s. 9-41