Ce que dit Charlie: treize leçons d’histoire par Pascal Ory (review)

responded to the censors’ accusations, and especially how they adapted their writing in order to avoid censorship. Olmsted’s aim is to prove that the modernist techniques that Flaubert and Baudelaire invented, and for which they are celebrated today, were foils they created to thwart state authorities. Relying on such documents as Flaubert’s sketches and scenarios for his novel, and Baudelaire’s revisions and various paratextual materials, Olmsted describes the“censorship effect”on their works, and on the development of their respective techniques of free indirect discourse, dramatic monologue, and multiple poetic personae. Olmsted’s book is distinct from earlier criticism of these writers’works; until now, no scholarship has shown the extent of the censorship effect on the formation of the writings themselves. Flaubert’s use of free, indirect discourse allowed him to paint ambiguous scenes and implied events, thus avoiding realistic representations that would have been considered scandalous. Olmsted compares Flaubert’s sketches and scenarios to the published novel, pointing out the graphic outlines of his intended meaning, drastically mitigated in his final text. Olmsted’s indepth study of the famous scene in which the heroine Emma joins Leon in a (implied) scandalous carriage ride,reveals the stylistic choices Flaubert made,creating ambiguous insinuations, thus evading censorship, although not controversy. Olmsted conducts a more detailed analysis of Baudelaire’s strategies. Acutely aware of Flaubert’s trial and the ongoing disputes related to it, Baudelaire first defended his work by disassociating himself from realism, which had been condemned for its crude, offensive esthetic. Olmsted then shows how Baudelaire framed the dangerous themes and views found in Les fleurs du mal in the form of dramatic dialogue through a close analysis of the most criticized poems, “Les femmes damnées” and “Le reniement de saint Pierre.” Baudelaire’s technique enabled him to deny his identification with the immoral speakers. However, his claim that the overall moralizing message of the poems compensated for the shocking descriptions and references found in them was not successful. This approach constitutes what Olmsted labels “immoral moralism,” an approach that these writers used to treat forbidden subjects in a way that implied a moralistic message. One of the most valuable characteristics of this study is that it shows the interrelations between Flaubert’s censorship case and Baudelaire’s. The study provides helpful translations into English of all quotations taken from the texts, yet assumes a reader who is quite familiar with the works studied. Texas Christian University Sharon Fairchild Ory, Pascal. Ce que dit Charlie: treize leçons d’histoire. Paris: Gallimard, 2016. ISBN 978-2-07-011433-7. Pp. 236. 16 a. Ironie sinistre, ce livre, consacré aux conséquences des attentats terroristes contre Charlie Hebdo et l’Hyper Cacher (7–9 janvier 2015), a été bouclé juste avant les massacres du 13 novembre de la même année. Les“treize leçons d’histoire”d’Ory sont: 284 FRENCH REVIEW 90.3 Reviews 285 “Sidération”; Le crayon guidant le peuple; Caricatures de Mahomet; Religion (Guerre de); Terrorisme; Liberté d’expression; Laïcité; Place de la République; “Je (ne) suis (pas) Charlie”; Hyper Cacher; Traité sur la tolérance; Soumission; The massacre at Paris. Avec des méthodes d’historien, l’auteur aborde donc des sujets ardus et, de par leur proximité dans le temps, chargés d’émotion. Difficile en effet de parler sereinement, d’analyser, avec si peu de recul, de telles atrocités commises pour de tels motifs, à Paris au vingt et unième siècle. Ory a donc raison de commencer par la“sidération”(le terme et le concept) ressentie après le “double attentat—(a) contre les blasphémateurs; (b) contre les juifs” (23). Tout en faisant usage, à bon escient, du terme “blasphémateur”, l’auteur rappelle la tradition satirique (ainsi que son pendant, la censure) qui parcourt l’histoire de la presse française. Il aurait d’ailleurs été utile d’ajouter une quatorzième “leçon”, spécifiquement consacrée à la résurgence de la notion de blasphème, péché autrefois puni par arrachage de la langue, et que l’on croyait définitivement relégué dans un passé révolu. Sur...