How Raphaël Glucksmann transforms the Roman de Renart into the founding delusion of French identification | EUROtoday

Dn the talk which opposed him to Éric Zemmour, Raphaël Glucksmann developed an authentic thought: the Roman de Renart would subsequently be the matrix of our nationwide identification. Renart, this four-legged satan, can be “our Father to all”, the one who “makes French”, a hero bequeathed by the Middle Ages, “founder of our identity” whereas the France which comes from it might, due to him, be “cosmopolitan, universalist, revolutionary, European and existentialist”, subsequently basically “philosophical”, since for him “universalism is consubstantial with French patriotism”. It is mistaken to have youngsters learn watered-down variations of the Roman de Renart: it’s a supply of confusion. We pinch ourselves once we hear him clarify that Renart can be a form of medieval Mendès-France.

We see…