Guerre, mythes et caricature

Cartoons perform two apparently contradictory functions : they contribute to creating the modem myths which they then vehiculate ; at the same time, they demythify. Having examined several thousand cartoons, of which forty are reproduced, the author undertakes an analysis of the ravages of war on the human spirit and unveils the mechanism of this ordeal, through a case study of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. That war was chosen because it provides a particularly rich store of imagination. Because cartoons designed in times of crisis tell us little about others and much about ourselves, Ouriel Reshef uses them as as tools for historical research which, sometimes better than other tools, enable us to reconstruct modes of thinking, events and mentalités. This original reading throws new light on the birth and development of " a certain idea of France ", which was to dominate the mind of three générations of Frenchmen. It leads to a philosophical reflexion on war and its effects on societies.