This article looks to shed light on the importance of women’s singing in Nodier’s work and its relationship with the imagined notion of a naive humanity. Starting from Rousseau’s Essai sur l’origine des langues and its influence on Nodier’s linguistics, we examine how the myth of an original sung word is embodied in Nodier’s cast of enchantresses, in particular in L’homme et la fourmi, Smarra, and La Fée aux Miettes. Such a return to a mythical time helps challenge several interdependent categories of thought: anthropocentrism, patriarchy, and the cult of rationality.
CLIL theme: 4027 -- SCIENCES HUMAINES ET SOCIALES, LETTRES -- Lettres et Sciences du langage -- Lettres -- Etudes littéraires générales et thématiques