Jean Pommier and the risk of Renan’s enfer

Jean Pommier studied Ernest Renan’s life as he wrote about his work. The archives of the Renan family, which were generously opened to him, allowed him to develop a work recognized by all Renanians, but also reveal to him Renan’s enfer, of which only a fragment remains. After analyzing the content of this sexual confession, and Jean Pommier’s reading of it, we will show the importance of this text in the work of Renan, whose freedom of thought was ultimately censored.