« Le col sous le joug » Image de l’anti-Nature chez La Boétie et ses contemporains

By amassing occurrences of the expression “le col sous la joug” in literature of the Renaissance, John O’Brien shows that La Boétie uses it in a new way, attaining the level of psychology. However, understood as an indicator of violence inflicted on nature, the “col sous la joug” is a figure which La Boétie summons precisely in order for it to be overtaken by a gesture of emancipation.