-
Views
-
Cite
Cite
Abstracts, French Studies, Volume 78, Issue 4, October 2024, Pages 748–754, https://doi.org/10.1093/fs/knae156
- Share Icon Share
Extract
‘Le Tour de l’Hexagone’: Circulation and Iconography in Lorànt Deutsch’s Hexagone and Lionel Daudet’s Le Tour de la France, exactement
Douglas Smith
Abstract
The representation of France as a hexagon has a long history dating from the eighteenth century. Strongly associated with the iconography of the independent nation-state, the relevance of the Hexagon to an era of internal decentralization, European integration, and economic globalization has been widely questioned, while its narrow focus on the metropolitan centre of a French Republic that also includes multiple overseas territories has been severely criticized. This article aims to explore the continued relevance of the Hexagon through an examination of the way it figures in two texts that might be characterized as popular history and travel writing respectively: Lorànt Deutsch’s Hexagone and Lionel Daudet’s Le Tour de la France, exactement. Each combines the description of physical geography with the narrative of a journey, invoking the precedents of the geographical tableau pioneered by Jules Michelet and Paul Vidal de La Blache and of the classic primary-school manual by G. Bruno, Le Tour de la France par deux enfants. The resulting tension between performative and pedagogical versions of the nation effectively calls into question the hexagonal representation of France. Even if compromised and criticized, however, the Hexagon remains a key point of reference for a critical understanding of debates around French identity.