(no subject)

[wolfshadow713.livejournal.com]

I realize that this is an ironic post to make right after a post about the release of the film "Danton," but nonetheless...

But anyway, I was skimming Saint-Just's indictment of the Dantonists last night and, not for the first time, I noticed his repeated use of the word "immoler." I just find it interesting because immoler can have rather religious connotations when taken to mean a sacrifice, so I'm if I should take this as indicative of rather religious (maybe not the best word, but it's been a long day...) undertones Saint-Just's revolutionary philosophy? Or was it already generally in the lexicon? I haven't read enough primary source documents to really judge...It's not terribly important, but I guess the repetition of that particular word rather than the substitution of synonyms in a speech that is pretty heavy on the allusions and imagery and otherwise rather varied in diction stuck out to me. Or this obsession is just the result of sleep deprivation...

Comments

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

It never struck me in particular, but that may be because - it seems to mean, at least - immoler was "already generally in the lexicon", as you put it. But it would take a great deal of combing to prove that point, I suppose...

[maelicia.livejournal.com]

It's part of the lexicon. Religion influenced the vocabulary, because it was still one of the first thing they learned. Much like Antiquity. They quoted and were influenced by what constituted their popular culture. Besides, it depends with what word he uses "immoler". If he uses next to "sacred concepts", it makes sense, such as: "l'amour sacré de la patrie [...] est tellement exclusif qu'il immole tout sans pitié". It's obvious that it's the only word that fits there. And it's more "lyrical" than "tuer". And since they knew how to play with language back then, they would use the most lyrical and litterate forms.

[wolfshadow713.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I do actually remember seeing it in other documents I read...I think it just caught my attention becuase I think I've almost never seen it in English translations (maybe I just haven't seen translations of those parts?) and because there's something about Saint-Just's style that calls attention to it...And, most importantly, I probably shouldn't be attempting to analyze anything after being in class/doing homework for pretty much thirteen or fourteen hours at a stretch...