Victor Hugo et les enterrements civils

After his return from exile, in 1870, Victor Hugo continued to be involved in Republican politics. One of the important activities in which he participated was civil funerals, with the help of which the Republicans mobilized their supporters against the Moral Order. Hugo took an active part, between 1871 and 1882, in five civil funerals: those of his two sons, Charles and François-Victor, and those of Edgar Quinet, Mrs. and Mr. Louis Blanc. To that list we should add his own, national funeral (1885) which, at his request, was conducted as a civil ceremony. These private rites of passage became political, controversial events since the issue of civil funerals was, at the time, one of the battle-fronts between the Republicans and their right-wing adversaries. The attitude of Hugo towards these funerals is analysed in the article with the help of a variety of his texts: his poetry, speeches, letters, and diary entries.