Childhood in "Le nouveau Décaméron"
Résumé
This article focuses on the portraits of children as presented in Le Nouveau Decameron and the different images of childhood that they convey. We have selected seventeen of the hundred short stories, by Paul Arene, Theodore de Banville, Francois Coppee, Abraham Dreyfus, Anatole France, Ludovic Halevy, Rene Maizeroy, Guy de Maupassant, Emile Pouvillon, Aurelien Scholl, and Emile Zola. These authors, writing in a realistic, naturalistic and decadent style, sometimes present children as part of the romantic image of childhood, imbued with innocence and purity, and sometimes in opposition to the same cliches of childhood. We thus see the child facing death, either their own or that of their relatives. We then focus on childhood and sexuality, a subject that runs through the ten volumes. Whichever portrait is proposed, the authors encourage the reader to reflect morally on the relationship between children and adults.