Sites of Celtic Authenticity in Post-Ossian Francophone Travelogues

Through a series of close readings from French-language travelogues on the “Celtic” north, this article illustrates the importance of place to the authentic experience of poetry among the generations that had fallen under the spell of Ossian at the end of the eighteenth century. It traces the motif of the “poetic encounter” through texts by Faujas de Saint-Fond, Necker de Saussure, Charles Nodier, Astolphe de Custine and Alfred Erny. Spanning almost a century, these texts show that in investigating the distant past there is no substitute for going sur place and experiencing the landscape. This article contrasts the various ways in which the “Celtic” land generates poetry: through the medium of ghosts, visions or just through inspiration. An evolution of attitudes towards untranslatability and poetic authenticity is also traced and is contextualized in the history of translation

Aesthetics · Ancient history · Art · Art history · Celtic languages · Literature · Motif (music · Poetry · Sociology · Spell · Vision · Anthropology · Canadian Identity and History · Cultural Identity and Heritage · History · Travel Writing and Literature