Revisiter l’héroïsme de la Grande Guerre: l’exemple du polar chez Thierry Bourcy

Abstract

When Thierry Bourcy decides to imagine his protagonist Célestin Louise as a policeman, he includes the seven volumes of the series in the detective genre. Nevertheless the main character isn’t a smooth hero. This patriot who commits to the announcement of the mobilization, worried of carrying out the duty as citizen, witnesses the everyday life of the soldiers as well as their dramas. This experience lets undeniable tracks in his way to approach murders, clues and suspicious positions. From that point of view First World War, beyond a historic mark, is treated as a narratological agent of the stories. This article focuses on proving that the series has also inherited from what has been called the war novel, the one which emerged during post-war years. By this double parentage the author associates the stages of problem solving to the usual war scenes represented by novels or testimonies on the Great War. This process allows him to reconsider the event according to a new optics.