Pure emotions and hided fellings in "Contes d'enfants indiens" of Marguerite Yourcenar

Abstract

In 1985 appeared a curious book, very little known to the readership of Marguerite Yourcenar, for the youth : Contes d’enfants indiens. This set of childish stories presents a unique case where the official author hides behind the texts and illustrations produced by children and designed for children. Giving free the speech of young people from a Maine Indian reserve, she does not reshape their abrupt writing. In this creation without embellishment, the emotion is palpable but the feeling is not said. We make heard the voices of these small Abenakis tribesmen by analyzing the structure of the stories, imbued with traditional ancestral folklore, magnified by drawings shouting their history.

Key words : traditional tales , Amerindian folklore , writing children , children’s drawings , dreams and nightmares of children.