Werewolves depictions through centuries : a long-term study of a myth that recharges over time

• Main Author: Trevily, Julie
• Other Authors: Centre de Recherche en Archéologie, Archéosciences, Histoire (CReAAH), Le Mans Université (UM)-Université de Nantes - UFR Histoire, Histoire de l'Art et Archéologie (UFR HHAA), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes 1 (UR1), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ministère de la Culture (MC), Université Rennes 2, Annie Antoine
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: French
• Published: HAL CCSD 2019
• Subjects: Myth; Transverse analysis; Werewolf; Loup garou; Mythe; Analyse transverse; Représentations; [SHS.HIST]Humanities and Social Sciences/History; Canis lupus
• Online Access: https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-02084034; https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-02084034/document; https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-02084034/file/2019theseTrevilyJ.pdf

This PhD thesis aims to put emphasis on a long course analysis of werewolves depictions through centuries. This investigation has several aspects : finding the werewolf myth foundations, seeing how it could have spread via elite society, understanding creature’s value on a sociologic way… This thesis involves seeing how, from Antiquity to now, the myth has traveled through times and centuries, gaining or losing identity elements, but always recharging itself in order to stay evocative of the society surrounding it. In spite of the difficulty in trusting very ancient sources, as mythology for example, serious standpoint creation has grown on perceptions, depictions of werewolf as a mean to question human being and his value through different historical periods specific to it, and where its value changes from positive to negative and inversely. Those changes can be explained by the weight of wars, institutions, but also by the pressure, sometimes terrible, of canis lupus on European and French territories. This myth of werewolf, international and very popular today, offers many ways of questioning our habits, fears, hopes through different versions, more or less romantic, more or less realistic depending on the chosen media, as we can notice in the different masterpieces from Antiquity until today. Cette thèse de doctorat met en oeuvre une analyse transverse au long cours des figures représentant le loup garou à travers les siècles. L’objet de cette enquête est multiple : trouver les fondements du mythe, voir dans quelle mesure il s’est transmis par le biais des élites, comprendre la valeur de la créature d’un point de vue sociologique. Pour résumer l’ensemble, il s’agit de voir comment, depuis l’Antiquité jusqu’à nos jours, ce mythe a traversé les époques, perdant ou gagnant des éléments d’identité mais se rechargeant toujours assez pour rester évocateur de la société qui l’entoure. Malgré la difficile prise en compte des sources très anciennes, celles de la mythologie par exemple – un travail de mise en ...