The 1875 Quarrel
The first International Congress of Americanists, held in Nancy in 1875, was the scene of a violent quarrel between Léon de Rosny, a positivist philologist, with Émile Petitot, Oblate missionary of the Congregation of Mary Immaculate. The stakes were many: if the defining of the criteria of legitima...
| Published in: | Recherches amérindiennes au Québec |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | French |
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Recherches amérindiennes au Québec
2016
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| Online Access: | http://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/raq/2015-v45-n1-raq02363/1035163ar.pdf https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/raq/2015-v45-n1-raq02363/1035163ar.pdf https://doi.org/10.7202/1035163ar https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1035163ar https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/raq/2015-v45-n1-raq02363/1035163ar/ https://academic.microsoft.com/#/detail/2307063337 |
| Summary: | The first International Congress of Americanists, held in Nancy in 1875, was the scene of a violent quarrel between Léon de Rosny, a positivist philologist, with Émile Petitot, Oblate missionary of the Congregation of Mary Immaculate. The stakes were many: if the defining of the criteria of legitimate knowledge was the main objective of the conference organizers, proponents of Christian doctrine came to defend it against the polygenism of the emerging science of anthropology, that is, the claim to the Adamic unity of the human race and the Asian origin of Native Americans. However, it is during the discussion of an allegedly Iroquois manuscript that suddenly was crystallized the challenges of a quarrel tied to the origin and authenticity of a Native American writing: the inadequacy of the scholarship acquired by the philologist in the library was then joined by the blindness resulting from the proselytizing relationship the missionary had established with the Indians. The article concludes with the restoration of historical truth: the manuscript was actually Mi’gmaq. Le premier Congrès international des américanistes, qui se tint à Nancy en 1875, fut le théâtre d’une violente querelle opposant Léon de Rosny, philologue positiviste, à Émile Petitot, missionnaire de la Congrégation des Oblats de Marie-Immaculée. Les enjeux étaient multiples : si la définition des critères du savoir légitime constituait le principal objectif des organisateurs du congrès, les tenants de la doctrine chrétienne vinrent y défendre, contre le polygénisme de l’anthropologie naissante, l’unité adamique de la race humaine et l’origine asiatique des Amérindiens. C’est toutefois lors de la discussion d’un manuscrit prétendument iroquois que se cristallisèrent les enjeux implicites d’une querelle qui s’attacha soudain à l’origine et à l’authenticité d’une écriture amérindienne : l’insuffisance de l’érudition acquise par le philologue en bibliothèque rejoignit alors la cécité résultant de la relation essentiellement prosélyte que le ... |
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