French Literature Reviews - 2026
B. Brottier, Je n'estime pas moins tes lettres que ses armes
Poetry and Poetics
Bibliographic reference: B. Brottier, "Je n'estime pas moins tes lettres que ses armes", Honoré Champion, "Lumière Classique" series, 2017. EAN13: 9782745328120.
Béatrice Brottier, "Je n'estime pas moins tes lettres que ses armes", La poésie d'éloge du premier XVIIe siècle dans les recueils collectifs de Toussaint Du Bray
Paris, Honoré Champion, "Lumière classique" series, 2015, 632 p.
EAN: 9782745328120
95 euros
Publisher's overview:
A traditional writing practice among poets, panegyric poetry flourished at the beginning of the 17th century: everyone wrote it, some lamented it, while others championed it. It was read everywhere—in book prefaces, pamphlets, anthologies, or manuscripts.
However, the medium of publication is far from trivial when reading these pieces, and their inclusion in collective poetry anthologies, particularly those compiled by Toussaint Du Bray, alters the balance among the three major functions (social, political, and poetic) of panegyric poetry. Patronage relationships are reduced to the theatrical staging created for them, and the political function shifts toward rewriting political events and entrenching a specific narrative.
Publication in an anthology thus restores primacy to the poetic nature of the works: because poets must justify their words of praise, and because the value of a panegyric depends not only on the dedicatee but also on the quality of the verse, these poems articulate an identity-focused and metapoetic discourse that reflects on the role of the poet, the power of their words, and their social standing during an era when writers were striving for greater autonomy.
Within collective anthologies, panegyric poetry honors the poet just as much as the dedicatee.
Béatrice Brottier holds a PhD in Modern Literature from the University of Paris 3-Sorbonne Nouvelle and is a member of Grihl (Interdisciplinary Research Group on the History of Literary Culture), Paris 3-Sorbonne Nouvelle/EHESS. Her research focuses on 17th-century poetry, the discourse of praise, the representation of power, and editorial issues.
During the early seventeenth century, French literature underwent significant transitions as writers increasingly sought professional autonomy and defined their social roles. Panegyric poetry, or the verse of praise, was a dominant genre of this period, serving as a crucial vehicle for securing patronage and navigating court politics. While often dismissed as mere flattery, these works played a complex role in the literary ecosystem. The rise of collective anthologies, such as those published by Toussaint Du Bray, provided a new venue for these verses, shifting how they were read and understood. Within these collective anthologies, panegyric poetry came to honor the poet as much as the dedicatee.
In this study, Béatrice Brottier examines how these publishing contexts altered the social, political, and poetic dynamics of praise. By analyzing the specific medium of Du Bray's anthologies, the work illustrates how patronage was staged and how political narratives were rewritten. It highlights how the anthology format allowed poets to emphasize the aesthetic quality of their verse, turning praise into a metapoetic reflection on their own authority and status. Readers interested in early modern French literature, the history of the book, and the evolution of poetic identity may find this volume relevant.