Parody and Appropriation of the Past in the Grandes Chroniques Gargantuines and in Rabelais’s Pantagruel (1532)

Abstract

In 1532 François Rabelais published his first literary work, Pantagruel, which made him immediately known as a satirist. This book (full title: Pantagruel. Les horribles et espoventables faictz et prouesses du tresrenomme Pantagruel Roy des Dipsodes, filz du grant geant Gargantua, Composez nouvellement par maistre Alcofrybas Nasier (Lyon, Claude Nourry: n.d. [1532])) recounts the miraculous life of Pantagruel, the first gentle giant in history. The story is structured according to the topoi of the classical epideictic biography.1 In the opening part (genus), the ancestors (maiores) of the giant (chapter 1) are mentioned; in the following part (chapter 2), the story of the miraculous birth of the giant is told (genesis); next, his youth and education are narrated (educatio) (chapters 3–24); the rest of the story (chapters 24/25–33) addresses the exploits of Pantagruel – this part coincides with the facta or res gestae in wartime and in time of peace.2 In the genus and educatio parts, Rabelais gives Pantagruel a place in history – even in world history. Rabelais’s comic and parodic tone is evident from the opening chapter, entitled “De l’origine et antiquité du grand Pantagruel”. Rabelais bestows his giant with a literally antediluvian genealogy, which can be traced back to times long before the Flood. In doing so, Rabelais satirizes by exaggeration the genealogic pretensions of princes and noblemen all over Europe. Chapter 5 narrates how Pantagruel as a student makes an educational journey, visiting France’s most important universities. During his “tour de France” the giant leaves his mark on local history. Thus, some reputed lieux de mémoire – the Pierre levée at Poitiers, the Pont du Gard near Arles, and the