Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
20
TONHOENSELAARS
mightwellhaveChristianmerits,eventhough,asever,itcouldneverthelessproveto
beofveryshortduration.For,saysthespeakerinDarras’spoem,whoisstilltrauma-
tizedbytheEnglishvictoryatAzincourt,“Pâques[...]reviendra/AvantqueMarlbor-
ough,jelecrains,n’abandonnesaguerre”(“ItwillcertainlynotbebeforeEasterthat
Marlboroughwillgiveupwagingwar”).
24
WhatwewitnessinthisscenesetonthebattlefieldofAzincourt,isthat,drawingon
whatTodorovcallstheEuropeanculturalvirtuesofreason,justice,democracy,indi-
vidualliberty,andtolerance,theFrenchspeakermakesthememoriesofHenryVserve
toformulateapeaceidealalongthelinestobeformulatedbytheEuropeanCouncil
InitiativeinJune2004.
Azincourt:Siteofmemoryandsiteoftrauma
ForanotherwaytoappreciatetheEuropeanreceptionofHenryVduringthelate1990s
andtheearlyyearsofthenewmillennium,wemayprofitablyturntoamoretangible
example:thevillageofAzincourtitself,situatedintheFrenchdepartementofArtois,
andsiteofmemoryparexcellence.
Afternearly600years,thebattlefieldofAzincourtherecontinuestobeoneofthe
bestpreservedvenuesofitskind.Seasonshavecomeandgone,andwithittheannual
crops.Andevenifthesearenowharvestedmechanically,andevenifdeforestationhas
leftitsmarkhere,likeeverywhereelse,“lechampdebatailled’Azincourt”hasreally
changedlittle.
Il.1.ThefieldofAzincourthaschangedlittlesince1415
24
AllusiontothefamiliarFrenchfolksongaboutthemilitaryspiritoftheEnglishentitled
“Marlboroughs’enva-t-enguerre”(“Forhe’sajollygoodfellow”).
