The gardens of Versailles through contemporary poetry: a new tool for cultural mediation?

Abstract

This article proposes to study the role of contemporary poetry as a cultural mediation tool for the gardens of Versailles. The corpus includes the poems of the poetic anthology Poètes en majesté à Versailles, published in 2013 by the Éditions des Busclats, on the occasion of the fifteenth edition of the “Printemps des poètes”. From a stylistic study of the collection and the analysis of the editorial project, we will question the existence of a real process of legitimation of the Versailles Palace through literature. To support this hypothesis, we will first consider what contributes to the actual heritage status of the place, by perpetuating an established discourse and stereotypes. We will then confront these representations with new and more original readings of the monument, the visitor’s posture in Versailles for exemple. Thus, we will show that the anthology Poètes en majesté à Versailles participates in the renewal of the imaginaries on the gardens of the Palace of Versailles much more than in their patrimonialization.