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La Pléiade Une Nouvelle Ambition

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La Pléiade Une Nouvelle Ambition La pléiade une nouvelle ambition poétique au XVIème siècle De la « Brigade » à la « Pléiade » ! Groupe de jeunes gens nourris de culture humaniste, instruits par l’helléniste Jean Dorat. Ces étudiants parisiens de la montagne Sainte-Geneviève, inscrits aux collèges de Coqueret et de Boncourt, se présentent comme la nouvelle génération poétique. Ils forment une « Brigade », c’est-à-dire un petit groupe de lettrés guidé par un chef de file : Pierre de Ronsard. ! Dans la mythologie, les Pléiades sont les sept filles d’Atlas qui devinrent constellation ; de là le nom de Pléiade donné à un groupe de sept poètes d’Alexandrie sous Ptolémée Philadelphe (IIIème siècle avant J.-C) ! Ronsard et ses amis reprirent à leur compte cette appellation en 1556. Il convient de noter que lorsque la Brigade fut créé, ces poètes étaient plus que sept. Une ambition commune : donner à la littérature française ses lettres de noblesse. ! En 1539, l’édit de Villers-Cotterêts impose l’utilisation de la langue française dans tous les documents administratifs ; le français a donc encore besoin de s’imposer comme langue littéraire. ! Du Bellay nourrit pour sa langue de grandes ambitions qu’il formule clairement dans Défense et illustration de la langue française paru en 1549. Ce texte deviendra un manifeste pour les membres de la Pléiade. ! Le français doit imposer ses qualités littéraires et surpasser la langue latine ; il doit devenir « illustre » grâce au talent de ses poètes. Les principes fondateurs ! L’imitation ou l’ « innutrition » : la réécriture des auteurs de l’Antiquité, érigés en modèles absolus, est l’un des objectifs de la Pléiade. Il s’agit de faire perdurer une tradition littéraire, figure de l’excellence, en imitant les modèles pour faire reculer le « monstre Ignorance ». Cette filiation s’exprime aussi dans l’imitation des Italiens de la Renaissance, comme Dante, Boccace ou Pétrarque, eux - aussi nourris des grands auteurs antiques. La démarche d’imitation est une source de création poétique. ! Être au monde : tantôt lyrique, tantôt engagée, la poésie est un rapport au monde et à l’humanité. Le poète doit être ouvert au monde mais un témoin de son temps. ! En quête d’immortalité : en renouvelant les formes antiques et en cherchant à atteindre la perfection dans leur art, les poètes de la Renaissance recherchent à gagner l’éternité. Seule la parole poétique peut approcher du divin et permettre d’accéder à la vie éternelle par la postérité de l’œuvre et la force du langage. De nouvelles formes ! L’abandon des formes poétiques médiévales : les poètes de la Pléiade proposent de délaisser le rondeau, la ballade, le lai au profit de l’ode, de l’épopée et du sonnet ; l’alexandrin est préféré aux vers plus courts, et l’influence de Pétrarque, poète italien du XIVème siècle, est déterminante. ! Une forme poétique de prédilection, le sonnet : né en Sicile, au début du XIIIème siècle, , d’une poésie populaire chantée, le sonnet vient de l’italien sonetto « petit son ». Il se répand en Italie grâce à Pétrarque dans son Canzoniere, recueil de sonnets lyriques chantant l’amour qu’il éprouve pour Laure de Noves et en France par le célèbre poète Clément Marot. Mais ce sont les auteurs de la Pléiade qui l’imposent et assurent sa gloire. ! Des registres de prédilection : les thèmes lyriques et élégiaques sont repris par les poètes de la Pléiade. : la nature, l’amour, la mort, la fuite du temps. La poésie engagée recourt également aux registres satirique ou polémique. Les membres de la Pléiade ! Les membres les plus illustres se nomment : Pierre de Ronsard (1524 – 1585), surnommé le « Prince des poètes ». Il s’illustre dans la poésie lyrique amoureuse notamment dans son grand recueil poétique Les Amours et dans l’engagement au service d’une France catholique malmenée par les guerres de religion. Joachim Du Bellay (1522 – 1560) : il écrit de nombreux sonnets satiriques ou lyriques et rédige en 1549 Défense et illustration de la langue française. ! D’autres auteurs ont participé à cette aventure littéraire novatrice : Pontus de Tyard (1521 – 1605), Jean – Antoine de Baïf (1532 – 1589), Étienne Jodelle (1532 – 1576), Rémi Belleau (1528 – 1577) et Jacques Pelletier du Mans (1517 – 1582). .
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