The structure of the French literary field during the German Occupation (1940–1944): a multiple correspondence analysis

Abstract

Multiple correspondence analysis is a method well adapted to Pierre Bourdieu's concept of field. This paper presents an empirical investigation of the structure of the French literary field during World War II, when France was occupied by the Germans. The hypothesis was that the space of political choices is homologous to the positions writers occupy in the literary field. The MCA laid bare the structure of the literary field during this period of national crisis and the relations between positions and political position-takings. The first axis opposes dominant and dominated writers with regards to their capital of renown. This opposition corresponds to the political antagonism between, on the one hand, writers who support the Vichy regime or who collaborate with the Nazi occupying forces and, on the other hand, those who join or sympathize with the Resistance. The second axis enables us to differentiate between two types of consecration: institutional vs. symbolic. Heteronomy vs. autonomy is thus the secondary opposition around which the literary field is structured. While at the heteronomous pole, most writers supported the newly established powers (Vichy or the Nazis), at the autonomous pole, most writers chose to fight them.