Un arbre pour aimer, un arbre pour mourir
A tree to love, a tree to die

Author(s): Michel Delon
Subject(s): Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, French Literature, Philology
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: tree; oak; poplar; novel; landscape; Pantheon; tomb
Summary/Abstract: For a long time, trees belonged to romantic decorations without being identified or characterized. Jean-Jacques Rousseau on the contrary names and describes precisely the trees that appear in "The New Heloise or in the Confessions". The treatises on landscapes differentiate the species according to the land and the place. In the novels, plants become characters and metaphors for humans. They seem to be in relation with the earth as well as with the sky and the infinite. They embody a memory and bear witness to those who are no more. A privileged relationship is established between the human being and the tree, based on identification and symbolization.

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