THE FRENCH INTELLECTUAL
491
them: obviously, it is precisely such judgments which help
situate extistentially the intellectual and define him to himself.
Stigma IV: Enemies of the national "soul"
Paleologue's diary mentions one further
sin
attributed to
the "intellectuals." These "aristocrats of the mind" are also
accused of having lost their "national mentality"--of having
assumed the function of subverters and corroders of patriotic
ideals. According to Brunetiere, these "enemies of the French
soul" (this is the title of one of his many lectures on the sub–
ject) are trying desperately to destroy the traditions of France.
As
for Emile Gebhart's epigrammatic assertion that teachers of
German no longer think often enough in French-it may seem
tasteless and excessive, but it was certainly not an isolated
opinion. Countless are the bitter remarks provoked by the so–
called Kantian invasion of French education. Here again,
Barres's reactions are perhaps most characteristic. Of this sub–
versive
Kantisme
Bouteiller, in
us Deracines,
is the living
symbol: a "modern sorcerer," uprooted and ambitious, who, by
means of the intellectual poison he spreads, succeeds in uproot–
ing entire generations of innocent young Frenchmen.
Much of this explosion of chauvinism at the time of the
Dreyfus case can be explained by memories of the recent defeat.
Dreams of revenge went hand in hand with a hatred for
Germany that was further inflamed by unavowed sentiments
of inferiority, and by the awareness that France was lagging
behind in the Industrial Revolution. Barres did not have to
invent; there were men like Roemerspacher's grandfather who
would not hear of any member of his family studying at a
German university. It is against this background that the fic–
tional figure of Professor Bouteiller has to be assessed. Ba.rres's
accusations against intellectuals follow a recognizable and
symptomatic pattern: men such as Boutteiller "decerebrate"
the nation, they ignore the instinctive faith of the masses, they
insist on teaching an "absolute truth" instead of teaching piously
