From the book
The Gods Are Athirst
Anatole France · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordCivisme means public-spiritedness or publicly credible republican loyalty, not simply citizenship or polite behaviour.
- In the novelBlaise claims his supply contracts prove civic devotion when Gamelin presses him for names.
- In this editionCivic loyalty retains the ideological pressure more clearly than the modern educational word civics.
- A place to readen corrigent l’incivisme: removing an object’s supposedly unpatriotic character.
Meaning
Related words and phrases.
Civisme means public-spiritedness or publicly credible republican loyalty, not simply citizenship or polite behaviour. Incivisme marks its suspected absence. Carte de civisme and certificat de civisme are documentary forms; the same language can also turn a person, a manner of speaking or a playing card into a political sign.
Use in the book
Blaise claims his supply contracts prove civic devotion when Gamelin presses him for names. He also explains that players can correct an old pack’s incivisme merely by renaming its king. Loyalty thus becomes both a defensible personal record and a judgement attached to objects, without requiring the costly redesign Gamelin proposes.
Rochemaure keeps Henry as a living certificate of civisme, joining intimacy to political credential. After Blaise is denounced for supply fraud, his local Surveillance Committee vouches for his civisme before the national Committee of General Security. Neither a reassuring connection nor a favourable testimonial should be confused with the absence of all private interest.
Desmahis’s mistaken arrest makes the documentary force literal. His friends attest his name, occupation and Jacobin identity, but he must also show the certificate he happens to carry. Longuemare’s later inability to obtain such a credential threatens pension and liberty. Brotteaux’s paradoxes, meanwhile, provoke suspicion of incivisme without a document changing hands: public belonging is judged through papers and through the reading of speech.
Places to read
- Chapter III, paragraph 41Frenchen corrigent l’incivisme: removing an object’s supposedly unpatriotic character. Blaise says players simply rename the king in their existing packs.
- Chapter III, paragraph 49Frenchmon civisme et mon dévouement à la chose publique: a publicly defensible record. Blaise argues for his reliability after being called to caution.
- Chapter VII, paragraph 20Frenchcertificat vivant de civisme: Living certificate of civic loyalty. Henry supplies Rochemaure with a social and political credential.
- Chapter VIII, paragraph 7Frenchgarant de son civisme: Guarantor of his civic loyalty. The local committee supports Blaise before a different, national committee.
- Chapter IX, paragraph 38Frenchen soupçonner l’incivisme: Suspect their lack of civic loyalty. Gamelin imperfectly understands Brotteaux’s paradoxes but detects possible disloyalty.
- Chapter X, paragraph 10Frenchsa carte de civisme: His certificate of civic loyalty. Desmahis must produce it even after the party identifies him.
- Chapter XII, paragraph 22Frenchsi j’avais prouvé mon civisme: whether I had proved my civic loyalty. Longuemare reports the official’s demand for demonstrations of revolutionary conduct as a condition for a certificate.
- Chapter XVII, paragraph 43Frenchn’ayant pu présenter un certificat de civisme: unable to present a certificate of civic loyalty. The absence of the certificate is followed by Longuemare’s arrest with Brotteaux.
Translation in this edition
Civic loyalty retains the ideological pressure more clearly than the modern educational word civics. Certificate identifies carte’s administrative function here; it is not the milliner’s commercial card or a playing card. The credential attests accepted political reliability, even when its production also helps establish the bearer’s identity in a particular scene.