DiotimosReading Desk

Ethics

Pure; true believer

pur

Pur is used both as an adjective and, in un pur or les purs, as the name of someone claiming uncompromising doctrinal rigour.

From the book

The Gods Are Athirst

Anatole France · Diotimos Editions · 2026

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Meaning

Lemma.

Pur is used both as an adjective and, in un pur or les purs, as the name of someone claiming uncompromising doctrinal rigour. Dupont’s praise of Gamelin is tied to signing the petition; the purists in Blaise’s shop scene denounce erotic prints. The same language can therefore regulate political allegiance and artistic pleasure. At IV.38 the “purest” legislator is the Marat whom Gamelin reveres. The English alternates “true believer,” “purists” and “purest” according to construction; none certifies that the people so labelled are morally faultless.

Places to read

  1. Chapter I, paragraph 4FrenchTu es un pur.: political purity as personal praise. Dupont speaks to the willing signatory.
  2. Chapter III, paragraph 1Frenchles purs dénonçaient: purists denouncing suspect art. The narrator describes their complaint about fashionable erotic prints.
  3. Chapter IV, paragraph 38Frenchle plus zélé et le plus pur: superlative purity in political admiration. The passage follows Gamelin’s veneration of Marat.