Contenu du sommaire : André Mazon et les études slaves

André Mazon as a Linguist No doubt, André Mazon (1881-1967) considered himself as a philologist. All his life, he has been interested in the multidimensional approach of ancient texts which different aspects he explored: linguistic, literary (with a special interest in text history) and cultural. Mazon is nonetheless the author of several important and clearly linguistic works: two dissertations devoted to the verbal aspect, two grammars (of Czech and Russian) and several papers dealing with linguistic problems. Mazon was a Slavist in the full sense of the word, mastering several Slavic languages (Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Czech, Serbo-Croatian and Polish). He spent more than nine years in Slavic countries. After having recalled his role as a linguist during World War I, the article focuses on three aspects of his liguistic thought: 1. aspectology; 2. his approach of phonetics and resistance to Praguian phonology; 3. a classification of Russian verbs (he refused to radically separate synchrony and diachrony). The article points out the still valuable importance of his aspectologic works.

Mazon and the Debate About the Slovo o Polku Igoreve The aim of this article is to determine what part André Mazon played in the discussion about the Slovo o Polku Igoreve. Before Mazon, nobody had undertaken a serious study concerning the authenticity of this epic poem. A. Mazon first opened the debate, asserting, contrary to accepted opinion, that Zadonščina was prior to the Slovo and that the Slovo o Polku Igoreve is only a forgery. Unfortunately, as we will explain, this scientific discussion very quickly turned into a polemical one and at times into an offending one. There are many reasons for this and the aim of this article is to show the most important of them. Mazon in this dispute has indiscutably pioneered and such an attempt, even if miscarried, deserves our esteem.

André Mazon, a 20th Century Slavist Political Profile of a Scholar More than other fields, Slavic Studies are marked by a strong ideological bias, even if denied by its scholars. The work of André Mazon (1881-1967), the ‘leader' of French Slavic Studies for several decades, proves to be a good example. From 1918 on, he is marked by two fundamental influences: the ‘religion' of scientific exchange, and a deep interest in Russian and Czech intellectual spaces. At the same time, he sees the Slavic world as a whole. This article tries to show the political commitments of a scholar and his evolution when confronted with the great events of his time. The aim is also to be a starting point for a wider research on French Slavists.

André Mazon and Soviet-French Scientific Relations (1917-1939) Mazon's relations with the Russian scientific world start a long time before the 1917 Revolution. In the middle of the 1920's, Mazon becomes secretary of the French Committee for the strengthening of scientific relations with Russia, which was created in 1925. He takes an active part in the renewal and further development of these relations. The role of the committee mostly covers the exchange of scholarly publications and the organization of scientific missions. But its activity strongly depends on the state of the USSR's internal and foreign policies: the growing strength of Stalin's regime is reflected, notably, through purges organized in the academic institutions at the end of the 1920's, practically putting an end to scientific exchanges with France. In 1934-1935, for a brief period, it becomes suddenly possible to revive this exchange and to organize it at the highest level. André Mazon and the Committee are progressively compelled to work more and more through the VOKS (All-Union Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries), which also deals with scientific relations. However, this Society is less concerned by scientific matters and more by the promotion of a certain image of the USSR. In such a context, the work of A. Mazon and of the Committee come to a dead-end.