Joan of Arc in the New World
Joan of Arc, the famous Maid of Orleans, had an unusual historical fate. She joins in the pantheon the greatest figures of French history. Moreover, the Catholic Church, which had once condemned her, made her a saint in 1920. French Canada discovered Joan of Arc at the turn of the century through the press, an abundance of literature, theater and through song. The Catholic clergy made her a patriotic ideal. From then on, her image was annexed to nationalism and the defense of linguistic and religious rights of French Canadians. Feminism has also taken hold of her, the name «Jeanne d’Arc» has become popular and monuments have been erected and, in churches, her statues have been offered for popular devotion. This article evokes the passage of the Johannine figure from France to French-speaking America in the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century.