#barricadescon

[barricadescon]

Jean Baptiste Hugo announced as Guest of Honor at Barricades 2024

Barricades 2024 is pleased to announce Jean Baptiste Hugo as one of our Guests of Honor for this year's convention. Jean Baptiste Hugo is the great-great-grandson of Victor Hugo. He has extensively photographed Hugo's home in exile on Guernsey, a project about which he said this: “In 2014, I was about to start a series of photographs of Hauteville House, where Victor Hugo stayed in exile for 15 years. I had the intention, picturing in my mind the dark gothic rooms, to use the legendary black and white 400 Tri-X Kodak film, known for its grainy quality and its rich black tones. It just happened that around that same period I started looking into the extraordinary colour possibilities offered by digital photography, having considered it for years , I must admit, as very inferior to black and white film. The introduction I was given to digital colour photography inspired me enough to try and capture as faithfully as I could the colourful atmosphere of my ancestor’s folly on Guernsey and, I am glad I did, as it allowed me to engage in an exploration of colour and texture in a very creative way which I am still pursuing today through other photographic subjects.”

#mine #barricadescon #les miserables #les mis #Jean Baptiste Hugo #guest of honor #Barricades 2024 #Guernsey #Hauteville House

[eldritchw1tch]

Preliminary Gayeties: Preparatory Materials for Interested Parties

Greetings, all! As you may be aware, @barricadescon​ (x) is happening this weekend. Myself (x), @shitpostingfromthebarricade​ (x), and @grantairelibere (x) will be hosting one of the social night panels, and we are BEYOND excited! Below, I’ve got a bit more information for you:

As you may know, Preliminary Gayeties is one of the chapters of the Brick, in which Grantaire, Joly, and Bossuet get a bit trashed while they wait for Lamarque’s funeral to reach the riot stage. The three of us have a fairly longstanding personal tradition of reading this chapter aloud and playing a drinking game whenever we’re together, and it is to this custom that we would like to invite all of you. Now, in order to fully participate, you may need some supplies! All versions of these supplies are equally valid, and certainly it can be played with simple water and any snackie of your choice. However, we find it is MOST amusing when you have a specific bev or snack to stand in for each one specified. To that end, we provide a guide below so that as many people as possible may be prepared to participate fully in our game!

First of all, we need some bevs:

The primary drink is (usually red) wine. For substitutions, we suggest: any wine you personally prefer, a wine cooler, grape juice, grape flavored gatorade/sports drink, any kind of purple drink mix, some water with red/purple food coloring in it, Just Straight Up Water, whatever speaks to you!

In much smaller quantities, the activity also calls for beer (specifically stout), brandy, and absinthe. 

For beer, we suggest: any beer of your choice, a nonalcoholic beer, some lemonade, Just Some Bread, ginger beer, ginger ale, any kind of cola, etc.

For brandy, we suggest: brandy, whiskey, any dark liquor, Just A Shot of Maple Syrup, tea, a shot of coke or pepsi, etc.

For absinthe, we will do The Ritual, in which you put a small amount of absinthe in a cup, put a sugar cube in a strainer above it, and slowly pour water over the cube until it has dissolved. For substitutions, we suggest: any violently green energy drink, mountain dew, sugar water with green food coloring, Just Eat Some Licorice, ouzo, a straight shot of lime juice, or anything else unhinged that your little heart desires!

For snacks, we suggest you have some bread, along with…

Oysters. For substitutions, consider: smoked salmon/lox, any shellfish or seafood of your choice, some nice oyster mushrooms, oyster crackers, gummies shaped like shells idk do they sell those, frankly Swedish Fish, etc.

Brie. For substitutions, consider: any kind of cheese or faux-cheese, any kind of Bread Spread you prefer, butter, flavored butter, jam, marmalade, etc

Ham. For substitutions, consider: bacon, turkey bacon, turkey, any kind of cold cut you prefer, thinly sliced vegetables, veggie burger, etc

#barricades #barricades con #barricades 2023 #les mis #les miserables #preliminary gayeties #shitpostingfromthebarricade #grantairelibere #perihelionicarus #rare remarks #les amis #breakfast club #barricadescon #drinking games #i am SO excited to share this with everyone #discorinthians #shitposting #perseus #percy

[bitchesmockthelaw]

So who’s gonna be the first to write fanfic with Jean Claude psychic snail or will it be me

#les mis #sneance #barricadescon

[psalm22-6]

“Fantine or the Fate of a Grizette”

I already thought this New York Clipper article, which describes a 1863 adaptation of Les Misérables at Grover’s Theatre, was cool because I love the list of principal characters. (Blancheville gets to sing a song? Marguerite is included!) But then I got to the last part, where they mention that it has music by Charles Koppitz! And realized that this is the production which David Bellos discussed at BarricadesCon! (Actually the title of the play could have tipped me off to that but it didn’t). The score can be found here. An interesting little piece of history. But by no means unique. Well, this production might have been uniquely good by the sounds of it, but there were quite a few adaptations of Les Misérables being put on around the United States in 1862 and 1863. The earliest I have found (so far) was October 1862, in Marysville California with J. B. Booth Jr. (brother of John Wilkes Booth) as one of the principal actors (I wish I had more to say on that but so far I just have a one sentence mention of it in one newspaper). And you’ll notice that in this article, they say “still another” play “has come to light since our last.” That’s because this article is from January 31st 1863, but on January 17th they had reported a different production of Les Miserables entirely that was also being put on. And the next month there would be at least two other productions put on in the area, reported on by the same paper (one of which was notably long, only ending at one in the morning and later being cut down so that it ended at 11).         (This article was in that super dense no paragraph break style of newspapers of the time so I have broken it up considerably for readability). 

And still another dramatization of “Les Miserables” has come to light since our last. This last is the production of Mr. Albert Cassedy, of Washington, D.C., and was presented for the first time at Grover’s Theatre, on the 19th inst., continuing through the week. Mr. Cassedy calls his work “Fantine, or the Fate of a Grizette.” The cast embraces the entire company, and as our friends may like to see the distribution of characters, we give it, as follows: — Fantine, Kate Denin  Jean Valjean, Father Madelaine, M. Madeleine, Mayor, Charles Barron Bishop of Myriel, Ben Rogers Javert, M. H. Bokee Tholomyes, D. Setchell Blackeville [sic] (with a song), J. L. Barrett  Scaufflaire, Harry Clifford  Fauchelevent, H. McDolanld Little Gervais (with a song), Sophie Gimber Prosecuting Attorney, Alonzo Read Host of the Inn, M.A. Kennedy Champmathieu, T. M. Wemyss Brevet, J. V. Daily Listolier, E. S. Tarr Favorite (with a song), Viola Crocker Madame Magloire, Mrs G. O. Germon Sister Simplice, Isabella Freeman Baptistine, Addie Anderson Marguerite, Fanny Ryan Dahlia, Ada Monk Zephine, Flora Lee Cosette, Little Katy Madame Victurnien, Minnie Monk Madame Thenardier, Jennie Monk Extra pains were taken to give due effect to this great work, and the full resources of the establishment were called in, to place the play in a proper manner before the public. New music was arranged by Koppitz, the “Nightingale;” and fresh scenery and skilful effects introduced. The last scene is said to be a gem; it is an allegorical tableau, representing the finding of Cosette by Jean Valjean, and the Apotheosis of Fantine. 

Here is a review from the Washington DC Evening Star, 20 January 1863 

Mr. Cassedy’s dramatization from “Fantine,” drew an immense house last night. The author has certainly been very happy in his adaptation, and having a company from which to cast his characters, whereon he could depend, the success of the piece was hardly to be wondered at. Mr. Cassedy has in a very felicitous manner woven into the representation every prominent feature in the book, and he has performed the difficult task of giving a somewhat prominent part to each of some thirty performers. If Mr. Barron could be induced to dispense with some of his spasmodic actions and fifth-rate melodramatic rant in the part of Jean Valjean, it would be all the better for the play. “Fantine” will be performed again tonight. 

#les miserables #other stage adaptations #Cassedy's adaptation #my research #barricadescon #lm in america #sorry if this is dense #i'm just not terribly good at summarizing things #and I have a whole lot of other posts about this era queued but I have a terribly long and disorganized queue #so it might take a while for them to work their way out #but I am pushing this one to the top

[musicalyikes]

i absolutely loved checking out the artists alley at @barricadescon and omg the zine and stickers from piecesofcait just showed up and needless to say there may have been a tear when i opened it and this print fell out 😭😭 also the packaging???? omg gorgeous stunning i was trying very hard not to tear it bc it looks so cool

and bonus she’s in australia!!

#got a notif that it showed up while i was at uni #so all day was very impatiently waiting for my classes to end so i could get home #absolutely gorgeous #barricadescon #piecesofcait #les miserables

[badlesmisimaginesofficial]

okay before we get going i do need to say obviously none of this is based on con events, nothing remotely approaching this did happen and if it had started to happen mods would have stepped in. 

okay, with that out of the way:

Imagine…

It’s been a fun but busy day at BarricadesCon and events are winding down. You’re still recovering from the high of the last panel - a staged reading of Hugo’s sewer erotica - and the Discord is calming down a little. You find yourself flicking between channels, too wired to sleep, when a certain channel catches your eye.

nsfw-chatting

You’d seen it when you first arrived in the server, you’d had to confirm you were over 18 in order to access it. You hadn’t given it much further thought, but now you find yourself hesitating for just a moment before clicking on it.

Most of it is the silly, tawdry stuff you’d expect: Les Amis A/B/O discourse, arguments about which of Theodule and Claquesous would top, typical chatter. Only one other person is online and active now, though, and their username intrigues you f(thommy)

Feeling oddly nervous, you begin to type. hey?

the reply is almost immediate. hey! i didn’t think anyone else was awake haha

The response immediately sets you at ease. so, what brings u here?

here as in barricades? or here as in, the nsfw-channel…?

You blush. either?

well, the same answer goes for both… here to meet like-minded individuals and form connections

Something about the unsaid implications of his response makes your blush deepen.

what about you, Y/N?

i guess, you type, and then pause for just a moment before finishing the sentence, i’m the same

that’s very convenient

You’re just trying to figure out what to say in response when he sends another message

shit, y/n, we’re breaking the rules

what? how?

we’re not keeping to the channel’s topic ;)

It isn’t just your cheeks that are aflame now. Even though all you can see is some crappy avatar, f(thommy) has aroused your interest in more ways than one

Heart pounding, you type, so what do you suggest?

There is only a momentary pause before the response comes:

i hope you’ve got a good imagination, y/n, cause you’re gonna need it. 

#badlesmisimagines #tholomyes x reader #barricadescon #'this is a work of fiction' i say as if any of the Other things i've written about have really happened #i fucked hugo while wearing an octopus suit dontcha know

[secretmellowblog]

Les Mis Hidden Name Meanings: “Fantine” (posting here because it got popular on TikTok)

Every character in Les Mis has a name with a deeper symbolic meaning— here’s a video I made for the official @barricadescon TikTok about the meaning behind “Fantine!”

Transcript and Digressions I left out of the video, under the cut:

Every charcater’s name in Les Mis is either a pun, a reference to a historical/mythological figure, or had some deep symbolic meaning — and sometimes it’s all of them at on.

The name “Fantine” comes from the french word “enfantine” or “childike, infant-like.” Her name basically means “Baby.” And obviously this speaks to her innocence and niavetee. But also “baby” is kind of,.,, well it sounds more like an informal term of endearment than an actual legal name?

And that’s because– Plot twist– Fantine isn’t her legal name! What is her legal name? She doesn’t have one.

And the reason she doesn’t have one is directly tied to political turmoil of the era she was born into.

Fantine grew up an orphan living on the streets, without a family without parents. Hugo tells us the origin of her name:

“she bore on her brow the sign of the anonymous and the unknown. (...)She was called Fantine. Why Fantine? She had never borne any other name. At the epoch of her birth the Directory still existed. She had no family name; she had no family; no baptismal name; the Church no longer existed. She bore the name which pleased the first random passer-by, who had encountered her, when a very small child, running bare-legged in the street. She received the name as she received the water from the clouds upon her brow when it rained.”

This moment is adapted beautifully in the Manga adaptation by Takahiro Arai, which I recommend to anyone who loves Les mis, manga, or any combination of those things.

But now let’s talk about the Directory.

To wildly oversimplifly a lot of complex history: Before the French Revolution, the Catholic Church’s records of baptismal ceremonies were often used as a registry of people’s legal names. During the French Revolution, the Revolutionary government– including the Directory– put in place a series of policies we now call “dechristianization,” where they attempted to dismantle the power of Catholic church.

Fantine was born during the age of these dechristianization policies. So she was never baptised, her baptismal name was never recorded, so she has no recorded legal or family name. She’s slipped through the cracks of the legal system, and ended up completely anonymous.

It sets Fantine up as this anonymous child of the Revolution– a stand in for everyone who was left behind when the Revolution was left behind, and kings were restored to the throne.

Fantine’s namelessness is meant to show atomized . How she has NO support system. She has nothing to connect her to other people, nothing to connect her to a support system.

Finally, the way Fantine tends to “slip through the cracks” is something that follows her throughout her life. When she’s fired from her job at a factory, Maroy Madeleine never learns of it– Fantine has this tendency to overlooked and forgotten. She is born anonymous and she dies anonymous. At the end of the story, she is buried in an unmarked grave, with not even the name “Fantine” on her headstone.

It ties into novel’s questions about which people we consider worth remembering, whose lives are worth being records.

And obviously Fantine is not the only character in Les Mis whose name has a deeper symbolic meaning. If you have any other Les Mis character names you’d like to explain, leave their name in the comments below.

Thank you for watching!

From the description of the original tiktok, here are some things that were left out of the video for time:

How this all relates to Cosette’s name(s)

Fantine’s nickname “The Blonde,” and how this relates to the way she’s dehumanized by Tholomyes

How the 2018 Bbc series fundamentally misunderstands Fantine’s character, and how one sign of this is that they give her a full legal first and last name

How Fantine’s name shows up/is revealed is significant parts of the story (like when Valjean reveals her signature on a letter to Thenardier, allowing him to take Cosette away)

How Fantine’s inability to write ties into the way it’s difficult for her to record her own story

How some of Valjean’s last words are revealing Fantine’s name to Cosette

Thanks again for reading!

#les mis #les miserables #Fantine #:3 #tiktok #barricades con

[torn-coattail]

barricadescon has got So Many les mis thoughts circling through my brain. anyway I realized I haven't drawn a good Grantaire in a while so here he is.

#grantaire #les mis #les miserables #my art

[shitpostingfromthebarricade]

Hey! It's coming up fast, but please consider checking out @barricadescon 2023!!! This year's virtual con will be 14-16 July and features both academic and fandom tracks!

I personally am part of two panels this year:

featuring the fabulous @thepiecesofcait and @thecandlesticksfromlesmis wherein we discuss our processes for characterizing the Amis in our respective mediums (writing, art, and film), and

with @eldritchw1tch and @grantairelibere , a social event where we read Preliminary Gayeties, eat, and drink along with the characters.

Even if these events don't speak to you, I strongly recommend checking out the con's events page to see if anything piques your interest! It's only $10, the money goes toward a good cause, and there are many scholarships available to anyone who wants to attend but can't afford to!

#barricades con #jean valcon #les mis fandom event #les mis #les mis fandom #if you remember me saying I was going to present on 1817: no you don't #(no I was but my job has been so insanely hectic the past six months that I have barely had time for recovery on weekends) #(much less has the bandwidth to collect all of the sources to support everything I know about The Year 1817) #*have #(and find info on the things I didn't totally get) #but this was so much fun last year! I highly recommend it!!! #also if you have time I understand that they are looking for volunteers for this year and future years

[barricadescon]

The full programming lineup is HERE! We’re excited to bring you a range of academic and fan panels, as well as meetups and our wonderful Guest of Honor, Bonnie Gleicher! 

Click here to see the con schedule on our website, and here for tickets!

If the cost of a ticket would pose a hardship, just drop us an email at [email protected] to request a scholarship! No need to disclose your circumstances; all you have to do is ask for one! We currently have multiple unclaimed scholarships readily available, so don’t hesitate to reach out.

The full text of the programming lineup is under the read more:

Friday:

Show and Tell / Meet and Greet (Concom)

Make Your Own Tricolor Cockade (Melannen)

Welcome Session (Concom)

Canon Era Queerness (Siggi)

Eine Welt Ohne Raum und Zeit (Ruth Kenyon)

Theaters of Crime in LM (Anna)

To Love Another Person Is to See the Face of God (MKat)

Hugolatres and Haters (Pslam)

Characterizing the Amis (Barri Cade, Eli, PiecesofCait)

Musical Fans Meetup

Saturday:

Researching Canon Era Fanfic (Lyra, Siggi, Jehane)

Fandom as Mutual Aid (megab)

Barricades in LM Adaptations (Percy)

Original Characters in LM Adaptations (PureAnon)

Fanfic Writers’ Meetup

Cholera in the Time of LM (Karen Davidge)

Social Hour

Academics Meetup

Staging LM in Amateur Theatre (PiecesOfCait)

Under the Eyes of the Revolution (Madeleine)

The Limits of the Inexorable (Maya Chhabra, Katherine Nehring)

The Secret Name of All the Virtues (Raven)

Preliminary Gaieties (Rare, Perseus, Barri Cade)

History Geek Meetup

Sunday 

The (Un)Making of A Human (Katrina Gomez-Chua)

From Bread Rioter to Communard (Elliot A. Davis)

The Canonical Racialised Language of LM (Nemo Martin)

The Convent Was Bad, Actually (Ellen Fremedon, PilferingApples)

Video screening / Closing Session (Concom)

Dead dog (Concom)

#les miserables #les mis #les mis con #barricades #barricades con #convention #barricadescon #barricades: a les mis convention

[thecandlesticksfromlesmis]

are you aware of any Les mis discord servers? I’m new here 🙋‍♀️

hi welcome!!!! There’s a whole bunch actually! They all are full of really cool people who do a whole bunch of different events, collabs, and just generally chat about Les Mis and other stuff!

Discorinthe: link

Sewers of Paris: Link

Lame Mis: Link

Les Mis Letters (reading one chapter of Les Mis a day for a whole year!): you can find their link at @lesmisletters

There’s also a Les Mis online convention that’s been happening for the past couple of years! It’s always been really amazing and fun for the whole fandom to participate in so go check them out too @barricadescon

#if any other server would like me to include them in this post lmk! #Les mis #Les mis discord

[bitchesmockthelaw]

Story I wrote for Jean-Claude Snestival Jam and Same Prompt Fic Challenge ‘22

All hell breaks loose at the Thénardier inn when Mr. Thénardier whips up a scam involving a séance… with snails

#les mis #javert #jean valjean #valjean #les miserables #jvj #barricadescon #les mierables #sneance #les memes #les miz #live slug reaction #snail #valvert #les mis fanfic #les mis fandom #eponine thenardier #azelma #Jean Claude #same fic prompt #shitpost #fanfic

[psalm22-6]

AAAH I'm super excited at the thought of you doing a panel for the next Barricades! You have so much cool research!

Thank you 😭 this is the nicest thing for you to say. A visiting uncle just asked me what I was working on and I had to awkwardly try to explain Les Vrais Misérables which is not an easy thing to explain...so I would just love to talk about this stuff with people who are interested.

#barricadescon #asks

[bishopmyrielfundraiser]

Offer #10 -- translation of Hugo’s writing by thearrogantemu

@thearrogantemu I’m offering a new English translation of Hugo’s writing, up to ~1000 words. Got a favorite passage you want to see a new take on, a poem, a letter, a chapter?

For background, I’m one of the people working on a Ninety-Three translation; we presented “The Limits of the Inexorable” at this year’s BarricadesCon. For an example of my work, see this translation of the beginning of the ‘loose cannon’ sequence from Ninety-Three.

Once the winning bidder sends me the text they want translated, I’ll send the translation back in about a week.

Opening Bid: $15

(See rules for bidding and offering here)

#submission #translation #victor hugo #Les Miserables #les mis #les miz #quatrevingt treize #ninety-three #and all of hugo's works!

[patron-minette]

Panchaud, Kruideniers, and the concept of “Celebrity Criminal”

This is a re-worked analysis of two of the Patron-Minette’s minor affiliates that I originally intended to use in my @barricadescon​ presentation Theatres of Crime in Les Misérables: Analysing the Patron-Minette (which I’m very excited to be presenting later today at 6pm UTC / 7pm BST / 2pm EST if you have registered for the con!) but it unfortunately ended up on the cutting room floor since I ran out of time in my recording! I’ve split these two research tangents into separate short notes below the cut. The first note explores Panchaud as a fictional criminal celebrity in the novel, and the second speculates the possibility that Kruideniers, alias Bizarro, was loosely inspired by a real-life celebrity criminal.

•

Panchaud: A Fictional Celebrity Criminal

You'd easily be forgiven for forgetting who Panchaud is. Being an extremely minor character in Les Misérables, Panchaud, alias Bigrenaille, alias Printanier, is described as a prowler of the barrières and affiliate of the Patron-Minette who is involved in the Gorbeau ambush and later arrested.

While Babet, Gueulemer, and Brujon manage to escape La Force prison alongside Thénardier during the spring of 1832, Panchaud is not as successful. Rather, in a passing sentence in Tome 5, we learn that Panchaud— together with another affiliate of the Patron-Minette called Demi-Liard— is sentenced in 1833 to ten years of hard labour in the galleys for his crimes. Yet, amid these fleeting details about Panchaud, most of which are easily forgotten, we discover that he later achieves the status of a celebrity criminal!

This passing piece of information offers a fascinating glimpse into the way society sensationalises immoral criminals, and once more is an example of crime being presented as a theatrical spectacle within the novel. Although Panchaud may be initially regarded as a cowardly character— as evidenced by his open fear of Javert during the Gorbeau ambush where he is afraid to shoot him and instead is the first of the roguish gang to turn himself in (although it is worth noting that he is the only member of the Patron-Minette to possess a gun, adding a dramatic element to his character), Marius alerts us in an earlier chapter to the fact that Panchaud had already acquired a notorious reputation for himself as a dangerous street prowler in 1832:

Cependant, quelle que fût sa préoccupation douloureuse, il ne put s'empêcher de se dire que ce rôdeur de barrières à qui Jondrette parlait ressemblait à un certain Panchaud, dit Printanier, dit Bigrenaille, que Courfeyrac lui avait montré une fois et qui passait dans le quartier pour un promeneur nocturne assez dangereux.

[Yet, whatever his painful preoccupation, he could not help remarking to himself that the barrière prowler Jonderette was talking to looked very like a certain Panchaud, alias Printanier, alias Bigrenaille, whom Courfeyrac had once pointed out to him and who passed in the quartier for a pretty dangerous night rambler. (Rose trans.)]

This detail is particularly interesting since the fame and notoriety of other Patron-Minette characters is never demonstrated in such explicit terms as we get here, not even in the case of the gang's four figure-heads! Remarkably, it is the only instance in the entire novel where a member of the general public who is not affiliated with law enforcement— Courfeyrac in this case— demonstrates an awareness of the criminal individuals that make up the Patron-Minette (although, please note that Hugo repeatedly emphasises at other points that the Patron-Minette gang was indeed widely known within the society depicted in his narrative, even if this knowledge is never explicitly portrayed).

Following this revelation that Panchaud had already attained a certain level of fame in 1832, Hugo then further intrigues us with an additional fleeting comment about Panchaud's life after the events of Les Misérables:

This Panchaud, alias Printanier, alias Bigrenaille, later featured in several criminal proceedings and has since become a celebrity crook. At the time he was still only a notorious crook. Today he is a part of the tradition among gangsters and murderers. He had a real following toward the close of the last reign. And in the evening, at nightfall, at the hour when groups huddle together and speak in hushed voices, they used to talk about him in the exercise yard called the Lions' Den at La Force. At that fabled prison, at the exact spot under the covered way where the sewer runs that was used in the incredible breakout in broad daylight of thirty detainees in 1843, you could even read, above the flagstones over the toilers, his name, PANCHAUD, boldly carved by the man himself on the parapet wall in one of his attempts at escape. In 1832, the police already had him under surveillance, but he had not yet seriously made his début (Rose trans.)

And it is here where we get to witness Panchaud’s ascent to true celebrity status, even if it initially seems undeserved— for we never witness him performing any remarkable deeds within the narrative! In this passage he is reminiscent of Schinderhannes with his daring prison escape, although we are still left to wonder if he was actually successful in fleeing. The success or failure of his escape is inconsequential however, seeing as the core of Panchaud's status as a criminal celebrity lies within the theatrical narrative that has been constructed around him. surrounding them. We don't get to read or experience his daring feat first-hand; instead, we are presented with a dramatic retelling, as if we were reading a sensational Penny Dreadful about the character.

Panchaud's act of carving his name into the walls of La Force also draws parallels to Brujon's father, another (briefly mentioned) character who carved his name into these same walls in 1811. Much like how the name of Brujon's father being remembered by prisoners indicates his famed criminal reputation and legacy, Panchaud's name being remembered bestows a similar sense of notoriety and fame upon him. And, it is these stories that are told about him which appear to solidify his reputation in the 1840s.

All of the glimpses that we catch of Panchaud's actions and personality— the very qualities that make him a "celebrity"— are inherently theatrical. His status is granted by the sensation he generates, and we become engrossed in the constructed image of the dramatic tales surrounding Panchaud, rather than truly knowing who he is. Like the figure-heads of the Patron-Minette, he too assumes a role and creates a persona, and his fame is constructed upon the stage that is crime. Thus, his celebrity status is intricately tied to the concept of theatrical crime and sensationalised criminals as seen popularised throughout society in the nineteenth-century (and continues to be seen even today)!

•

Kruideniers: Inspired by a Real Criminal Celebrity?

Like Panchaud, Kruideniers is a minor affiliate of the Patron-Minette who is mentioned only briefly in the novel, appearing on two occasions: first, when Hugo initially lists the names of the gang's affiliates— and second, in a fleeting moment where we learn that Brujon managed to sneak a note out to Kruideniers from within La Force prison.

However, what makes Kruideniers intriguing to me— and what makes him particularly relevant to the ‘theatrical crime’ concept— is not his actions, but rather his alias: Bizarro. Through the use of this alternative and unique name, it appears that Kruideniers' alias may have been loosely inspired by a real-life celebrity criminal!

Francesco Moscato, also known as Vizzarru or Bizzarro, was a real-life Italian brigand, mass murderer, and seducer. After being enlisted in the army for seducing the unmarried daughter of the family he worked for as a servant, he formed a famous band of murderous brigands and hunted men with his dogs. While he may not be widely recognised now and is rarely discussed outside of Italian and some French texts… during the nineteenth-century he was certainly a figure of fame, as evidenced by the numerous statues and artworks depicting him and his gang:

Although the name ‘Vizzarru’ is not an exact match for ‘Bizarro’, the near-identical similarity between Moscato's and Kruideniers' aliases is notable. It is also worth mentioning that other authors of the time, such as Alexandre Dumas and Sir Walter Scott, had also been inspired to write stories about this real-life celebrity criminal in this period. In 1832, Walter Scott wrote a novella entitled "Bizarro" (although it was not published at the time), and Dumas later wrote about Bizzarro in numerous texts including "Cento anni di brigantaggio nelle province meridionali d'Italia" (1863). I mention these two authors specifically since they were well known to Victor Hugo, and although this cannot prove that Hugo would have known about the famous Vizzarru, it does at least partially strengthen the idea that he might have been aware of this real rogue.

If we consider Hugo's fleeting use of the name Bizarro as a subtle reference to a real-life celebrity criminal, we once again witness the blending of fiction and actual criminality in an inherently sensational, theatrical manner. It also offers another glimpse into how Hugo's fictional criminals were likely inspired in part by various famed and dramatic rogues of Europe.

#patron minette #patron-minette #les miserables #les mis #barricades 2023 #barricades con #the brick #patron minette affiliates #les mis meta #panchaud #kruideniers #theatres of crime #historical context #meta

[earthly-apples]

been listening to the 93 audiobook on 1.5x speed and I have to say listening to the 93 panel on barricadescon twice totally paid off I have worms eating my mental stability away

I have the urge to beat Hugo with a spoon once more, like yesterday and the day before