Peking University, April 16, 2019: At around 6:50 p.m. local time in Paris on the April 15th, a fire broke out in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. The landmark spire collapsed and the rose windows were burned down. Because of the special significance of Notre Dame in Paris, the damage caused by this fire is particularly influential.
In 1831, in the preface to The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hugo wrote: “A few years ago, while visiting or, rather, rummaging about Notre-Dame, the author of this book found, in an obscure nook of one of the towers, the following word, engraved by hand upon the wall: —ANAPKH.
These Greek capitals, black with age, and quite deeply graven in the stone, with I know not what signs peculiar to Gothic calligraphy imprinted upon their forms and upon their attitudes, as though with the purpose of revealing that it had been a hand of the Middle Ages which had inscribed them there, and especially the fatal and melancholy meaning contained in them, struck the author deeply.”
Having entered Hugo's novel, the spiritual and cultural significance the Notre Dame Cathedral undertakes is far beyond the building itself.
Because of the Notre Dame Cathedral fire in Paris, The Paper interviewed Dong Qiang, dean of the Department of French Language and Literature at Peking University. Professor Dong is a well-known scholar, translator, expert in comparative studies of Chinese and French cultures, who has long been engaged in promoting Sino-French cultural communication.
The Paper: “Every city has its landmarks which can be historically, culturally and religiously important. In your opinion, what does Notre Dame Cathedral mean to Paris?”
Dong: “The Notre Dame Cathedral fire is so shocking that I didn’t have a good rest last night. Paris has three landmarks: the Louvre, with its collection of cultural relics; the Notre Dame Cathedral, with its connotations in architecture, literary works, and all the emotional symbols of civilization derived from it; and the Eiffel Tower, the art of modern engineer as well as witness of the 19th century of Industry and Science. The Notre Dame Cathedral is not simply a building. You know there are many beautiful churches in Europe, especially Italy. However, Hugo has put the Notre Dame Cathedral into a historical, civilizational and emotional context.”
The Paper: Hugo wrote in the preface to The Hunchback of Notre Dame that the word “ANAPKH” in the dark corner between the two bell towers reminded him of the meaning of fate implied, and he was inspired to write The Hunchback of Notre Dame. How do you feel when you are reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame? What impresses you the most?”
Dong: I started reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame at an early age but it takes me a long time to fully understand it. It is the best illustration of classics, seemingly inconspicuous but springing to us on special occasions. The sight of a specific building, an event or a movie scene, will inspire us to re-read it. The Hunchback of Notre Dame creates sharp contrast between good and evil, beauty and ugliness, embodying the turning point where human advances from the medieval times to modernity.
On reaching the top of the Notre Dame cathedral, I saw that the Paris Tourist Bureau engraved Hugo's words on the plexiglass, which instantly evoked in me the vastness of time and space and the touch of human civilization.
The plexiglass says, “All Paris lay at his feet, with the thousand spires of its edifices and its circular horizon of gentle hills—with its river winding under its bridges, and its people moving to and fro through its streets,—with the clouds of its smoke,—with the mountainous chain of its roofs which presses Notre Dame in its doubled folds.”
The Paper: “What kind of loss do you think will be caused by the Notre-Dame de Paris fire?”
Dong: “I think the fire caused a huge loss, both materially and spiritually. Uncertainties and disasters abound in the world, like the Notre Dame Cathedral fire may cast shadows over people’s hearts. At present, it's still inspiring for Macron to say that they are going to rebuild the Notre Dame Cathedral. The damage caused by the fire is an emotional blow to many people. But now please don’t be superstitious or suspect racial antagonism and revenge without identifying the cause of the fire. It is usual for fires to occur in wooden construction. I believe that Paris would be able to rebuild the Notre Dame Cathedral given sufficient resources. Finally, I would like to stress that the distinctiveness of the Notre Dame Cathedral goes beyond history, literature and civilization. Whatever happens, it will stand in our hearts forever.”
Written by: Wu Fei
Edited by: Wang Xi & Wang Qian
