Cherchez Joan of Arc
by Steven Riel
Natick, MA
To read the full travelogue, click on the link above:
What
would a 21st century American find compelling about a trip
in northern France that traces the life of Joan of Arc from
her birthplace to where she was burned at the stake? Why
would a gay man who decades ago left the Roman Catholic
Church plan such a pilgrimage-like journey?
Although Joan changed history’s course during just one
particular era, her story has taken on the timeless quality
of myth. During Nazi occupation of France, she became a
symbol of the Resistance. Viewed more recently through the
lens of feminism, this uneducated 17-year-old peasant’s
ability to become a leader in a man’s world, and to stand
firm, without defenders, before the immense power of the
Church’s inquisitors, refusing to disavow her visions or to
remain clothed in female garb, attracted another
generation’s interest. At the same time, she has been
embraced as a symbol by the right-wing political party
Front National.
My itinerary in part tracks an inner journey. Many threads
have consistently led me back to this young woman whose
steely character emboldened a tottering nation. I am of
French-Canadian ancestry and share in how that culture has
often been under pressure on both sides of our northern
border, as age-old conflicts between English and French
echo. My mother was named after Saint Joan. In college,
while helping to lead the gay and lesbian students of
Georgetown University in a lawsuit against that Jesuit
institution, I participated in an excruciating deposition
and trial. Also during my undergraduate years, I wrote six
poems in response to six paintings by Maurice Boutet de
Monvel at the Corcoran Gallery depicting key scenes in Joan
of Arc’s life.