Le renouveau des comices agricoles en Anjou :
du progrès par l'excellence aux vertus de la tradition
Résumé
The renewal of the agricultural shows in Anjou : progress by excellence through to traditional values
The study presents the functioning of an agricultural show in Maine et Loire (Tiercé-Châteauneuf, in the area of Segré) from its creation until today. The problem was to know how an exhibition which grew up in the agrarian context of the last century could have survived and adaptated itself to the technical and social changes of the second half of the twentieth century? Before the war the agricultural shows were directed by local leading citizens who created them combining the mission of civilising the rural people with their own interests as big landoweners. The shows are presented as a popular festival but also as an institution putting on show the leaders of power. After the Second World War, the rural population turned away from this festival and the farmers who were convinced of “ Jeunesses Agricoles Catholiques ” ideas of equality quitted more and more this elitist exhibition stuckfast and too tied to the respect of former hierarchies. After a long period of quiet activity the agricultural shows renew today with popular success. They become an event where all the rural actors participate. Without being totally abandonned, the competitive shows are no longer just windows of avant-garde an technical performance but also privilege esthetic, sensitive qualities, developping the works artisanal aspects left aside by the modern farmer. These shows take place according to unchanged formal rules since their creation, however they conserve a political role : while carrying on a traditional scene, they are also a place of confrontation and mediation between the political world and the rural world.
The study presents the functioning of an agricultural show in Maine et Loire (Tiercé-Châteauneuf, in the area of Segré) from its creation until today. The problem was to know how an exhibition which grew up in the agrarian context of the last century could have survived and adaptated itself to the technical and social changes of the second half of the twentieth century? Before the war the agricultural shows were directed by local leading citizens who created them combining the mission of civilising the rural people with their own interests as big landoweners. The shows are presented as a popular festival but also as an institution putting on show the leaders of power. After the Second World War, the rural population turned away from this festival and the farmers who were convinced of “ Jeunesses Agricoles Catholiques ” ideas of equality quitted more and more this elitist exhibition stuckfast and too tied to the respect of former hierarchies. After a long period of quiet activity the agricultural shows renew today with popular success. They become an event where all the rural actors participate. Without being totally abandonned, the competitive shows are no longer just windows of avant-garde an technical performance but also privilege esthetic, sensitive qualities, developping the works artisanal aspects left aside by the modern farmer. These shows take place according to unchanged formal rules since their creation, however they conserve a political role : while carrying on a traditional scene, they are also a place of confrontation and mediation between the political world and the rural world.
L'étude présente le fonctionnement d'un comice de Maine et Loire (Tiercé-Châteauneuf, Segréen) depuis sa création jusqu'à aujourd'hui. La question traitée est de savoir comment une manifestation née dans le contexte agraire du siècle dernier a pu survivre et s'adapter aux bouleversements techniques et sociaux de la seconde moitié de XXème siècle ? Les comices d'avant-guerre sont dirigés par les notables locaux qui les ont créés, mêlant la mission de civilisation des campagnes à leurs intérêts de grands propriétaires. Ils se présentent comme une fête populaire mais aussi une institution mettant en scène les détenteurs du pouvoir. Après la seconde guerre mondiale, la population rurale se détourne de la fête et les agriculteurs, acquis aux idéaux égalitaires de la J.A.C., désertent de plus en plus une manifestation élitiste, figée et trop liée au respect des anciennes hiérarchies. Après une longue période de repli, des comices renouent aujourd'hui avec le succès populaire. Ils deviennent une fête à laquelle participe l'ensemble des acteurs ruraux. Sans être abandonnés, les concours ne sont plus les vitrines de l'avant-garde et de la performance technique mais privilégient l'esthétique, les qualités sensibles, mettant en valeur les aspects artisanaux du métier laissés de côté par l'agriculture moderne. Sur fond de déroulement inchangé de la journée de concours et de son protocole depuis leurs créations, les comices conservent également une fonction politique : tout en perpétuant une mise en scène traditionnelle, ils sont un lieu de confrontation et de médiation entre le monde politique et le monde rural.
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