A sheaf gleaned in French fields: French national consciousness latent force of French national consciousness in Toru Dutt’s A sheaf gleaned in French fields

Toru Dutt spent some time in France read French poets and translated some poems into English with her sister Aru Dutt. This collection of translated poems was published as A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields in 1876. The present study critically examines the poems in this collection with memories of one’s native place and remembering French legends which act as a latent force of French national consciousness. “The Emigration of Pleasure” expresses the feelings of an emigrant who misses his native place and his mind remains preoccupied with the thoughts of returning to his motherland. “The Memories of the People” celebrates Napoleon’s fictional return. Napoleon has been portrayed as the protector of France and the hope of the people to avenge the defeat of France. “Roland” is an epic to the French as the Iliad was to the Greeks. It revives the collective memory and identity of the French and generates pride in lineage and French nationhood. “The Retreat from Moscow” is based on a historical account of Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow in 1812. Memories of legends, historical battles and emotional attachment to native things are evident as a latent force of French national consciousness in A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields.