Étoiles, volcans et feux follets: le gaz d’éclairage, miroir des ambivalences du Progrès

Abstract: First introduced in the nineteenth century, gas-lit lamps are seen by many as a symbol of progress, especially as it is often viewed as material proof of the victory of the Enlightenment. But while it chased away the darkness, its explosive and flammable properties also made it a destructive energy, bearing witness to the risks that the march of History posed for industrial societies. Based on a mainly literary corpus, this article looks at the energetic ambivalence of this “air inflammable” as a mirror of the ambivalence of progress, in its unbridled enthusiasm and apocalyptic fears. Speed, profusion, stars, “Ville-Lumière,” will-o’-the-wisp, firedamp, furnaces, and volcanoes are all images that this double-edged energy, both beneficial and explosive, has conjured up in the collective imagination. (In French)