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Start discussion for The Return of Martin Guerre by Natalie Zemon Davis.

Book Summary (Goodreads)

The Inventive Peasant Arnaud du Tilh had almost persuaded the learned judges at the Parliament of Toulouse, when on a summer's day in 1560 a man swaggered into the court on a wooden leg, denounced Arnaud & reestablished his claim to the identity, property & wife of Martin Guerre. The astonishing case captured the imagination of the Continent. Told & retold over the centuries, the story of Martin Guerre became a legend, still remembered in the Pyrenean village where the impostor was executed over 400 years ago. Now a noted historian, who served as consultant for a French film on Martin Guerre, has searched archives & lawbooks to add new dimensions to a tale already abundant in mysteries. We're led to ponder how a common man could become an impostor in the 16th century, why Bertrande de Rols, an honorable peasant woman, would accept such a man as her husband, & why lawyers, poets & men of letters like Montaigne became so fascinated with the episode. Natalie Zemon Davis reconstructs the lives of ordinary people, in a way that reveals the hidden attachments & sensibilities of non-literate 16th-century villagers. Here we see people trying to fashion their identities within a world of traditional ideas about property & family & of changing ideas about religion. We learn what happens when common people get involved in the workings of the criminal courts in the ancient régime, & how judges struggle to decide who a man was in the days before fingerprints & photos. We sense the secret affinity between the eloquent men of law & the honey-tongued village impostor, a rare identification across class lines. Deftly written for both the public & specialists, The Return of Martin Guerre will interest those who want to know more about ordinary families & especially women of the past & about the creation of literary legends. It's also a remarkable psychological narrative about where self-fashioning stops & lying begins.

About the Author

Natalie Zemon Davis is a Canadian and American historian of the early modern period. She is currently a professor of history at the University of Toronto in Canada. Her work originally focused on France, but has since broadened to include other parts of Europe, North America, and the Caribbean. Davis was born in Detroit into a middle-class family, the daughter of 19th century Jewish immigrants to America. She attended Kingswood School Cranbrook and was subsequently educated at Smith College, Radcliffe College, Harvard University, and the University of Michigan, from which she received her PhD in 1959.

Discussion Questions (from Wittenburg University)

General Questions:

1. What is Natalie Zemon Davis' argument? Is there a specific point that she is trying to make?

2. What is Zemon Davis seeking to add to scholarship? What gap is she trying to fill?

3. Is she objective in analyzing the story of Martin Guerre? Is she biased in any way?

4. On what sources does she base her examination? How does she employ her sources? Do the primary sources support her assertions and conclusions?

5. What are the particular strengths of this book? What are some of the weaknesses or flaws? What are some of the unique characteristics of The Return of Martin Guerre?

6. What implications does Davis' method have for the discipline of history and writing history? What is your general evaluation of the book and the author's approach?

Challenges to Davis' Objectivity:

The history forum in the June 1988 issue of the American Historical Review is dedicated to a critique of The Return of Martin Guerre and Natalie Zemon Davis' response to it. These essays are in volume 93 (June 1988) of the American Historical Review and available through JSTOR. .

A. Finlay, "The Refashioning of Martin Guerre, read pp. 553-571.
1. What is Finlay's basic criticism of the approach and conclusions in Davis' The Return of Martin Guerre?

2. Are Finlay's points convincing? What are the key points of difference between Finlay and Davis?

3. What does this article indicate about how historians do history? What issues does it raise about the question of interpretation? Historical objectivity?

B. Davis, "On the Lame, "pp. 562-603.
1. How does Davis respond to Finlay? How does she defend her approach and conclusions? Is her argument or defense convincing or unpersuasive? What evidence does she use?

2. What does Davis identify as the key differences between her interpretation and Finlay's?

3. What implications does her response raise for the study of history? The use and analysis of sources? Historical objectivity? Interpretation?

4. What is Davis' view of her contribution to the history of the sixteenth century? The history/story of Martin Guerre? Is she successful in defending her approach?

Final Evaluation:

1. What larger questions does the debate between Finlay and Davis raise for historians and their methodologies?

2. How did Finlay's criticisms of Davis' approach influence your response to or evaluation of the book?

3. How did Davis' responses influence your own response to or evaluation of the book?

4. What is your overall evaluation of The Return of Martin Guerre and Natalie Zemon Davis' methodology?

I found this an interesting story about identity theft in 16th century France. I think the author did a great job of researching the case and setting the scene with so little actual information.