L'"Histoire d’une maison" et l’"Histoire d’un hôtel de ville et d’une cathédrale" de Viollet-le-Duc : représentation fictionnelle et documentation terminologique

Viollet-le-Duc's conception of architecture, as expressed in the "Entretiens sur l'architecture" (1863-1872), is shown in his project with broader ambitions: the transmission of this knowledge through texts that favour the passage from the written word to the image and make it easier to assimilate facts and ideas, theory and practice. After illustrating the linguistic and cultural objective of this research, the analysis of the relationship established by Viollet-le-Duc between terminologies and the dissemination of knowledge in the field of architecture is observed in his diverse production (specialised dictionary, works of fiction, essays, illustrations). The pape then examines the linguistic and metalinguistic strategies used by Viollet-le-Duc to popularise architectural concepts (various markers, comments, explanations). The identification and classification of the typological variation of glosses highlight the care of the author towards his addressees as well as his concern for terminological and definitional rigour: this aspect only confirms the hypothesis of the construction of a "meta-architecture" intended for the circulation of the complexity of knowledge.