Editing Victor Hugo (section)

== Nicknames ==
Victor Hugo acquired several nicknames. The first one originated from his own description of [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] in the introduction to his eponymous work. In this introduction to ''[[William Shakespeare (essay)]]'', he tried to delve into what constituted the genius of certain artists and described Shakespeare as an "Ocean Man":<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=BnF - Victor Hugo, l'homme océan |url=http://expositions.bnf.fr/hugo/grand/135_2.htm |access-date=28 November 2023 |website=expositions.bnf.fr}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Hugo |first=Victor |title=William Shakespeare |date=1864 |url=https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare_(Victor_Hugo)/I/I |pages=v–46 |access-date=28 November 2023 |place=Paris |publisher=A. Lacroix, Verboeckhoven et Cie, éditeurs}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Victor Hugo, l'homme océan: publié à l'occasion de l'Exposition "Victor Hugo, l'Homme Océan", présentée par la Bibliothèque Nationale de France ... du 20 mars au 23 juin 2002 |date=2002 |publisher=Bibliothèque Nationale de France [u.a.] |isbn=978-2-7177-2201-7 |editor-last=Prévost |editor-first=Marie-Laure |location=Paris |editor-last2=Hugo |editor-first2=Victor |editor-last3=Bibliothèque Nationale de France}}</ref><blockquote>There were indeed ocean men.<br>[...] all of this could exist within a mind, and then that mind is called genius, and you have [[Aeschylus]], you have [[Isaiah]], you have [[Juvenal]], you have [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]], you have [[Michelangelo]], you have [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]], and it is the same thing to gaze upon these souls or to gaze upon the Ocean.</blockquote>During his lifetime and in the 1870s, the expression to describe him entered popular culture.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=19 August 1874 |title=Le Gaulois : littéraire et politique |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k521350d |access-date=28 November 2023 |website=Gallica |language=EN}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=21 September 1874 |title=Le Gaulois : littéraire et politique |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k521383k |access-date=28 November 2023 |website=Gallica |language=EN}}</ref> It was later adopted by authors and literary critics, including Joseph Serre, who identified it with an expression he himself coined.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Serre |first=Joseph (1860-1937) Auteur du texte |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5504312p |title=Au large ! / par Joseph Serre |date=1890 |language=EN}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=texte |first=Compagnie de Jésus Auteur du |date=1 May 1894 |title=Etudes religieuses, historiques et littéraires / par des Pères de la Compagnie de Jésus |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k113634n |access-date=28 November 2023 |website=Gallica |language=EN}}</ref> This nickname became widespread during the 20th century and was used by the [[Bibliothèque nationale de France|National Library of France]] when organizing an exhibition about him.<ref name=":0" /> Since then, it has been frequently used in research and literary critics.<ref>{{Cite thesis |title=L' écriture des émotions dans l'Homme qui rit de Victor Hugo et ses lectures : illustrations, parodies, adaptations |url=https://www.theses.fr/2014PA070027 |publisher=Paris 7 |date=1 January 2014 |degree=These de doctorat |first=Brigitte |last=Braud}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=François-Denève |first=Corinne |date=31 May 2021 |title=Victor Hugo: la jeunesse d'un poète |url=https://u-bourgogne.hal.science/hal-03264783 |journal=U-bourgogne |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Corbellari |first=Alain |date=1 December 2017 |title=Paul Lacroix, "L'homme-livre" du xixe siècle, M. Le Bail et M. Charreire (dir.) |url=http://journals.openedition.org/studifrancesi/10688 |journal=Studi Francesi |issue=183 (LXI {{!}} III) |pages=570–571 |doi=10.4000/studifrancesi.10688 |issn=0039-2944|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Darge |first=Gérard |date=April 2009 |title=Le voyage de Victor Hugo aux Pyrénées, un voyage dans la mémoire |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0014385509000322 |journal=L'Évolution Psychiatrique |language=fr |volume=74 |issue=2 |pages=290–305 |doi=10.1016/j.evopsy.2009.03.009}}</ref> Alongside "Ocean Man," the nickname "Horizon Man" was sometimes used during Hugo's lifetime as well.<ref name=":1" /> Finally, researchers and literary critics, such as [[Henri Meschonnic]], proposed the nickname "Century Man" to refer to Victor Hugo.<ref>{{Cite web |last=texte |first=Académie du Var Auteur du |date=2002 |title=Bulletin de l'Académie du Var |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9603313v |access-date=28 November 2023 |website=Gallica |language=EN}}</ref>