Le patriotisme d’Apollinaire

­Apollinare’s patriotism has been a subject of ­controversy from the post-war period to the present day: its explicit presence in his œuvre has had a negative effect on the critical reception of the author. This patriotism is, however, a simple value of the era that needs to be ­contextualised. Yet the ­conjunction of patriotic values with the search for an experimental aesthetic is more original. Perhaps it is this which has rendered ­Apollinaire’s patriotism so difficult to accept.