There are many chapters in Les Misérables that I love. Still, Parvulus holds a very special place in my heart, and in this post I will try to explain why it means so much to me. (or : I’m still not sure how to join Brick!Club and this is a very awkward attempt at jumping on the bandwagon, pls @pilferingapples confirm for my peace of mind)
What is striking about this chapter is how short it is : barely a page. It’s an interesting way to start Paris étudié dans son atome, like swift paintbrush strokes across a canvas. The rhythm is quick, and each chapter helps to paint the portrait of the gamin. The listing of the many qualities and particularities of the gamin makes for the better part of the chapter, but that’s not what I want to bring light upon. There are two words that I think are really essential to the understanding of this chapter : Parvulus, and homuncio. Both are latin words -not surprising given Hugo’s love for latin- but here he subtly diverts from their usual meaning and use, and it makes the subtext 100% charming and painful at the same time.
Starting with Parvulus. I am fairly sure that most editions give the meaning for this word, but I do think that there’s more to say about than just what it means in its most basic sense. I cannot be sure what English translators translate it into, but in French, it’s ‘le tout petit’, aka 'the small one’. To understand how meaningful it is that Hugo made this the title of his chapter, I need to talk a bit about the word itself.
Parvulus is the diminutive form of the latin word parvus, meaning 'small’ and/or 'not much’. Parvulus upgrades this meaning to 'very small’. As you can see, the most basic meaning of parvulus isn’t what Hugo means when he uses it. That’s because parvulus is not generally a noun. In latin dictionaries, it’s listed as parvulus,a,um : it’s an adjective. However here Hugo doesn’t use it with any other word that could be identified as a subject. The word is alone, and it’s clear that it’s intended to be taken as such (tough latin loves to only imply words instead of stating them, it’s clearly not the case here). So what Hugo does is that he takes the diminutive form of an adjective (which can already be taken as a small joke on his part : a diminutive word for a small being) and he makes it a substantive.
Hugo takes an adjective and makes a noun out of it, and it highlights the tenderness of this chapter, especially when we reach the end. The gamin truly is Paris’ child, and it’s said right in the title.
You cannot understand how much this means to me. Using the adjective would just be describing the gamin, as he spends multiple chapters doing. But to start his serie of chapters, he not only gives us a name for the gamin type as a whole ; he tells us how frail yet charming they are. Diminutives in latin can have two meanings, that strongly depend on context : either they have a negative connotation or they are affectionate. Here, it’s definitely affectionate, and it warms my heart so much. Hugo has so much tenderness for the gamin, and he says so right from the start. Just, in a subtle, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it way. Or rather, 'if you don’t have extensive latin knowledge you’ll definitely miss it’ way.
Also, I like that Hugo brags to be the first one to use 'gamin’ in a book six chapters later, then gives us another nice name for them, but in latin because it’s even more pretentious and fancy. (and latin does convey connotation in nice, discreet ways).
Small digression while I’m at it : in III.3.7 Hugo says that the first use of gamin can be traced back to 1834 with Claude Gueux, and while it’s already super funny that he advertises for his own book, I still can’t believe that he so blatantly LIES. Hugo uses the word gamin in ch. II.5 in Notre-Dame de Paris. Which was published in 1831.WHY HUGO. I honestly don’t buy that he forgot about Notre-Dame de Paris, so I’m left with two hypothesis : either he considers Notre-Dame to be too much of an early work, or he wanted to bring attention to a more political work, rather than just a Romantic Book with Nice Architecture Digressions. Either way I’m sure he had a true reason for doing this and not knowing for sure Bugs Me. (I need to reread Claude Gueux damn) (if you want to discuss this with me PLEASE DO)
ANYWAY moving on to the next point : homuncio. This word bugged me so much once I decided to make some research for this chapter, and it was a frustrating search, let me tell you.
The complete sentence I’m refeering to is 'Homuncio, dirait Plaute.’ As Plautus would say huh, Hugo ? If you’re not overly familiar with Plautus, in a few words : Plautus is probably the most famous latin comedy playwriter of Antiquity.
Why the reference to Plautus, then, you may ask ? Well I’m glad you ask, because there’s a 50% chance that Hugo used it because References Are Nice. I checked all of Plautus’ famous comedies, and I found only two uses of the word (and a slightly altered version of it, though it has the same meaning). Not much to work on then. It is possible, I guess, that Hugo was Truly Refeering to one of these two occurrences. I doubt it, and does it even matter ? In the grand scheme of things… no. It doesn’t.
Hugo is always citing latin authors and great writers before him like a student name drops fifty authors in his essay in hopes that the teachers think he’s clever and well-read. Though, admittedly, Hugo HAS read them. But still. The reference to Plautus is mostly for show.
What matters is the nature of the word. And guess what ? Homuncio… is another diminutive. To be precise, it’s a diminutive of the word 'homo’, aka man/human. Even if we all know Homo is also a nice wolf name. (listen, I needed to make this ref to L'homme qui rit, it’s for my health thank you)
So Hugo took this short chapter, put two latin diminutives into it, all to talk about the Small Gamin character type. Way to lay it off heavy even in the STRUCTURE of the novel, thanks Hugo.
This chapter is mostly upbeat. The long, flowing sentences, the enumeration. All of it can seem strangely cheerful when truly the subject is child poverty. It’s strange, because Hugo definitely feels for these kids who live in the streets and survive as they can in a hostile world, but he still paints them as cheerful fairy types, who laugh more often than they cry and make the most of any situation.
That’s also what the word Homuncio implies, if one doesn’t look more into it : Plautus is a comedy author, so it’s easy to disregard the word (which I personally have never find explained by notes in any editions, please do tell me if some English ones do explain it) as a nice funny thing to call gamins and call it a day.
The truth is far from that. I haven’t found much information in my latin dictionary, because this word is seldom used. I did manage to confirm that it’s a diminutive, but it’s its meaning that interests me the most : homuncio means 'poor little man’, as listed in its definition in the Gaffiot. That’s an interesting way to put it, right ? Where parvulus was really caring, homuncio carries the second use of diminutives : it’s connoted negatively, and it’s even sometimes pejorative.
Why, then, use this word ?
It may seem a bit far-stretched, but the fact that these two latin words are used mere sentences apart drives me to believe they can be taken as parallels. One is tender and kind ; the other is seemingly funny but ultimately denounces a sad truth : there are children in Paris who have neither food nor a home. Plautus is a comedy playwriter ; he’s also known for his sharp pen, and his plays make fun of society’s many flaws. That’s why Hugo prefers him over Terence in this particular chapter.
I checked as many uses of the word homuncio as I could. It was… difficult, because the word is really rarely used, but it was enough to confirm that it’s definitely a negative word. Plautus can use it to mock ; Cicero uses it to pity. Both of them use it to denounce.
From here, I can only wonder if homuncio could, potentially, be a subtle way for Hugo to make the readers remember that the gamins too, belong to the Misérables of the human kind.
