French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Guesclin, From Elsewhere and Nowhere: Beggars, Vagrants, Tramps, and the Homeless in France since the Middle Ages
History, Politics and Society
From Elsewhere and Nowhere: Beggars, Vagrants, Tramps, and the Homeless in France since the Middle Ages
André Gueslin
PUBLICATION DATE: 13/02/13 PUBLISHER: Fayard ISBN: 978-2-213-66653-2 EAN: 9782213666532 FORMAT: Paperback NO. OF PAGES: 535 p.
Throughout history, vagrancy has challenged sedentary society. Whether poor or not, it has always intrigued. This plunge into the strange world of "From Elsewhere and Nowhere" seeks to track reality at ground level. Who, then, are these wanderers? Their multifaceted reality is examined here from the Middle Ages onward. Yesterday, they were able-bodied beggars, vagrants, wanderers, and migrants looking for work, gypsies, and "drifters" of all kinds...
Today, they are tramps and the homeless, undocumented foreigners, Roma and Travelers, backpackers... André Gueslin focuses on the semantic shift from the original "vagrant" to the modern "homeless person," attempting to trace a true genealogy of their similarities and differences over the centuries. Adopting a total history approach, he presents all facets of the existence of the impoverished wanderers—men and women "without"—asking: how do they live? What do they do? What do they believe in? The theme of their social exclusion lies at the heart of this book.
This world of otherness, assumed to reject work and therefore destitute, evokes compassion but also various fears. Throughout history, both dominant society and the State have responded to these fears with ambiguity and trial-and-error policies. Yet, representations are far from uniform. The bohemian allure of the open road has fascinated from Villon to Kerouac, leaving its mark on song, theater, opera, and cinema.
Thus emerges the brighter side of the road. Sacred in the early Middle Ages, then quickly demonized, the term "vagrant" acquired, by the 20th century, a valuable dimension of intellectual curiosity. André Gueslin, who achieves the feat of blending historical, ethno-sociological, psychological, and literary analyses, masterfully retraces the history of this wandering.
Contents:
THE WANDERING POOR IN THE MIDDLE AGES AND ON THE THRESHOLD OF THE MODERN ERA: FROM SANCTIFICATION TO DEMONIZATION
THE VULNERABLE: BEGGING VAGRANTS IN THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD, UNFORTUNATE AND STIGMATIZED BEINGS (17th–18th CENTURIES)
THE INVENTION OF A REPRESSIVE SYSTEM IN THE 17th AND 18th CENTURIES: CONDEMNED AND EXCLUDED BEGGING VAGRANTS
THE DESTITUTE IN 19th-CENTURY FRANCE
VAGRANT IDENTITY AND SELF-IMAGE: CULTURE OR SUBCULTURE?
PACIFIED REPRESENTATIONS OF WAYFARERS: FROM COMPASSION TO FASCINATION
REPELLENT REPRESENTATIONS OF THE WANDERING POOR: FROM STIGMA TO DEMONIZATION
ON THE ROAD: CONTROLLED BEINGS ON THE PATH TO CONFINEMENT
THE AGE OF THE TRAMP, TOWARD THE "DISAPPEARANCE" OF VAGRANCY (FROM THE EARLY 20th CENTURY TO THE CRISIS OF THE 1970s)
REPRESENTATIONS OF VAGRANCY FROM THE EARLY 20th CENTURY TO THE 1960s: THE FLOURISHING OF NEW MYTHS AND THE PERSISTENCE OF OLD ONES
* * *
An article about this book can be read on the website laviedesidees.fr:
André Gueslin adopts a total history approach to examine the multifaceted reality of impoverished wanderers across the centuries. Ranging from medieval able-bodied beggars and early modern vagrants to modern tramps, undocumented foreigners, and Travelers, the volume traces a genealogy of their similarities and differences. The text investigates how sedentary society has continually responded to these figures through ambiguous, trial-and-error policies driven by a mixture of compassion and fear. By blending historical, ethno-sociological, psychological, and literary perspectives, the author illuminates the daily existence, beliefs, and survival strategies of men and women living without fixed abodes.
Beyond strictly historical and socio-economic realities, the book explores the deep cultural representations associated with the open road. From François Villon to Jack Kerouac, the wanderer has long inspired a romantic fascination in song, theater, opera, and cinema, contrasting sharply with persistent social stigmas and repressive state controls. This wide-ranging synthesis is especially useful for readers interested in the history of social exclusion, poverty, and marginality in France. It sheds light on how society defines itself by its relationship to those who live on its margins, caught between rejection, romantic myth, and intellectual curiosity.