In a tribune in Le Monde, political scientist Francois Hourmant ironically analyzes the readings chosen by Nicolas Sarkozy upon entering prison: The Count of Monte Cristo and a biography of Jesus. He sees it as a sacrificial and conspiratorial staging, comparing the former president to Edmond Dantes and Christ. This strategy fits into the French tradition of the 'literarization of power'.
Everything has been said about the staging of Nicolas Sarkozy's entry into La Sante prison: a path of the cross and a paper Golgotha, with the two volumes of The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and a biography of Jesus. As political scientist Francois Hourmant explains in his Le Monde tribune published on October 26, 2025, Sarkozy portrays himself as a victim of a judicial plot and relentless judges, described as 'hatred' toward him. Like Edmond Dantes, he is unjustly imprisoned; like Christ, he suffers for others.
This sacrificial dimension, inherent to presidential rhetoric, takes on a conspiratorial tone, a concession to contemporary illiberal populisms and social networks. Hourmant notes that literature once again enters politics, no longer just to tie elected officials' ambitions to a cultural pantheon, but to forge a legacy.
He recalls historical examples: Valery Giscard d'Estaing comparing himself to Maupassant on Apostrophes, Francois Mitterrand evoking the 'Lamartinian thrill,' Emmanuel Macron posing with works by Stendhal, Gide, and de Gaulle on his desk. Charles de Gaulle chiseled his legacy in his Memoirs, uniting political and literary greatness. According to historian Christian Jouhaud, this 'literarization of power' has made France a 'literary nation' since the Ancien Regime.
These 'ceremonies of confession' idealize power through edifying readings and 'literary snobbery,' as depicted by Jean-Francois Revel in his essay on de Gaulle. Sarkozy thus promotes a new figure: that of the writer-president unjustly imprisoned, blending cultural distinction and victimization.