Talk:Victor Hugo

Changing Infobox from officeholder to writer
As Writer was Hugo's main occupation (obviously) and since it is what he is generally known for, his infobox should reflect that per MOS:IBX. His political offices can fit within a module, so the opposite of the current set up. Aeengath (talk) 13:24, 26 July 2020 (UTC)

Rosicrucian?
He is included in the Rosicrucians category, but that doesn't appear anywhere the article. Are there good sources on his involvement, and which of the many Rosicrucian Orders he may have belonged to? AnandaBliss (talk) 17:36, 14 July 2022 (UTC)

Why was Victor Hugo known as the “poete de Satan” (poet of Satan)?
Indeed Victor Hugo seems to be linked to the occult, secret societies and the NWO and even mass mindcontrol psyops/cults. Does anyone know exactly why this historic worthy has been known as the “poete de Satan”? 2A00:23C7:2B13:9001:B9C5:EBE3:D19F:32C2 (talk) 04:12, 8 January 2023 (UTC)

If Victor Hugo was such an foe of Napoleon III then how comes there is (somehow) nowt beef between Napoleon III’s powerful backers (the SAinT simoniANs) and Victor Hugo?
I don’t get how it is possible to push a Victor Hugo/Napoleon III beef and yet there seems nowtlikewise between Victor Hugo and the (proto Communist/Fascist) Jewish bankers, the Saint Simonians - whom are on record as being hardcore backers of Napoleon III. What gives? 2A00:23C7:2B13:9001:6C74:6F3D:68ED:95CF (talk) 00:12, 11 January 2023 (UTC)

Eugenie Santa Coloma Sourget used Hugo’s texts in her songs
This information was removed from the article: Composer Eugenie Santa Coloma Sourget used Hugo’s texts in her songs. Source: https://www.lieder.net/lieder/get_settings.html?ComposerId=39387 T. E. Meeks (talk) 11:35, 18 July 2023 (UTC)
 * I'm the editor who removed the text; see this thread on the original poster's talk page for more context. Graham 87 14:57, 18 July 2023 (UTC)

Is the "Ocean Man" nickname appropriate and necessary?
In French, Victor Hugo was absolutely nicknamed "l'homme d'océan." However, I've never heard anyone refer to him as the "Ocean Man" in English. Even if relevant to include in this article, is it really appropriate to put this in the first sentence? I don't think the placement of the nickname there on his French-language page is a strong argument to keep it here on the English-language page. Dhmontgomery (talk) 00:13, 9 March 2024 (UTC)


 * @Dhmontgomery Hello, I was the author of the section on nicknames on the French Wikipedia before translating my contributions into English. This explains why the majority of sources in this passage are from French sources, not English ones. However, after a brief search for occurrences, it seems that English-language publications also use the nickname, not all of them obviously, but the nickname is regularly mentioned. Therefore, if there is an issue regarding the fact that the sources are in French (which should not be a problem in itself, as the sources are verifiable), it may be interesting to add English-language sources.
 * Those are some examples I was able to find very quickly, but I guess a more in-depth dwelving in English-speaking sources is necessary.(1)(2)(3)(4)
 * The last two sources are reviews, one of which is a review of the monography of B. Stephens (2017) in which he used the term to describe Hugo. Additionnaly, this expression to describe Hugo can also be found in other English-speaking sources than only academical literature, this can be seen here(5), for example.
 * Thus, it seems that it is sourced in French-speaking academic and non-academic literature (which in itself should be enough to keep the nickname, in my opinion, since it's usual to keep the nicknames people had in their culture even on EN:WP, especially when you think about Kings and monarchs that have various nicknames if they are for example French, both in French and English sources, one such example I think off right now is Peter of Castile, which was described as 'The Just' and 'The Cruel' in Spanish and French/English sources respectively, and we chose to keep both nicknames at the same time in the lead). But the fact is that it is also to be found in English-speaking (mainly academic) sources, even if it is at a lesser extent. However, I would suggest adding the English-speaking sources to the page instead of removing the nickname, which is sourced and developped in a whole subsection in the article. AgisdeSparte (talk) 10:22, 9 March 2024 (UTC)
 * As an aside on the matter, it seems evident to me that we should keep this nickname rather than the other nicknames he had in his life because this particular nickname appears to be the primary one given to him, more so than the "homme siècle" (the century man) or the "homme horizon" (the horizon man).
 * Historically, this nickname is also more interesting because not only is it used by Hugo in his own works, but it is used during Hugo's lifetime to refer to him, at least in French literature at the time. This means that the nickname is not posthumous but was indeed used during the author's lifetime to designate him. AgisdeSparte (talk) 10:26, 9 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Thanks for sharing that research. To be clear I think including and discussing "Ocean Man" in the Nicknames section is entirely appropriate (even though I don't think it translates especially well). I'm just suggesting it doesn't fit well in the first sentence. It's not necessarily self-explanatory and seems out of place without the discussion it gets further down. (I just searched through my ebook edition of Graham Robb's 682-page English-language biography of Hugo, and though the word "ocean" is mentioned dozens of times, both literally and in terms of the huge metaphorical emphasis Hugo placed on it, he does not once mention "Ocean Man," or "l'homme océan," or "Man of the Ocean" or permutation.)
 * For a contrast, the Jules Verne English-language article mentions his nickname, "The Father of Science Fiction," in the fourth paragraph and gives it context (a discussion of his writings in the science fiction genre in paragraph 3, and a caveat about other people who have been given the same nickname.
 * What I would propose is preserving the Nicknames section and its discussion of the Ocean Man sobriquet, and to reword the first sentence to read something like this: "Victor-Marie Hugo (French: [viktɔʁ maʁi yɡo] ⓘ; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician, considered one of the most important writers in the French language and all of world literature" (translating this phrase from the French page, "Il est considéré comme l'un des écrivains de la langue française et de la littérature mondiale les plus importants" — though a citation may be needed). Dhmontgomery (talk) 16:14, 9 March 2024 (UTC)