85

Dès le Moyen Âge, les juifs d’Europe furent contraints de porter des marques distinctives d’une variété de formes et de couleurs. La plus connue était la rouelle jaune. Ces marques – parfois des badges, parfois des chapeaux – avaient pour but de différencier les juifs de la population chrétienne, mais pour les juifs qui devaient les porter, ils faisaient bien plus que cela, ils avaient un effet profondément humiliant. On a longtemps cru que la couleur, en particulier le jaune, était ce qui conférait leur caractère humiliant aux signes distinctifs. Cet article montre que l’impact de la couleur était plus complexe : d’une part, elle pouvait certes contribuer aux connotations négatives du signe, mais d’autre part, de par sa fluidité, elle était précisément ce qui permettait aux juifs de résister aux marques et de combattre leurs effets nocifs.

From the Middle Ages on, European Jews were made to wear distinctive signs. Those signs came in a variety of shapes and colours, but the best known was the yellow badge. The distinctive signs were meant to separate Jews visually from the Christian population, but for the Jews that had to wear them, they were far more than a sign: their effect was deeply humiliating. It has long been considered that their yellow colour was what made those signs humiliating. This article shows that the impact of that colour was more complex: the fact that it was yellow could indeed contribute to the negative connotations of the signs, but its fluidity was precisely what enabled the Jews to resist those markings and to fight against their noxious effects.

Desde a Idade Média que os Judeus da Europa foram obrigados a exibir traços distintivos que assumiram várias formas e cores, sendo a roda amarela um dos mais conhecidos. Estes traços – insígnias ou chapéus –, cujo objetivo era distinguir os Judeus dos Cristãos, tiveram um efeito profundamente humilhante para quem os ostentava. Este artigo mostra que as implicações do uso da cor foram, na verdade, bem mais complexas: se, por um lado, a cor conferia uma conotação negativa ao signo, permitia aos Judeus, por outro lado, resistir ao estigma e combater os seus efeitos nocivos.