Civic Catechisms and Reason in the French Revolution PDF
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CiviC CateChisms and Reason in the FRenCh Revolution This page has been left blank intentionally Civic Catechisms and Reason in the French Revolution adRian veliCu Karlstad University, Sweden © adrian velicu 2010 all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. adrian velicu has asserted his right under the Copyright, designs and Patents act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. Published by ashgate Publishing limited ashgate Publishing Company Wey Court east suite 420 union Road 101 Cherry street Farnham Burlington surrey, Gu9 7Pt vt 05401-4405 england usa www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data velicu, adrian. Civic catechisms and reason in the French Revolution. 1. France–history–Revolution, 1789–1799. 2. France–Politics and government–1789– 1799. 3. Communication in politics–France–history–18th century. 4. Religion and politics–France–history–18th century. i. title 944’.04-dc22 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data velicu, adrian. Civic catechisms and reason in the French Revolution / adrian velicu. p. cm. includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7546-6998-2 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-7546-9829-6 (ebook) 1. France—History—Revolution, 1789–1799—Social aspects. 2. France— Intellectual life—18th century. 3. France—Politics and government—1789-1799. 4. France—Social conditions—18th century. 5. Reason—Political aspects—France— History—18th century. 6. Reason—Social aspects—France—History—18th century. 7. Civics, French—Study and teaching—History—18th century. 8. Catechisms, French— history and criticism. i. title. dC158.8.v45 2010 944.04—dc22 2010021525 ISBN 9780754669982 (hbk) V ISBN 9780754698296 (ebk) Contents Acknowledgments vii introduction 1 1 Catechisms: a Retrospective 19 2 Reason: usage and meaning 39 3 in two minds: Constitutional monarchy 57 4 Republican Questions 89 5 Republican answers 109 6 after thermidor 135 Concluding Remarks 153 Bibliography 157 Index 167 This page has been left blank intentionally Acknowledgments I would like to thank Professor Bo Lindberg for detecting merit and supporting this work at an early stage. The late stage of the book has benefited from the valuable suggestions and encouragement of two anonymous reviewers for ashgate Publishing. In between, Yvette and Per-Magnus Johansson have kindly facilitated a couple of séjours in Paris for collecting material. the swedish Research Council has financed the research for this book. This page has been left blank intentionally introduction Reason, will, power, education, compulsion: here is a sequence with a promising start and an unfortunate ending. it is also the sequence that structures this study of an unsettling paradox of the French Revolution. liberating thought, yet inculcating the notions of a new political culture were both part of the intellectual world of the Revolution. The radical regime attacked the old institutionalized forms of Catholic worship and its forms of instruction, although the catechetical outlook with its dogmatic mindset survived as an important form of political education. Consequently, there emerged jarring juxtapositions such as ‘revolutionary catechisms’. the promise of intellectual emancipation that reason could achieve after 1789 came up against a political pragmatism that required conspicuous manifestations of loyalty. verbal and visual displays added rhetorical and symbolic dimensions to the crisp political principles derived from ‘reason and nature’. the revolutionaries stated concrete aims in quasi-metaphorical ways, for instance, the creation of a new individual or the regeneration of the nation. once the political will inspired by reason was backed by power, the way was open for attempts to turn utopian intentions into reality. education and, later, a more varied pedagogical offensive were to achieve the transformation of people’s minds. two main choices were available: educating the people in order to develop their intellectual abilities irrespective of other criteria, and educating them in the spirit of political loyalty. these were Condorcet’s and Robespierre’s options, respectively (with Robespierre’s as the prevailing one in different versions). The need for radical pedagogical reforms stimulated the production of legislative bills, of comprehensive proposals and of didactic texts for civic education. this search for new pedagogical approaches ended up, ironically enough, by including the catechetical method as well. the coercive strain running through these emerging forms of political education accompanied from the beginning the campaign of intellectual emancipation that constantly invoked reason. Such conflicting intellectual cross-currents resulted in an unresolved tension at the very heart of the French Revolution. the present study outlines this tension, discusses its implications and suggests an explanation of a fundamental self-undermining feature of the Revolution. the explanation rests on the paradox built into the revolutionary values, concepts and practice: regeneration meant freeing the citizen’s mind while counting on the implicit effect of the catechetical drill. i suggest that arguments on crucial revolutionary undertakings – regenerating the people, changing society on rational principles – resorted to a series of oxymorons whose (apparent) absurdity was resolved in the rhetoric-saturated intellectual world of the Revolution. these uneasy juxtapositions were frequently the result of efforts to achieve an effect, be it
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