Marie Antoinette at Petit Trianon: Heritage Interpretation and Visitor Perceptions PDF
Preview Marie Antoinette at Petit Trianon: Heritage Interpretation and Visitor Perceptions
Marie Antoinette at Petit Trianon Marie Antoinette at Petit Trianon challenges common perceptions of the last Queen of France, appraising the role she played in relation to the events of the French Revolution through an original analysis of contemporary heritage practices and visitor perceptions at her former home, the Petit Trianon. Controversy and martyrdom have placed Marie Antoinette’s image within a spectrum of cultural caricatures that range from taboo to iconic. With a foundation in critical heritage studies, this book examines the diverse range of contemporary images portraying Marie Antoinette’s historical character, showing how they affect the interpretation and perception of the Petit Trianon. By considering both producers and receivers of these cultural heritage exponents – Marie Antoinette’s historical fi gure and the historic house museum of the Petit Trianon – the book expands current understandings of twenty-fi rst century cultural heritage perceptions in relation to tourism and popular culture. A useful case study for academics, researchers and postgraduate students of cultural heritage, it will also be of interest to historians, keepers of house museums and those working in the fi eld of tourism studies. Denise Maior-Barron is a Visiting Research Fellow at the School of Tourism, Plymouth University, UK, and a Reader at the Huntington Library, California, USA. She obtained her PhD from Plymouth University in collaboration with the Château de Versailles, France, following two consecutive research internships at this UNESCO heritage site. Her research focuses on critical cultural heritage and tourist consumption, with an emphasis on rehabilitative history and popular-culture representations in the social imaginary. Praise for this book: ‘Marie-Antoinette has become a “commodity” for audiences the world over, and the restored Petit Trianon fl oods with visitors. This fi ne book by Denise Maior-Barron brings a completely new, multidisciplinary perspective, omit- ting none of the historical or socio-political aspects of the Queen’s mythol- ogy. The confrontation set out by the author between the work of historians and visitor perceptions will undoubtedly provoke passionate debate, just as it will reveal the deep gap between myth and objective research.’ Jérémie Benoît, Chief Curator, Petit Trianon, France ‘Denise Maior-Barron cleverly unveils the many ways Marie Antoinette was and is perceived. Her well-researched book provides new insights about interactions within the heritage process and industry, between politics, popu- lar culture and tourism, which reveal how history, with help from artifi cial memories, is often manipulated, misinterpreted and misunderstood. In so doing, she challenges the orthodoxy of much historical analysis that seeks only one truth in the past.’ John Barnes, Chief Executive, Historic Royal Palaces , UK ‘Not just a monograph on two topics of apparently perennial public interest, Marie Antoinette and the Petit Trianon, but a fascinating bran tub of related themes: historical revision, art and architectural history, political manipula- tion, the falsifi cations of mass media promotion and so it goes on.’ Martin Foley , Director, El Porvenir, Casa Museo Feliciano Béjar, Mexico Routledge Studies in Heritage International Heritage and Historic Building Conservation Saving the World’s Past Zeynep Aygen Corporate Responsibility for Cultural Heritage Conservation, Sustainable Development, and Corporate Reputation Fiona Starr Counterheritage Critical Perspectives on Heritage Conservation in Asia Denis Byrne Industrial Heritage Sites in Transformation Clash of Discourses Edited by Heike Oevermann and Harald A. Mieg Conserving Cultural Heritage Challenges and New Directions Edited by Ken Taylor, Archer St Clair, and Nora Mitchell The Making of Heritage Seduction and Disenchantment Edited by Camila del Mármol, Marc Morell and Jasper Chalcraft Heritage and Memory of War Responses from Small Islands Edited by Gilly Carr and Keir Reeves Marie Antoinette at Petit Trianon Heritage Interpretation and Visitor Perceptions Denise Maior-Barron www.routledge.com/Routledge-Studies-in-Heritage/book-series/RSIHER Marie Antoinette at Petit Trianon Heritage Interpretation and Visitor Perceptions Denise Maior-Barron First published 2019 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2019 Denise Maior-Barron The right of Denise Maior-Barron to be identifi ed as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-1-138-56556-2 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-12308-0 (ebk) Typeset in Sabon by Apex CoVantage, LLC Some of the fi gures in this book can be seen in colour on the book’s product page: www.routledge.com/9781138565562 To my grandparents, Maria and Nicolae Maior, whose lives were shattered by the Romanian Communist regime, and to those others who inspired me since an early age to believe in Art and its power to bring refuge and reconciliation at all levels: the timeless painter Madame Paiu, together with artist and architect – mother and son – Nina and Boris Stuparu . Contents Illustrations xi Preface xvi Acknowledgements xviii Introduction 1 1 ‘Places of memory’ in the nationalist era of the French Third Republic 10 2 ‘Places of memory’ anchored in postmodernity 29 3 Methodology and fi eldwork research at the Petit Trianon 49 4 Historical and cinematic narratives encoding Marie Antoinette’s contemporary perception 82 5 Eighteenth-century architectural and heritage narratives of the Petit Trianon 128 6 ‘Memories’ of Marie Antoinette: Field research evidence at the Petit Trianon 163 7 ‘Ange ou Démon?’: Contemporary images of the last Queen of France at the Petit Trianon 201 Conclusion 250 Appendices: Questionnaires 259 A.1 Semi-structured questionnaire for French nationals completed by the interviewer – French-language version also applied to other nationals 261
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