The Shaping of French National Identity: Narrating the Nation's Past, 1715–1830 PDF
Preview The Shaping of French National Identity: Narrating the Nation's Past, 1715–1830
THE SHAPING OF FRENCH NATIONAL IDENTITY TheShapingofFrenchNationalIdentitycastsnewlightontheintel- lectual origins of the dominant and ‘official’ French nineteenth- centurynationalnarrative.Focusingonthehistoricaldebatestaking placethroughouttheeighteenthcenturyandduringtheRestoration, MatthewD’Auriaevokesatimewhenthenation’soriginswerebeing questionedanddiscussedandwhentheyacquiredthemeaninglater enshrinedintheofficialrhetoricoftheThirdRepublic.Heexamines how French writers and scholars reshaped the myths, symbols, and memories of pre-modern communities. Engaging with the myth of ‘our ancestors the Gauls’ and its ideological triumph over the com- petingmythof‘ourancestorstheFranks’,thisstudyexplorestheways inwhichthestruggledeveloped,andthevaluesthatthetwodiscourses consecrated, the collective actors they portrayed, and the memories theyevoked.D’Auriadrawsattentiontothecontinuitybetweenethnic discourses and national narratives and to the competition between various groups in their claims to represent the nation and to define theirpastasthe‘true’historyofFrance. matthewd’auriaisalecturerinModernEuropeanHistoryatthe University of East Anglia. His main research interest lies in the relationship between images of the nation and discourses about Europe.Amonghismanypublicationsonthistopicare,withMark Hewitson(eds.),EuropeinCrisis:IntellectualsandtheEuropeanIdea, 1917–1957 (Berghahn, 2012) and, with Jan Vermeiren (eds.), Visions andIdeasofEuropeDuringtheFirstWorldWar(Routledge,2019).He iscurrentlycoediting,withCathieCarmichaelandAvielRoshwald, The Cambridge History of Nationhood and Nationalism (Cambridge UniversityPress,forthcoming). Published online by Cambridge University Press new studies in european history Editedby peter baldwin,UniversityofCalifornia,LosAngeles christopher clark,UniversityofCambridge james b. collins,GeorgetownUniversity mia rodr´ıguez-salgado,LondonSchoolofEconomics andPoliticalScience lyndal roper,UniversityofOxford timothy snyder,YaleUniversity TheaimofthisseriesinearlymodernandmodernEuropeanhistoryistopublish outstanding works of research, addressed to important themes across a wide geographical range, from southern and central Europe, to Scandinavia and Russia,fromthetimeoftheRenaissancetothepresent.Asitdevelopstheseries willcomprisefocusedworksofwidecontextualrangeandintellectualambition. Afulllistoftitlespublishedintheseriescanbefoundat: www.cambridge.org/newstudiesineuropeanhistory Published online by Cambridge University Press THE SHAPING OF FRENCH NATIONAL IDENTITY ’ 1715–1830 Narrating the Nations Past, MATTHEW D’AURIA UniversityofEastAnglia Published online by Cambridge University Press UniversityPrintingHouse,Cambridgecb28bs,UnitedKingdom OneLibertyPlaza,20thFloor,NewYork,ny10006,USA 477WilliamstownRoad,PortMelbourne,vic3207,Australia 314–321,3rdFloor,Plot3,SplendorForum,JasolaDistrictCentre, NewDelhi–110025,India 79AnsonRoad,#06–04/06,Singapore079906 CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge. ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence. www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107128095 doi:10.1017/9781316423189 ©MatthewD’Auria2020 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2020 AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData names:D’Auria,Matthew,author. title:TheShapingofFrenchNationalIdentity:NarratingtheNation’sPast,1715–1830/ MatthewD’Auria,UniversityofEastAnglia. othertitles:Narratingthenation’spast,1715–1830 description:Cambridge,UnitedKingdom;NewYork,NY:CambridgeUniversityPress, 2021.|Series:NewstudiesinEuropeanhistory|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. identifiers:lccn2020028715(print)|lccn2020028716(ebook)|isbn9781107128095 (hardback)|isbn9781316423189(ebook) subjects:lcsh:Nationalcharacteristics,French.|Groupidentity–France–History.| Nationalism–France.|France–History–18thcentury.|France–History–1789–1815. classification:lccdc34.d352021(print)|lccdc34(ebook)|ddc944/.034–dc23 LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2020028715 LCebookrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2020028716 isbn978-1-107-12809-5Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof URLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain, accurateorappropriate. Published online by Cambridge University Press To my parents For their loving care and their unwavering support Published online by Cambridge University Press Published online by Cambridge University Press Contents Acknowledgements pageix NoteonSources xiii Introduction:NarratingtheNation–FromtheNineteenth totheEighteenthCentury 1 TheNationandItsPast(s) 6 HistoriansandtheMakingofNationalNarratives 11 Shapinga‘French’Past 15 Distinctions:Races,NationalCharacters,andClasses 22 part i 1 Race,Blood,andLineage:TheNobility’sNationalNarrative andtheHistoryofFrance 29 Eighteenth-CenturyNotionsofRace 29 TheRoyalRaceandtheDukedeSaint-Simon’sNobilityofBlood 41 Time,Education,andSacrifice:FromNobleLineagestoBourgeoisEthnicities 53 2 HistoryandRace:TheSubjectofBoulainvilliers’sNational Narrative 66 Boulainvilliers’sSeditiousHistoriography 66 ‘Boulainvilliers’sTransformation’:Anti-histories,Politics,andAnthropology 76 TheNationandHierarchicalOpposition 87 3 DebatingtheNation’sHistory:FromRoyal(ist) toEthnicOrigins 96 NicolasFréret,thePèreDaniel,andtheContestedOriginsofthe FrenchNation 96 RethinkingthePast:The‘ScienceofOurSocialOrigins’ 107 ContestingBoulainvilliers:TheAbbéTrianon,Foncemagne,andDubos 115 vii Published online by Cambridge University Press viii Contents part ii 4 ThinkingtheNation’sCharacter:AttheCrossroads ofLiterature,Anthropology,andHistory 129 DefiningaCaractèreandTellingItsStory 129 IndividualandNationalCharacter 137 SocialDistinctions:EmbodyingtheNation’sCharacter 154 5 MoralandPhysicalCauses:Montesquieu’sHistoryofNations 168 NationalCharacterandMoralandPhysicalCauses:Montesquieuand (aFewof)HisPredecessors 168 MontesquieuonFreedom:HistoryandtheNation’sMoeurs 182 Montesquieu,theFranks,andtheGallo-Romans 199 6 DebatingtheNation’sHistory:Franks,Gauls,andthe FrenchCharacter 214 TheFranks,TheirCharacter,andTheirFreedom 214 GermanicFreedom(s)andMythsofRegeneration:MablyandLézardière 224 OnRomans,Celts,andGauls 234 part iii 7 ClassifyingtheNation:ThePast(s)of‘SocialClasses’before andaftertheRevolution 249 ThinkingaboutClassesbefore1789 249 SieyèsandtheThirdEstate/Nation 266 FromSieyèstotheCountdeSaint-Simon:RethinkingtheHistoryofClasses 277 8 ABourgeoisNationalNarrative:OnAugustinThierry’s RéformeHistorique 291 TheNation’sHistoryandtheBiographyofPower 291 NarrationComplèteandthePoliticsofHistory 299 ThePerennialSubject(s)oftheNation’sHistory 311 9 DebatingtheNation’sHistory:RestoringtotheBourgeoisie itsLostPast 322 Burghers,Bourgeois,andClasses:deBréquigny,LeGendre,d’Argenson, andMably(Again) 322 ClassesandtheFrenchConstitutioninthePre-revolutionary andtheEarlyRevolutionaryYears 334 IntheWakeoftheRevolution:Montlosier,Guizot,andMignet 344 Conclusion:AboutRenan–DecidingtheNation’sIdentity 359 Bibliography 369 Index 447 Published online by Cambridge University Press Acknowledgements My interest in the history of nationhood and nationalism dates from my undergraduateyearsattheUniversityofNaples,L’Orientale.Whilethere, I had the pleasure and privilege of meeting Biagio De Giovanni. An intellectual historian and a historian of political thought, his modules on the history and politics of European integration had a lasting impact on me.ItwasthankstohimthatIfirstreadtwobooksthatwould,ineffect, shape my research interests up until today: Federico Chabod’s Storia dell’idea d’Europa (1961) and L’idea di nazione (1961), both originally delivered as lectures at the University of Milan under Fascist and Nazi occupation.DeGiovanni’ssupervisionofadissertationonideasofnation- hoodinFranceandGermanyduringtheFrenchRevolutiondidmuchto determinethedirectionofmyfutureresearch,concernedasitstillistoday withthe interaction between imagesof thenation and visions of Europe. After graduating, and inspired by his teaching, I began work on a PhD project that would eventually become the basis of the present book. The research and writing of my doctorate would prove to be an extremely rewarding and fulfilling experience, and this largely thanks to my super- visor,MarkHewitson.FromMarkIlearnedmostofwhatIknowonhow toconductcarefulandrigoroushistoricalresearchaswellashowtoteach. Hisinfluencehasbeenprofound,andIcouldnothavehopedforabetter mentor. Not only is he a rigorous and highly knowledgeable scholar but, equally important, he is a wonderful person – and with a great sense of humour too! It has been a pleasure working with him and my debt of gratitude goes well beyond his supervision. He is and will remain an example for me to follow in all respects. While completing my PhD, I had the good fortune to meet another key figure in my academic, intellectual, and personal path. Vittorio Dini, at that time Head of the SchoolofSociologyandPoliticalScienceattheUniversityofSalerno,isas learned as he is kind. A true gentleman, his interests and expertise range from the works of Machiavelli and Baltasar Gracián to those by Slavoj ix Published online by Cambridge University Press x Acknowledgements Žižek. His knowledge is encyclopaedic, and I have always enjoyed (and, whenever possible, still enjoy) our conversations as well as the wonderful hospitalityofhisequallyremarkablewife,LucianaVecchio.FromVittorio, I have learned much about the history of political ideas. But I have also learned a great deal on a personal level. He has been and still is to me a teacher and, what is more important, a model I hope to follow in the future.MyfourthandlastmentorisCathieCarmichael,whowasHeadof School when I joined the University of East Anglia (UEA) in 2014. Her supportandherhelphavebeenimmense.Ourdiscussionsofnationalism, nationhood, and national identity have profoundly influenced my own work.But,again,Ihavelearnedmuchmorefromheronapersonalaswell asonaprofessionalplane.Andwheninneedordoubt,Ialwayscherishher wisdomandadvice. During the past few years, I have been lucky enough to encounter a number of scholars from whom I have learned much. A special thanks goes to Jan Vermeiren, whom I first met at University College London (UCL), when we both started our PhD with Mark. Our fruitful, often lively,andevenheateddiscussionsregardingnationhoodandnationalism have greatly influenced my own ideas. Jan was kind enough to read and commentoncertainsectionsofthisbook–andIthankhimforthat.Since meetinghim,Ihavecometoappreciatehisgreatintelligenceandextraor- dinary kindness, and I am glad to say that I have cemented a splendid friendship with him. It is a cause for great pleasure that I can work with himattheSchoolofHistoryatUEA.Asforthelatter,ithasindeedproved tobeawonderfulplacetowork.BesidesCathieandJan,infairnessIwould have to mention most of my colleagues and thank them for all their kindness. But a special thanks goes, first, to Richard Deswarte, whose friendship dates from before I joined UEA and whose support has been precious.LikeJan,healsotookthetroubletoreadandcommentonparts of the present book. His useful suggestions on the one hand, and his exceedingly strong coffees on the other, have always been very useful – and both have taken away much sleep. My gratitude also goes to Francis King for his morning chats (and strong coffees) and to Jayne Gifford for ourlateafternoonconversations(andabitofgossip).Iwouldalsoliketo thanktheSchoolofHistoryandtheFacultyoftheHumanitiesofUEAfor their generous travel grants allowing much-needed periods of research in France. Therearemanyotherfriendsandcolleagues,frominstitutionsscattered throughout Europe and even across the Atlantic, whom I would like to thank for the time they devoted to reading and commenting on earlier Published online by Cambridge University Press
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