The Bastille: A History of a Symbol of Despotism and FreedomThis book is both an analysis of the Bastille as cultural paradigm and a case study on the history of French political culture. It examines in particular the storming and subsequent fall of the Bastille in Paris on July 14, 1789 and how it came to represent the cornerstone of the French Revolution, becoming a symbol of the repression of the Old Regime. Lüsebrink and Reichardt use this semiotic reading of the Bastille to reveal how historical symbols are generated; what these symbols’ functions are in the collective memory of societies; and how they are used by social, political, and ideological groups. To facilitate the symbolic nature of the investigation, this analysis of the evolving signification of the Bastille moves from the French Revolution to the nineteenth century to contemporary history. The narrative also shifts from France to other cultural arenas, like the modern European colonial sphere, where the overthrow of the Bastille acquired radical new signification in the decolonization period of the 1940s and 1950s. The Bastille demonstrates the potency of the interdisciplinary historical research that has characterized the end of this century, combining quantitative and qualitative approaches, and taking its methodological tools from history, sociology, linguistics, and cultural and literary studies. |
Contents
The Bastille 17151789 | 6 |
The Historical Event | 38 |
Revolutionary Symbolism under the Sign of the Bastille | 79 |
Copyright | |
11 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
The Bastille: A History of a Symbol of Despotism and Freedom Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrink,Rolf Reichardt No preview available - 1997 |
Common terms and phrases
14 Juillet 14 July ancien régime anonymous Archives Arné August Bastille stones Bastille symbolism Beffroy de Reigny Bibliothèque Nationale cannons celebrated citizens Citoyens city hall conquerors conspiracy contemporary Count de Lorges Courrier crowd département despotism dungeons Dusaulx engraving Estampes etching events of 14 fatherland Faubourg Saint-Antoine festival Fête figure former state prison fortress France freedom French Revolution German governor heroes Histoire historiques honor Humbert Ibid imprisonment Jacobin club jour Journal journalists Journée king la Bastille Latude Launay Launay's lettres de cachet liberation Liberté Linguet Louis XVI Lüsebrink Marseille Mémoires military Mirabeau Moniteur monument Napoléon Bonaparte National Assembly National Guard newspaper official Palais-Royal Palloy's pamphlet Parein patriotic Peuple Pierre Pierre-François Palloy political popular Prise prisonniers published razing Reichardt reports reprinted republican Révolution française revolutionary Révolutions de Paris royal Société speech storming symbol Bastille texts tille tion tower tyranny Vainqueurs victims victors vols Voltaire writings