Notables and the Nation

The Political Schooling of the French, 1787–1788

AvVivian R. Gruder

Inbunden, Engelska, 2008

Del 157 i serien Harvard Historical Studies

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Beskrivning

The ending of absolute, centralized monarchy and the beginning of political combat between nobles and commoners make the years 1787 to 1788 the first stage of the French Revolution. In a detailed examination of this critical transition, Vivian Gruder examines how the French people became engaged in a movement of opposition that culminated in demands for the public's role in government.Gruder traces the growing involvement of the French people in the public issues of the day, leading to increased politicization. The debates of the Assembly of Notables in early 1787 aroused public support against the monarchy and in late 1788 confirmed public opposition to the nobility. The media--including newspapers and newsletters, pamphlets, literary societies, songs, iconography, and festive activities--disseminated messages of opposition and gave voice to popular aspirations for change. At hundreds of community assemblies throughout France in late 1788, people showed remarkable astuteness about such political issues as voting and representation and demonstrated a capacity for mobilization.The Notables and the Nation contributes to a renewed interest in the political origins of the French Revolution. It argues that a "bourgeois" revolution did take place as a movement for political aspirations, and invites us to witness the birth of popular representative government.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2008-01-01
Mått:156 x 235 x 38 mm
Vikt:885 g
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Serie:Harvard Historical Studies
Antal sidor:518
Förlag:Harvard University Press
ISBN:9780674025349
Utmärkelser:Nominated for David H. Pinkney Prize 2007

Utforska kategorier

Europas historia inom Historia och arkeologi

Mer om författaren

Vivian R. Gruder is Professor of History Emerita, Queens College, City University of New York.

Recensioner i media

This excellent work retraces the pre-revolutionary political events of 1787-1788. Particularly interesting is Gruder's convincing evidence--in the form of newspapers, pamphlets, and nouvelles à la main--showing that the debates of the notables, and after them the Paris Parlementaires, were widely discussed by an involved and informed French reading public. Combining a lively awareness of recent scholarship on the formation of public opinion and the nature of the reading public with a well-written, accessible text, The Notables and the Nation offers much to be admired.

Innehållsförteckning

Acknowledgments Map Introduction Part I: The Assembly of Notables: February-May 1787, November-December 1788 1. Paths to Political Consciousness: The Notables in the First Assembly, February-May 1787 2. Privilege, Property, and Participation: A Mutation in Elite Political Culture 3. The Society of Orders at Its Demise: The Vision of the Elite at the End of the Ancien Regime Part II: The Media and the Public: Networks of Information, Opinion, Instruction 4. Political News as Coded Messages: The Parisian and Provincial Press, 1787-1788 5. The French Foreign-Language Press: Gazettes 6. The French Foreign-Language Press: Journals of Opinion 7. Manuscript Newsletters--Nouvelles a la Main 8. Pamphlets: A Network of Political Education and Polemics 9. Readers and Reading Sites: The Public and the Network of the Printed and Written Media 10. The Verbal, the Visual and the Festive Part III: At the "Grass Roots" 11. Popular Pamphlets: Political Messages to the Public 12. Can We Hear the Voices of Peasants? 13. The "Grass Roots": Community Assemblies Deliberating Conclusion Appendix I: Chronology Appendix II: Contemporary Accounts of Fetes Bibliographical Abbreviations Notes