The Shaping of French National Identity
Narrating the Nation's Past, 1715–1830

Casts new light on of the 'official' French nineteenth-century narrative by examining how historians and philosophers conceived of the country's past.

Matthew D'Auria (Author)

9781107571846, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 25 January 2024

488 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm, 0.699 kg

'… a smart, carefully researched, original, and thought-provoking study of the eighteenth-century intellectual origins of nineteenth-century French conceptions of national identity. … [this study] represents an important contribution to our understanding of the history of French national identity, bringing novel sources, a fresh perspective, and a convincing and clearly presented set of arguments to a well-trodden subject. It should be required reading for students and specialists of French national identity alike.' Paul Cohen, Journal of Modern History

The Shaping of French National Identity casts new light on the intellectual origins of the dominant and 'official' French nineteenth-century national narrative. Focussing on the historical debates taking place throughout the eighteenth century and during the Restoration, Matthew D'Auria evokes a time when the nation's origins were being questioned and discussed and when they acquired the meaning later enshrined in the official rhetoric of the Third Republic. He examines 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 competing myth of 'our ancestors the Franks', this study explores the ways in which the struggle developed, and the values that the two discourses enshrined, the collective actors they portrayed, and the memories they evoked. D'Auria draws attention to the continuity between ethnic discourses and national narratives and to the competition between various groups in their claims to represent the nation and to define their past as the 'true' history of France.

Introduction. Narrating the Nation: From the Nineteenth to the Eighteenth Century
Part I: 1. Race, Blood, and Lineage: The Nobility's National Narrative and the History of France
2. History and Race: The Subject of Boulainvilliers's National Narrative
3. Debating the Nation's History: From Royal(ist) to Ethnic Origins
Part II: 4. Thinking the Nation's Character: At the Crossroads of Literature, Anthropology, and History
5. Moral and Physical Causes: Montesquieu's History of Nations
6. Discussing the Nation's History: Franks, Gauls, and the French Character
Part III: 7. Classifying the Nation: The Past(s) of 'Social Classes' Before and After the Revolution
8. A Bourgeois National Narrative: On Augustin Thierry's Réforme Historique
9. Debating the Nation's Past(s): Giving the Bourgeoisie its History
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Political science & theory [JPA], Social & cultural history [HBTB], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], European history [HBJD]