Frontières d’empires : vers une nouvelle historiographie de la « frontière » nord-américaine avant 1848

Abstract

In recent historical works dealing with the early American West, the "frontier" has become a central concept again. This paper surveys criticisms ofF. J. Turner's work as well as contemporary historiography. Today the pre-1 848 frontier must be defined both as a border and a region, and primarily studied as a place where empires clashed and cultures met if one is fully to develop the potentialities of this renewed field.