Introduction: The Revision of Dreyfus in Historical Perspective

Abstract

The transformative power of modern media turned the discreet arrest of a Jewish officer of the French General Staff, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, into an international crisis known as L'Affaire . This book begins by looking at the media coverage of the Dreyfus Affair but expands upon the implications of media use, following the continued reverberation of nineteenth- century media both print and image in national discourses throughout the twentieth century. It addresses the legacy of Dreyfus historiography in three national contexts: France, Israel, and America, where the same history assumed and continues to assume vastly different meanings. The media culture produced during the Dreyfus Affair greatly facilitates one's understanding of French law and its national ethos. It also helps to better understand the early Zionist formulation of a Jewish State and puts into richer context later American imagery that touched on equally sensitive human rights cases. Keywords: Alfred Dreyfus affair; Dreyfus historiography; French Jewry; Israel's national discourse; L'Affaire ; media culture; Zionism