Public Virtue and Collections of Moral Anecdotes for Children: La Morale en action

Abstract

The Morale en action by Laurent-Pierre Bérenger was an early nineteenth-century bestseller, ranking second only to Fleury’s Catéchisme on the provincial market. This essay articulates the distinction between the fictional narrative tradition found in the texts of Arnaud Berquin, and the historical, anecdotal tradition exemplified by the texts of Bérenger. The contemporary appeal of Bérenger’s collection lay in its self-inscription in the same conservative public discourse surrounding the ‘prix de la vertu’. Bérenger, as the humble ‘compilateur’, participated doubly in this movement: through the content of his collections, with their goal of publicizing virtuous acts in order to inspire readers to imitation; and through his own work as a collector, which he places in the same category of public utility as the narratives of virtues that he collects.