French History Research Articles

The Politics of French History in Times of Crisis

A roundtable discussion following the Western Society for French History online event, "The Politics of French History in Times of Crisis" that took place on October 21st, 2023, with an introduction from moderator Sarah Horowitz (W & L University). In this written exchange, Jacqueline Couti (Rice University), Corinne Gressang (Slippery Rock University), Terry Peterson (Florida International University), and K. Ringelberg (Elon University) discuss their experiences with external pressures on their teaching and research, and how they have struggled to support students and colleagues of color and/or who belong to the LGBTQ+ community in a time when academia is facing renewed threats of censorship and political interference.

How the Historiosophy of Bunin’s Mature Works Was Shaped. Researches by Gaston Maspero in Zodiacal Light and Some Other Oeuvres

Purpose. Regarding Bunin’s texts’ principal dynamism and the writer’s resistance to the very idea of almost each of his works’ completeness, the author of the article attributes quotations from Maspero’s Ancient History of the Peoples of Orient revealing their alterations from early redactions of Bunin’s The Temple of the Sun to later ones. It is demonstrated how dramatic was the impact of these citations once used in order to form Bunin’s view on Egypt on «non-Egyptian» prosaic works of the 1910s.Results. The first result reached in the course of the analysis is the accurate attribution of obscure fragments as in fact borrowed from Maspero. Secondly, it was shown how Bunin treats his precursor’s text – creating his own associations, reducing and tightening initial passages. Thirdly, the paper demonstrates how descriptions and notions derived from the book of French historian have been transformed in their very nature: diverse facts and notions have become an integral poetic imagination inspirated by scenes of decline of the Ancient World. And finally, the article investigates some traces of Bunin’s «Egyptian text» in his mature prose works – exemplifying short stories The Chalise of Life and The Dust as most representative ones.Conclusion. The author concludes that Bunin’s intertextual poetics was specific in many respects. As it became clear in examples provided in the article, the text borrowed from another writer and «alienated» with inverted commas in fact, in its essence, was completely subordinated by Bunin to his general artistic strategy losing even slight tint of Bakhtinian «someone else’s word».

Rethinking the aristocracy in Capetian France, 987–1328

Abstract This introduction explains the context for the following set of six articles. It first considers the meaning and use of the terms ‘France’, ‘Capetian’ and ‘aristocracy’ for historians of the Capetian period of French history (987–1328). It then outlines the historiography of the aristocracy of France in the central Middle Ages. In the second half of the twentieth century, much of the historiography in France concentrated upon holistic studies of regional societies rather than more specific studies of the aristocracy. In recent decades, however, there has been a revival of studies of landowning élites in France, and important work on this topic has long been carried out in other countries as well. The introduction concludes with an overview of the six articles in this collection.

Forgetting and fictionalizing: French historical narratives and the case of the Breton League

This article examines how historical narratives of the League in Brittany (1589–1598) contributed to the creation of a contradictory depiction of the war as it happened in the region. Focusing on the narratives of the three main historians who described these lesser-known events at length (Jacques-Auguste de Thou, Agrippa d’Aubigné and Pierre Victor Palma Cayet), this article shows that representations of the war in Brittany responded both to the political exigence of ‘oubliance’ and the philosophical exigence of transitioning from war to peace at the end of the sixteenth century. This article argues that early modern French historians negotiated these exigencies through the creation of a compensating fiction. They adopted similar rhetorical strategies which included blurring the lines of conflict, shifting the narrative focus away from the enemy victory and representing Mercœur as following a path of transgression, repentance and ultimately salvation. While these historians wrote independently, all three operated in similar ways, showing the extent of the ‘oubliance’ doctrine and the need, at the end of the sixteenth century, to provide a new historical narrative.

Ordinary letters, extraordinary findings

Abstract This project proposes an innovative approach to the history of French by replacing the ‘tunnel vision’ (Watts/Trudgill 2002) which characterizes the vast majority of studies of ‘Classical French’ by a wider approach, based on an extraordinarily valuable source, i.e. the ‘Prize Papers’. The Prize Papers are a collection which includes 50,000 undelivered private French letters, confiscated between 1652 and 1815 during the frequent military conflicts between France and England. The documents are held by the National Archives of the United Kingdom in London, and are remnants of the privateering era, a longstanding legitimate activity of capturing enemy ships. These countless captured letters are becoming known to historians, who have recognized them as an invaluable source of information on the period in question, but have so far attracted little attention from linguists, even those focusing on diachrony. The MACINTOSH project is the first French initiative to explore this collection, and aims to show how the alternative data provided by these private documents can broaden the scope and fill the gaps left by traditional historical linguistics. The research focuses on the first French colonial era, shedding new light on the dynamics and mechanisms that led to the French and Creole varieties existing in America and the Indian Ocean.

From Xenophon's Constitution of the Lacedaimonians to See the Instrumental Role of the Ideal Spartan Image in His Historical Writing

In 1933, French historian Olier raised the issue of the "Spartan Illusion" and believed that ancient historians' impressions of Sparta must have been artificially processed based on the author's writing purpose. Xenophon's The Constitution of Lacedaemonians is the crucial surviving material of a contemporary author who personally experienced and recorded the specific internal conditions of the Spartan city-state. It is also a concentrated expression of the Spartan illusion. As a historian of the Greek city-state crisis period, Xenophon not only paid more attention to Sparta in the process of writing "Greek Chronicles" due to his legendary personal experience, but also focused more on the image of ideal Sparta. Thinking about sex, theodicy, and political philosophy were integrated into historical writing, making the image of Sparta the focus of Xenophon's historical writing and philosophical thinking, and a tool for him to write history. Previous research has mainly focused on a series of subtle thoughts that Xenophon developed by borrowing the Spartan illusion. This article intends to formally explore and summarize the process of Xenophon manufacturing and using this writing instrument, and whether it achieves its expected results.

Analysis of French Cultural Models under Cross Cultural Theory

This article uses the Hofstede cultural model to deeply analyze the French cultural model and its causes. By exploring France's performance in five dimensions: power distance, individualism and collectivism, masculinization and feminization, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term and short-term orientation, combined with France's history, geography, society, economy, and other factors, the uniqueness and internal logic of the French cultural model are revealed. This article aims to enhance understanding of French culture and provide useful references for cross-cultural communication.

Intellectual Background of Ibn Badis and His Contribution on Societal Change in Algeria, 1913-1940

Abd Al-Hamid Ibn Badis was a hugely influential figure in the Islamic world. He impressed scholars both in the East and the West, with the French historian and journalist Andre Julien describing him as one of the most powerful figures of his time. The Tunisian Mufti Tahar Ibn Ashour even called him the father of Algeria’s Renaissance. In addition to exploring Ibn Badis’ impact on societal change, this study has been conducted to examine the elements of his intellectual background and how he overcame the obstacles he faced during the French colonial period. At that time, the entire country, including schools and endowments, was ruled by the French. The study highlights that Ibn Badis’ contribution to Algerian society was not only in education, but also in the economy, politics, sports, and all areas that promote human development. The study also reveals that Ibn Badis’ success in preventing the colonialists was due to his ability to exploit legal loopholes and gain support from all social classes. After they applied his educational philosophy and saw its results, people were eager to support him. France even intentionally ignored some of his works due to the possible disruption of security caused by his rising popularity. Therefore, this study recommends that Abd Al-Hamid Ibn Badis’ contribution should be implemented to add more value to human endeavours.

Recent Books and Dissertations on French History

Recent Books and Dissertations on French History

The role of black color in the history of Russian, French and Chinese mythology and folklore

The role of black color in the history of Russian, French and Chinese mythology and folklore

Guère franco-française: the nationalist right, civil war discourse and the 2021 tribunes des militaires

The French Army has not always enjoyed a harmonious relationship with its political leadership. Its sobriquet, the ‘Great Mute’ is something of a misnomer, as it is an institution that has certainly made its voice heard at several junctures in modern French history. Recently, the two Tribunes des Militaires (soldiers’ tribunes) expressed the fear among several retired and active officers and enlisted servicemen and women, that France is headed for ‘ruin’ and civil war. This study represents the first in-depth analysis of the tribunes, its connections to the far right, putschist pretentions and civil war rhetoric. This article positions these tribunes within the historical context of previous French military political interventions, examines its rhetoric and establishes the extent to which it presents a far-right sponsored call to military insurrection. This analysis is of importance, given the seriousness of the claims made in the tribunes and the central significance of civil-military relations for any state.

The Third Coming of French Critical Geographies

<p>Critical translation between languages requires consideration not only of the meanings of words, but also of the translator's embeddedness in worlds which assign those meanings. Especially when working with geographic texts, reflecting on the places and spatial experiences that shape our understanding and use of words can be pertinent to creating authentic translations. In translating Yann Calbérac and Marianne Morange and Cécile Gintrac's texts that present an overview of French critical geographies, the translator reflects on ways her own history in French, American, and Canadian academic spaces effects her ability to transfer the nuances of French critical geographies to an Anglophone audience.</p>

Dragon Ships to the Dawnland: Eugène Beauvois and the Vinland Viking Expeditions in the Nineteenth-Century Settler Imagination

Abstract Between the mid-1700s and the Great War, people in Europe and North America were gripped by a frenzy of enthusiasm for all things Viking. Eminent scholars and ordinary readers discovered an insatiable curiosity for medieval Scandinavia, imagined land of dragon-prowed ships and saga heroes. Among these enthusiasts was the prolific French historian Pierre-Eugène Beauvois (1835–1912). Beauvois was fascinated by the Norse voyages to continental North America, known in Old Norse as “Vinland.” By arguing for extensive pre-Columbian European settlement in the Americas, Beauvois stole the glory enjoyed by Spain and Italy as the first “discoverers” of the “New World,” shifting it to Norse populations that Beauvois linked to France. Such a vindication of early voyages by ethnic “cousins” of the French presented France as genetically destined to colonize foreign lands, thus legitimating their conquest of Africa. Yet Beauvois’s arguments extended beyond simply positing a meaningful Norse presence in medieval North America. He maintained that Indigenous culture was really just a watered-down residue of transplanted European culture. By asserting that central components of Indigenous cultures such as language and religion derived from medieval European models, Beauvois usurped Native positionalities and affirmed the rightness of the settler colonial project.

The evolution of bare nouns in the history of French. The view from calibrated corpora

Abstract This article investigates the evolution of bare nouns, used without a determiner, through the history of the French language. The loss of bare nouns is charted through calibrated corpora of non-fictional prose texts from the same genres and region, ranging from the 12th to the 19th century. The change is first completed with nouns in subject function, significantly advances with direct objects, and progresses with obliques. The extensive quantitative documentation demonstrates that the change is impacted by the syntactic function of the noun, along the Accessibility Hierarchy. The speculation is examined that the more accessible functions encourage expression of (definite) determiners, thus explaining the pattern of change.

Disability history in France: past, present and future

Abstract What is disability? How might a focus on disability as a category of human experience change the way we think and write about the French past? In this roundtable seven historians discuss the emergence of disability studies in France, assessing the continued relevance of classics in the field as well as new directions in research. Scholarly attention to disability, the contributors argue, has the potential to transform modern French historiography, not only by challenging our understanding of major ‘turning points’ such as the French Revolution or the world wars, but offering fresh insights into race, class and gender identities, as well as citizenship, inclusion and belonging in French society.

The politics of anger: emotional appraisal mechanisms and the French pension reform protests

In this article, using the French pension reform in 2020 as a case, we demonstrate how a focus on emotions helps us to better understand important policy dynamics. While existing approaches of welfare state reform typically focus on rational-materialist and institutionalist approaches, we use appraisal theory of emotion to explain how the reform project and process on the one hand and interest group behaviour and protest on the other are linked via a mechanism of anger. Material interests of different groups of citizens and trade unions clearly matter, but they cannot sufficiently explain the process through which disagreement could erupt in one of the largest and longest protest movements in recent French history. Theoretically integrating material interests and moral reasoning and using a variety of qualitative and public opinion data, we trace the escalation of conflict between key actors which ultimately impeded a comprehensive reform in 2020. Our findings have important implications for research on the role of emotions in policymaking.

“The Deeds You Do. . .”: The Worker Priest Movement in France, 1946–1954

AbstractThe worker priest movement in France between 1946 and 1954 was a significant attempt by the Catholic Church to reach out to the increasingly alienated working class. It foundered on the rocks of elite opposition, worker priest embracing of class conflict, Cold War currents of thought, and government willingness to sacrifice the movement in the name of collaboration with Rome on a suite of issues, most notably free education. The historiography of the movement has proven similarly complex, with observers allowing contemporary trends and values to color their perception of this unique moment in French history and remembering and forgetting both playing a role in the image of the worker priests handed down to future generations.

The questionnaire as a methodical form of studying revolutions: on the example of Pitirim Sorokin's theory

The article explores the interaction between sociological and historical knowledge using the example of Pitirim Sorokin's theory of revolution and the methodological views of Marc Bloch. To achieve this goal, a general overview of the work "Sociology of Revolution" by an American researcher was conducted, and the identity of the methodological approaches presented therein to studying revolutionary processes with the questionnaire technique of a French historian was revealed. The obtained results allowed for the utilization of Pitirim Sorokin's developments as a methodological framework by Marc Bloch for analyzing an archival document describing the Zvenyhorod uprising in the territory of Kyiv province in June 1918. As a result, it was demonstrated that constructing a questionnaire based on sociological theory is an important task for a researcher working in the field of historical sociology and sociology of revolutions. The use of the proposed methodological framework enables the enhancement of the quality of socio-historical knowledge, as the researcher can documentarily reproduce the life of society experiencing revolutionary conditions. Given close cooperation between sociologists and historians regarding the development of questionnaires, the coordination of procedures for selecting primary materials and methods of analysis, there is a real possibility of a documentary turn in historical sociology and sociology of revolutions in the future. A direct outcome of such processes could be the establishment of a proper methodological and empirical basis for the emergence of qualitatively new research in the field of sociology of revolutions, ultimately allowing sociologists to utilize more reliable sources for analyzing the causes, course, and consequences of revolutions.

In, Of, or Through? Towards a Literary History of Thirteenth-Century French and Flanders in Paris, BnF, MS fr. 1446

In, Of, or Through? Towards a Literary History of Thirteenth-Century French and Flanders in Paris, BnF, MS fr. 1446

Politicizing Disaster

Abstract The deadliest peacetime railway accident in French history occurred at 7:52 p.m. on December 23, 1933, at Pomponne on the outskirts of Paris. Over two hundred people died as a result of the tragedy. This article explores the responses to the disaster. These drew on long-standing fears over the power of modern technology, not to mention its potential destructiveness as witnessed over a decade previously during the Great War. Yet understandings of the accident and its causes also spoke to anxieties over the contemporary French sense of political crisis, a crisis that the crash at Pomponne helped nurture. The Right and extreme Right came to subsume the accident into its broader campaign against the Third Republic that would end in the violence of February 6, 1934. Study of the Pomponne disaster thus sheds new light both on French anxieties about “modernity” and on the emergence of right-wing antiparliamentarianism in 1930s France.