French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Duprat, Revolutions and Identity Myths: Words, Violence, Memory
History, Politics and Society
Revolutions and Identity Myths: Words, Violence, Memory
Annie Duprat
Paris: Nouveau Monde Éditions, "Cultural History" series, 2009.
EAN 9782847363630
Publisher's Presentation:
Revolutions and Identity Myths: Words, Violence, Memory (ed. Annie Duprat) has just been published in the "Cultural History" series of the Center for the Cultural History of Contemporary Societies, by Nouveau Monde Éditions.
“To close the abyss of revolutions.” This phrase, used in an 1820 speech aimed at restoring press censorship, reveals the trauma caused by the memory of the French Revolution within the Restoration elite. But can we, by decreeing a kind of state amnesia, erase a people's history by obliterating a past that is so displeasing? Conversely, our era is gripped by a passion for memory, often accompanied by a desire to judge the past through the lens of present-day concerns, which does not make the historian's task any easier. Far from these two extremes, this book aims to revisit the study of the impact of revolutions and revolutionary wars on the construction of national mythologies, which function as key markers of identity.
The contributors to this volume are recognized specialists from diverse geographical and cultural backgrounds (France, the United States, China, Israel). By examining various types of sources (engravings and cinema, the press, private or institutional documents, the history of theater, the history of religious representations, the history of language, etc.), they attempt to understand how events are inscribed into national memory. Violence, whether destructive or regenerative, is inherently present in the numerous wars and revolutions that have marked the history of the 19th and 20th centuries since 1789. The French revolutions from 1789 to 1848, and the flashes of memory projected worldwide through cinema, occupy a significant part of this book. It also features reflections on China and Germany in the 1920s and 1930s, as well as on the State of Israel, searching for reference points in the narratives of the ongoing wars with its Arab neighbors.
Annie Duprat, university professor, is a member of the Center for the Cultural History of Contemporary Societies at the University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and the "Communication and Politics" laboratory of the CNRS.
Contact: Frédéric Durand Tel 01 46 34 42 32 fdurand@nouveau-monde.net
Annie Duprat (ed.), Revolutions and Identity Myths: Words, Violence, Memory • Nouveau Monde Éditions • "Cultural History" Series • 2009 • ISBN: 978-2-84736-363-0 • 350 pages • 49 €.
Table of Contents
PART ONE
THE POWER OF WORDS
Myths and Violence in the Israeli Press (1920-1982)
Published in the Cultural History series by Nouveau Monde Éditions, this collective volume investigates the intricate relationship between political upheaval, collective memory, and national mythologies. Edited by scholar Annie Duprat, the book brings together international specialists to examine how societies across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have processed the trauma of violent change. By analyzing a wide array of sources ranging from the press and engravings to cinema and institutional documents, the contributors illuminate the mechanisms through which foundational historical events are integrated into enduring cultural narratives and identity markers.
The volume offers valuable perspectives for students and researchers in cultural history, political science, and memory studies who seek to understand the long-lasting echoes of revolutionary conflicts. It addresses central questions regarding how nations negotiate their past, balancing the impulses of institutional amnesia against the pressures of contemporary historical evaluation. Through comparative case studies examining France, China, Germany, and Israel, the book serves as a helpful resource for analyzing the global resonance of revolutionary violence and the persistent construction of national myths in modern times.