French Literature Reviews - 2026
É. Reverzy, Témoigner pour Paris. Récits du Siège et de la Commune (1870-1871). Anthologie
History, Politics and Society
Review published in Acta Fabula (October 2021, vol. 22, no. 8): Isabelle Durand, Écrire la Commune.
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Témoigner pour Paris. Récits du Siège et de la Commune (1870-1871). Anthologie
Éléonore Reverzy
Éditions Kimé, coll. "Détours littéraires", 2021.
588 p.
30.00 €
ISBN: 978-2-84174-991-1
Presenting a day-by-day history of a pivotal year in the life of the capital, the anthology Témoigner pour Paris brings together accounts of the events of the "terrible year." The Siege of Paris and the subsequent Commune are documented and narrated by writers from all social backgrounds and walks of life: men and women of letters, ordinary bourgeois citizens, mobile guards and national guardsmen, military personnel, prison guards, schoolteachers, provincials and Parisians alike, both French and foreign. What unites them all is that they speak for Paris, and the vast majority bear witness on behalf of a capital that was then renowned across Europe and the world as the capital of the Enlightenment and the arts. The collection opens with a preface tracing the history of the literary form of testimony and proposing a definition for it.
Éléonore Reverzy, professor of 19th-century French literature at Sorbonne Nouvelle University, specializes in narrative forms and focuses in particular on the writing of history in the 19th century.
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The Siege of Paris and the subsequent Commune represent a period of intense political and social upheaval in late nineteenth-century France. This era of the 'terrible year' prompted a surge in personal narratives, as individuals from diverse social strata sought to record their experiences of conflict and urban transformation. The anthology Témoigner pour Paris brings together accounts of these events from writers, soldiers, and ordinary citizens, documenting a time when Paris held a central position in the European cultural and intellectual landscape.
The study of nineteenth-century literature often involves examining how historical events are mediated through individual testimony and narrative prose. The collection Témoigner pour Paris includes a preface that traces the history of the literary form of testimony and proposes a definition for it. The selection of texts reflects the varied perspectives of both Parisians and visitors who observed the capital during this period of crisis. Readers interested in the history of French literature and the development of narrative techniques during the late nineteenth century may find this collection of primary accounts a relevant point of entry into the period.