Le Hir The National Habitus

Ways of Feeling French, 1789–1870
1. Auflage 2014
ISBN: 978-3-11-036306-7
Verlag: De Gruyter
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 349 Seiten

Reihe: ISSN

Stories about border crossers, illegal aliens, refugees that regularly appear in the press everywhere point to the crucial role national identity plays in human beings' lives today. The National Habitus seeks to understand how and why national belonging became so central to a person's identity and sense of identity. Centered on the acquisition of the national habitus, the process that transforms subjects into citizens when a state becomes a nation-state, the book examines this transformation at the individual level in the case of nineteenth century France. Literary texts serve as primary material in this study of national belonging, because, as Germaine de Staël pointed out long ago, literature has the unique ability to provide access to "inner feelings." The term "habitus," in the title of this book, signals a departure from traditional approaches to nationalism, a break with the criteria of language, race, and ethnicity typically used to examine it. It is grounded instead in a sociology that deals with the subjective dimension of life and is best exemplified by the works of Norbert Elias (1897–1990) and Pierre Bourdieu (1931–2002), two sociologists who approach belief systems like nationalism from a historical, instead of an ethical vantage point. By distinguishing between two groups of major French writers, three who experienced the 1789 Revolution firsthand as adults (Olympe de Gouges, François René de Chateaubriand and Germaine de Staël) and three who did not (Stendhal, Prosper Mérimée, and George Sand), the book captures evolving understandings of the nation, as well as thoughts and emotions associated with national belonging over time. Le Hir shows that although none of these writers is typically associated with nationalism, all of them were actually affected by the process of nationalization of feelings, thoughts, and habits, irrespective of aesthetic preferences, social class, or political views. By the end of the nineteenth century, they had learned to feel and view themselves as French nationals; they all exhibited the characteristic features of the national habitus: love of their own nation, distrust and/or hatred of other nations. By underscoring the dual contradictory nature of the national habitus, the book highlights the limitations nation-based identities impose on the prospect for peace.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Le Hir, Marie-Pierre

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Geschichte der Revolutionen Französische Revolution
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Ethnologie Kultur- und Sozialethnologie: Politische Ethnologie, Recht, Organisation, Identität
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Romanische Literaturen Französische Literatur
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literatursoziologie, Gender Studies

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Introduction;11
2;Part I: The Revolutionary Field;43
2.1;Chapter I Olympe de Gouges’s Revolutionary Patriotism;45
2.1.1;1.1 Vive le roi! (1788–1791);46
2.1.1.1;1.1.1 Bourgeois values vs. aristocratic ethos;47
2.1.1.2;1.1.2 Royal patriotism;51
2.1.1.3;1.1.3 Manifestations of the aristocratic code of conduct;54
2.1.1.4;1.1.4 Attitudes towards foreigners;57
2.1.1.5;1.1.5 The French Revolution as a breakdown of civility;61
2.1.1.6;1.1.6 Constructing the nation: the cult of great men;64
2.1.2;1.2 Vive la France! (1792–93);66
2.1.2.1;1.2.1 From loving the king to loving the nation;66
2.1.2.2;1.2.2 “L’esprit français”;69
2.1.2.3;1.2.3 War: the catalyst of national sentiment;75
2.1.3;Conclusion;79
2.2;Chapter II Identity Lost and Found: Chateaubriand’s Culturalist Nationalism;82
2.2.1;2.1 The Historical, Political, and Moral Essay on Revolutions;86
2.2.1.1;2.1.1 The aristocratic sense of self and national identity;86
2.2.1.2;2.1.2 Christianity: the foundation of French identity;92
2.2.1.3;2.1.3 Against the Enlightenment and the French Revolution;97
2.2.2;2.2 The Genius of Christianity, or The Beauties of the Christian Religion;109
2.2.2.1;2.2.1 Chateaubriand’s case for Christianity’s modernity;109
2.2.2.2;2.2.2 Chateaubriand’s politics;117
2.2.2.3;2.2.3 Grounding identity in faith and soil;122
2.2.3;Conclusion;128
2.3;Chapter III Cosmopolitanism and Nationalism in Germaine de Staël’s Works;132
2.3.1;3.1 Delphine, an ambiguous critique of the aristocratic ethos;136
2.3.1.1;3.1.1 The aristocratic ethos of the Parisian salon;139
2.3.1.2;3.1.2 Bourgeois life in the countryside;142
2.3.1.3;3.1.3 Exile and war;147
2.3.1.4;3.1.4 Delphine’s reception;154
2.3.2;3.2 Divided allegiance: cosmopolitanism and nationalism in Corinne, or Italy;158
2.3.2.1;3.2.1 Cosmopolitanism and the national character;159
2.3.2.2;3.2.2 The national habitus in Corinne;165
2.3.2.3;3.2.3 Corinne’s reception;171
2.3.3;Conclusion;173
3;Part II: The Post-Revolutionary Field;181
3.1;Chapter IV Through Stendhal’s Eyes: The National Habitus in the Making;183
3.1.1;4.1 The French character in Chronicles for England;186
3.1.1.1;4.1.1 Of Frenchmen, old and new;187
3.1.1.2;4.1.2 Assessing change in Restoration France;197
3.1.2;4.2 Identity nationalization as inescapable universal process;215
3.1.2.1;4.2.1 On becoming ‘British’;217
3.1.2.2;4.2.2 Obstacles to real democracy;226
3.1.3;Conclusion;233
3.2;Chapter V Looking Back: National Past and Culture in Mérimée;236
3.2.1;5.1 Mérimée and the invention of the national patrimony;239
3.2.2;5.2 A history of violence and superstition;248
3.2.2.1;5.2.1 Violence and religion in A Chronicle of the Reign of Charles IX;248
3.2.2.2;5.2.2 Taming the superstitious mind: the fantastic tales;253
3.2.3;5.3 Colomba: savage past and modernity;255
3.2.4;5.4 State and religion in The Mormons;264
3.2.5;Conclusion;272
3.3;Chapter VI National Belonging in George Sand’s Novels;276
3.3.1;6.1 George Sand and the Republic;277
3.3.1.1;6.1.1 Republican patriotism;278
3.3.1.2;6.1.2 George Sand’s project of national unity;282
3.3.2;6.2 Patriotism and nationalism at times of war;289
3.3.2.1;6.2.1 National identity in Nanon;292
3.3.2.2;6.2.2 Nationalism in Francia;295
3.3.3;Conclusion;305
3.4;Conclusion;307
3.5;Works cited;323
3.5.1;Primary texts;323
3.5.2;Secondary sources;327
3.6;Index of names;338
3.7;Index of subjects;343

Über Autor(innen)

Marie-Pierre Le Hir, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.