A-Infos (en) France, Monde Libertaire - History Pages No. 119: Writing the History of the French Revolution (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Two books have been published on the ways in which the French Revolution 
was written. The first focuses on contemporary literary representations 
of the event, while the second is devoted to its writing up to the 
1930s. Olivier Ritz offers an analysis of history as it was being 
written. He revisits the main contemporary texts of the Revolution, 
period by period, to show how this revolutionary episode was written. He 
emphasizes the power of the narrative at a time when printed material 
was enjoying unprecedented circulation. He highlights the extraordinary 
freedom of expression used by journalists, chroniclers, and participants 
in the events. The analysis of the storming of the Bastille should still 
be included in major journalistic accounts. The press then became a 
political weapon. It was used to sway public opinion, as evidenced, for 
example, by the campaign to defend the revolution and the recruitment of 
volunteers. Letters then aligned themselves with one side or the other 
to assert their point of view. Numerous texts demonstrate that this 
period was extraordinary and exceptionally rich, and the catalyst for an 
extraordinary mobilization. One of the main legacies of the French 
Revolution was ultimately freedom of the press.

Guillaume Lancereau examines the historiography of the Revolution. 
Writing its history at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th 
centuries was a major political and historical issue. Until the end of 
the 19th century, reactionary, even counter-revolutionary, 
historiography held sway. It was not until the centenary commemorations 
in 1889 that the literary landscape shifted. The staunchly republican 
historian Alphonse Aulard offered a form of rehabilitation of the 
revolutionary episode. Writing history became a central issue in which 
professional historians initially struggled to find their place, caught 
between post-monarchist writing and the Marxist vision, revised in light 
of the October 1917 revolution. While it is now possible to analyze all 
its elements, the least that can be said is that history remains subject 
to political and memorial contingencies; this book shows that this is 
nothing new...

A Literary History of the French Revolution
Olivier Ritz
Gallimard 2026 406 pp. EUR10.50

The Cult of History: Writing the Revolution, 1889-1940
Guillaume Lancereau
CNRS Editions 2026 372 pp. EUR25

https://monde-libertaire.net/?articlen=8892
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