Synopses & Reviews
Who, exactly, were the French bourgeoisie? Unlike the Anglo-Americans, who widely embraced middle-class ideals and values, the French--even the most affluent and conservative--have always rejected and maligned bourgeois values and identity.
In this new approach to the old question of the bourgeoisie, Sarah Maza focuses on the crucial period before, during, and after the French Revolution, and offers a provocative answer: the French bourgeoisie has never existed. Despite the large numbers of respectable middling town-dwellers, no group identified themselves as bourgeois. Drawing on political and economic theory and history, personal and polemical writings, and works of fiction, Maza argues that the bourgeoisie was never the social norm. In fact, it functioned as a critical counter-norm, an imagined and threatening embodiment of materialism, self-interest, commercialism, and mass culture, which defined all that the French rejected.
A challenge to conventional wisdom about modern French history, this book poses broader questions about the role of anti-bourgeois sentiment in French culture, by suggesting parallels between the figures of the bourgeois, the Jew, and the American in the French social imaginary. It is a brilliant and timely foray into our beliefs and fantasies about the social world and our definition of a social class.
Review
Maza presents an insightful essay dissecting the concept of the French bourgeoisie. Alicia Austin
Review
This is a bold work on a big topic, based on wide erudition and deep reflection. Maza's consistent focus on what she calls "the social imaginary" enables her to stride with admirable briskness through the tangled landscape of this much studied and highly controversial era of French history. While not everyone will be convinced by Maza's claim that the French bourgeoisie did not exist, this book will transform the way we think about the problem. William H. Sewell, Jr., University of Chicago
Synopsis
Who, exactly, were the French bourgeoisie? Unlike the Anglo-Americans, whowidely embraced middle-class ideals and values, the French--even the most affluent andconservative--have always rejected and maligned bourgeois values and identity.In this newapproach to the old question of the bourgeoisie, Sarah Maza focuses on the crucial periodbefore, during, and after the French Revolution, and offers a provocative answer: the Frenchbourgeoisie has never existed.
Synopsis
'2003 George L. Mosse Prize of the American Historical Association Who,exactly, were the French bourgeoisie? Unlike the Anglo-Americans, who widely embracedmiddle-class ideals and values, the French even the most affluent andconservative have always rejected and maligned bourgeois values and identity. In thisnew approach to the old question of the bourgeoisie, Sarah Maza focuses on the crucial periodbefore, during, and after the French Revolution, and offers a provocative answer: the Frenchbourgeoisie has never existed. Despite the large numbers of respectable middling town-dwellers,no group identified themselves as bourgeois. Drawing on political and economic theory andhistory, personal and polemical writings, and works of fiction, Maza argues that the bourgeoisiewas never the social norm. âThis is a bold work on a big topic, based on wideerudition and deep reflection. Mazaâs consistent focus on what she callsâthe social imaginaryâenables her to stride with admirable brisknessthrough the tangled landscape of this much studied and highly controversial era of Frenchhistory. While not everyone will be convinced by Mazaâs claim that the Frenchbourgeoisie did not exist, this book will transform the way we think about theproblem.â William H. Sewell, Jr., University of Chicago'
Synopsis
the social world and our definition of a social class.
About the Author
'
Sarah Mazais Jane Long Professor of Arts andSciences at <>NorthwesternUniversity.'
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Is There a Class in This Text?
1. The Social Imaginary in Prerevolutionary France
2. Commerce, Luxury, and Family Love
3. Revolutionary Brotherhood and the War against Aristocracy
4. The Social World after Thermidor
5. The Political Birth of the Bourgeoisie, 1815-1830
6. The Failure of "Bourgeoisie Monarchy"
Conclusion: The Bourgeois, the Jew, and the American
Notes
Index