Chapter 8 - A Bourgeois National Narrative

Summary

The chapter begins by considering the historical thought of Augustin Thierry. Focussing on his rejection of the royalist paradigm and on his call for a shift to what might be seen as an ethnic understanding of history, the first part of the chapter takes into consideration his histoire critique. In particular, attention is paid to the technical narratives he employed for depicting a ‘faithful’ history of France – although, following Roland Barthes, the chapter highlights the contradictions of the ‘reality effect’ pursued by Thierry. More specifically, attention is drawn to the ambiguity of his substitution of the ‘monarchical myth’ with the ‘ethnic myth’. The second part of the chapter analyses in depth his writings on French history. Arguing against the views set forth by Marcel Gauchet on this point, it takes into account Thierry’s constant attempts to create an emphatic bond between his readers and the Gauls/bourgeois as the true and only ancestors of the modern French. In particular, the chapter emphasizes the importance of the rhetoric of sacrifice and highlights differences and analogies between Thierry’s and the nobles’ nationalist discourse.