Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 August 2016
Used at first with their original (definite) article, the phrases exception française and fin de l'exception française gained instant notoriety after the publication of Furet, Julliard and Rosanvallon's 1988 book La République du centre: La fin de l'exception française. Before too long, the shorter phrase, which (contrary to what is sometimes asserted) was already in existence, also started occurring without the article, with other determiners, and in the plural. This paper details some of the splendeurs et misères (including progressive trivialization) of both the longer and the shorter phrase, thought of as exponents of a single formula.
This paper has greatly benefited from the comments of three anonymous reviewers, who have made it clear how much more research is needed to get to the bottom of the formula ‘exception française’. All imperfections that remain are obviously my own.