A new sentiment in times of revolution: “l’ivresse de la liberté”
Burstin, Haïm
A new sentiment in times of revolution: “l’ivresse de la liberté” - 2024.
59
The historiography of the French Revolution has traditionally assigned an ambiguous, even a contradictory role to the emotions; hence a certain delay in conceptualizing the proper place of the emotional system in times of revolution, and a certain reluctance by historians to incorporate fully this dimension into their current approach. The aim of this article is to return to this question by analyzing a specific feeling widespread at the time, a sentiment contemporaries called the “l’ivresse de la liberté” − a kind of collective euphoria affecting the social body linked to the first experience of a general political participation. This feeling became a powerful behavioral force with remarkable consequences for collective attitudes, and directly intervened in politics, closely conditioning the exercise of citizenship.
A new sentiment in times of revolution: “l’ivresse de la liberté” - 2024.
59
The historiography of the French Revolution has traditionally assigned an ambiguous, even a contradictory role to the emotions; hence a certain delay in conceptualizing the proper place of the emotional system in times of revolution, and a certain reluctance by historians to incorporate fully this dimension into their current approach. The aim of this article is to return to this question by analyzing a specific feeling widespread at the time, a sentiment contemporaries called the “l’ivresse de la liberté” − a kind of collective euphoria affecting the social body linked to the first experience of a general political participation. This feeling became a powerful behavioral force with remarkable consequences for collective attitudes, and directly intervened in politics, closely conditioning the exercise of citizenship.
Réseaux sociaux