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[en-franglais.livejournal.com]

Bonsoir/matin--

If you've ever been to Paris, you're inevitably walked by those used ("rare") bookstands that line the streets, proffering all kinds of literature from histories to popular magazines. Ok, they seem to be mainly for tourists, but I think it's fun to browse a little! Anyway, the last time I  was in Paris (this past fall, it feels too long already), I was just walking along the Seine--shivering, poorly dressed for the weather--when I passed one of these bookstands and happened to cast an eye over its wares. I was immediately struck, not by a title, but rather by a front cover design--I saw an image very familiar and dear to me, the David painting of Camille, Lucile, and Horace! Of course, I slowed for closer inspection. "L'enfant et la vie familiale sous l'Ancien Régime" par Philippe Ariès. I grabbed the book immediately and shelled out the 4 euro it cost--much to the amusement of the Frenchwoman who was overseeing the stand (I think she asked me twice if it was "Ce livre?" I wanted, which must have been due either to my obvious Americanness or the silly smile on my face). 


But anyway--does anyone else find it sad how the Desmoulins family ended up on the cover of a book about family when their own experience as a family was so short-lived and tragic? Not to mention the fact that they're technically not an Old Regime family? I suppose the publisher, or at least the cover design people, must have been so charmed by the painting that they chose to overlook its famous Revolutionary subjects and their story? I can only guess it was an artistic decision, not a historical one. Hmm. In any case, there they are. I haven't examined it too closely--it's more of a shameless souvenir--but I'm pretty sure the Desmoulins aren't in the actual text (correct me if I'm wrong).

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, the choice is quite strange, because Ariès focuses on the Early Modern period, above all. As far as I remember the infant Horace does not appear in the book at all. The Desmoulins' family could be an example of a new family based on emotional ties and giving central place to children (following the -contested- theory of Ariès on the "invention of the childhood" and the transformation of perception of children as radically different from adults and with radically different needs).
The book is worth reading, but it does not have much to do with the Revolution, if not in a very broad context. Sibylla