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- Title
Cincinnatus Reborn: The George Washington Myth and French Renewal during the Old Regime.
- Authors
Osman, Julia
- Abstract
George Washington is an undisputed legend in America, but he was a legend in France first. From the years of the American Revolution until 1789, Washington was a prominent figure in French literature, poetry, plays, and histories, which exaggerated and even invented some of his "nobler" characteristics, casting him as a modern Cincinnatus who exhibited the qualities of masculinity, virtue, and patriotism. In the midst of France's recovery from an embarrassing military defeat, French writers and readers used Washington's image to construct and experiment with the elements necessary for a virtuous society and victorious army. While fitting nicely into the eighteenth century's literature of criticism and penchant for hero worship, Washington's fame stood apart, as he provided a figure for a contemporary hero that encouraged rather than disparaged the French nation. Through depictions of Washington, writers defined the characteristics necessary for French elites to bring their country out of its troubles.
- Subjects
FRANCE; WASHINGTON, George, 1732-1799; POPULAR culture; FOREIGN public opinion of the American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783; HISTORY of masculinity; HEROES; PATRIOTISM; BOURBON dynasty, France, 1589-1789; EIGHTEENTH century; HISTORY; INTELLECTUAL life
- Publication
French Historical Studies, 2015, Vol 38, Issue 3, p421
- ISSN
0016-1071
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1215/00161071-2884651