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- Title
Memory and Political Imagination: The Legend of Napoleon Revisited.
- Authors
HAZAREESINGH, SUDHIR
- Abstract
Drawing on official sources from national and departmental archives, this article re-examines popular manifestations of the Napoleonic legend under the Restoration (1815–1830)—notably in rumours about Napoleon's return, the deployment of ‘seditious objects’, and the organization of civic rebellions and commemorative practices. This evidence suggests that political and ideological motifs were deeply embedded in Napoleon's image and memory—contrary to the conventional wisdom that the legend was a largely apolitical, sentimental phenomenon. Indeed, the legend was a remarkable exercise in political imagination, drawing both from the Napoleonic and Revolutionary traditions. Central among its values was the appeal to patriotism, as well as the collective aspiration for greater freedom, which the Emperor came to symbolize. Restoration Bonapartism represented a collective French yearning for political unity and social cohesion. But it also expressed something more subversive: the desire for greater public involvement in the collective life of the nation—an aspiration which drew on the principles of the Revolution of 1789.
- Subjects
FRANCE; NAPOLEON I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821; BOURBON restoration, France, 1814-1830; SEDITION; REVOLUTIONS; POLITICAL doctrines
- Publication
French History, 2004, Vol 18, Issue 4, p463
- ISSN
0269-1191
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/fh/18.4.463