The Press in the French Revolution

In this volume an international team of contributors address several key themes surrounding the role of the press in the French Revolution, including the beginnings of the Revolution and its impact on the press; how Old Regime journals reacted to the Revolution; the roles of journalists – both popular and elitist – in the politics of the Revolution; language and revolution; and images and their uses. Whilst not neglecting the production and economics of periodicals of the time, several contributors make use of the notion of discourse, and highlight various aspects of language and ideas in a revolutionary context. The Press in the French Revolution contains expanded versions of papers presented at the University of Haifa in the spring of 1987. Contributors include some of the leading historians of the press and revolutionary France: Antoine de Baecque, Raymond Birn, Jean-Paul Bertaud, Jack Censer, Elizabeth Eisenstein, Sarah Maza, Harvey Mitchell, Jeremy Popkin, Pierre Rétat, Denis Richet, Jean Sgard, Suzanne Tucoo-Chala, Michel Vovelle and Jacques Wagner. Introduction The beginning of the Revolution and its impact on the press Denis Richet, Les canaux de la propagation des idées contestataires avant la presse révolutionnaire Jean Sgard, ‘On dit’ Jacques Wagner, Peuple et pouvoir dans le Journal encyclopédique à la veille de la Révolution française Raymond Birn, The pamphlet press and the Estates-General of 1789 Pierre Rétat, Pamphlet numéroté et journal en 1789 Old regime journals confront the Revolution Jeremy D. Popkin, The élite press in the French Revolution: the Gazette de Leyde and the Gazette universelle Joan Lenardon, The paradox of revolution within an étatiste mentality Harvey Chisick, The disappearance of a great Enlightenment periodical: the Année littéraire, 1789-1790 Jeremy Black, The challenge of the Revolution and the British press Journalists and politics Elizabeth L. Eisenstein, The tribune of the people: a new species of demagogue W. J. Murray, Journalism as a career choice in 1789 Jack R. Censer, Robespierre the journalist Frances Malino, Zalkind Hourwitz, the Jews and the revolutionary press Journalism and politics: the elitist press Myriam Yardeni, Paradoxes politiques et persuasion dans les Annales de Linguet Jean-Paul Bertaud, L’Ami du roi de l’abbé Royou Suzanne Tucoo-Chala, Un Moniteur universel idéal: le Supplément historique de l’An IV Melvin Edelstein, La Feuille villageoise and rural political modernisation Antoine de Baecque, La dénonciation publique dans la presse et le pamphlet (1789-1791) Ouzi Elyada, Les récits de complot dans la presse populaire parisienne (1790-1791) Emile Ducoudray, De la presse d’opinion aux groupes de pression: les clubs électoraux parisiens en 1791-1792 Language and revolution Dante Lenardon; The genesis of revolutionary language and vocabulary in the Journal encyclopédique Roselyne Koren, Violence verbale et argumentation dans la presse révolutionnaire et contre-révolutionnaire Harvey Mitchell, Edmund Burke’s language of politics and his audience Images and their uses Sarah Maza, L’image de la souveraine: féminité et politique dans les pamphlets de l’affaire du Collier Michel Vovelle, L’altération de l’image royale à travers l’estampe et la chanson (1788-1794) Claude Gandelman, Appropriation et fécalisation: le rôle de la scatologie dans l’imagerie et le langage sans-culotte Inde