Realms of Memory - (European Perspectives: A Social Thought and Cultural Criticism) Abridged by Pierre Nora & Lawrence Kritzman (Hardcover)

About the Book

The third and final volume in Pierre Nora's award-winning (for Volume I) REALMS OF MEMORY, which includes groundbreaking discussions of France's past, powerfully demonstrates how a nation can both recover and rediscover its identity through remembrance, how rewriting history can forge new paradigms of cultural identity, and how meanings attached to an event can be as significant as the event itself. 146 illustrations.

Book Synopsis

This volume, the third part of Realms of Memory, focuses on the emblems that signify Frenchness to people around the world. It includes 13 essays on cultural icons from Joan of Arc to Descartes; the national motto of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity; the tricolour flag; and the French language itself. The closing essay on commemoration provides an overview of the series.

Review Quotes

"Provides arresting genealogies of a number of the major cleavages in French history, with chapters on the embattled relationship of Jews to the French republic, the peculiar affinities of Gaulism and Communism, and... Paris' haughty condescension toward la province.... Without resorting to polemics, the volume reminds us that the image of the French past is confected as much out of amnesia as out of memory." -- "Lingua Franca"

"A magisterial attempt to define what it is to be French." -- "Times Literary Supplement"

"A magnificent achievement.... [The essays included] are the high-carat jewels of the project." -- "The New Republic"

"This is an indispensable guide to understanding France and the French. As usual, Arthur Goldhammer's translation is superb." -- "Foreign Affairs"

"This unusual book deals fascinatingly with everything from the creation of the rousing anthem "La Marseillaise" to the changing role of Joan of Arc in France's collective memory. Even the Eiffel Tower shines forth in surprising new facets." -- "Chicago Tribune"

"A magisterial attempt to define what it is to be French." -- Times Literary Supplement

"A magnificent achievement.... [The essays included] are the high-carat jewels of the project." -- The New Republic

"This is an indispensable guide to understanding France and the French. As usual, Arthur Goldhammer's translation is superb." -- Foreign Affairs

"This unusual book deals fascinatingly with everything from the creation of the rousing anthem "La Marseillaise" to the changing role of Joan of Arc in France's collective memory. Even the Eiffel Tower shines forth in surprising new facets." -- Chicago Tribune

"A magnificent achievement.... ÝThe essays included¨ are the high-carat jewels of the project." -- "The New Republic"

"A magisterial attempt to define what it is to be French." -- "Times Literary Supplement"

"A magnificent achievement.... [The essays included] are the high-carat jewels of the project." -- "The New Republic"

"This is an indispensable guide to understanding France and the French. As usual, Arthur Goldhammer's translation is superb." -- "Foreign Affairs"

"This unusual book deals fascinatingly with everything from the creation of the rousing anthem "La Marseillaise" to the changing role of Joan of Arc in France's collective memory. Even the Eiffel Tower shines forth in surprising new facets." -- "Chicago Tribune"

About the Author

Pierre Nora is Editorial Director of Editions Gallimand. He is editor of the journal Le Debat and is Directeur D'Etudes at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris.