Commemorating Trauma: the Paris Commune and Its Cultural Aftermath

239 Pages·2006·1.387 MB·English

by  Starr, Peter

COMMEMORAT ING TRAUMA
.................15760$ $$FM 03-15-0610:10:04 PS PAGEi
.................15760$ $$FM 03-15-0610:10:04 PS PAGEii
COMMEMORATING TRAUMA
The Paris Commune and Its Cultural Aftermath
(cid:2)
Peter Starr
FordhamUniversityPress
NewYork2006
.................15760$ $$FM 03-15-0610:10:05 PS PAGEiii
Copyright(cid:2)2006FordhamUniversityPress
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedin
aretrievalsystem,ortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans—electronic,
mechanical,photocopy,recording,oranyother—exceptforbriefquotations
inprintedreviews,withoutthepriorpermissionofthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
[TK]
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
07 06 5 4 3 2 1
Firstedition
.................15760$ $$FM 03-15-0610:10:05 PS PAGEiv
For Liza and Julia
.................15760$ $$FM 03-15-0610:10:05 PS PAGEv
.................15760$ $$FM 03-15-0610:10:05 PS PAGEvi
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
NoteonTranslations xi
Introduction
TheCommuneandtheRighttoConfusion 1
1 WhyConfusion?WhytheCommune? 13
2 TheTimeofOurMelancholy:Zola’sDe´baˆcle 41
3 MourningTriumphant:Hugo’sTerribleYear(s) 60
4 ScienceandConfusion:Flaubert’sTemptation 86
5 ThePartyofMovement:Flaubert’sBouvardetPe´cuchet 116
6 DemocracyandMasochism:Zola’sBonheur 149
7 TheFilmicCommune 169
Notes 185
Bibliography 207
Index 221
vii
.................15760$ CNTS 03-15-0610:10:08 PS PAGEvii
.................15760$ CNTS 03-15-0610:10:08 PS PAGEviii
Acknowledgments
Although written largely over the past several years, this book has its roots
inmygraduateworkatJohnsHopkins’sHumanitiesCenter.Ofalltheex-
traordinary scholars with whom I had the pleasure of studying at Hopkins,
several had an important role in helping me to conceptualize the unpub-
lisheddissertationfromwhichthisstudyevolved.SpecialthankstoMichael
Fried,NeilHertz,RuthLeys,andRichardMackseyaswellastoaremark-
able cadre of fellow Hopkins students, whose work over the past two dec-
ades has done so much to shape how we look at the French nineteenth
century.TheyincludeDavidBell,SuzanneGuerlac,LawrenceSchehr,and
BerylSchlossman.
At various stages in the genesis of this project, I have been blessed with
the support and good counsel of Frank Paul Bowman, Ross Chambers,
Lawrence Kritzman, Dominick LaCapra, Juliet Flower MacCannell, and
AlbertSonnenfeld.PeggyKamuf,KarenPinkus,HilarySchor,NancyVick-
ers, and Margaret Waller have been thebest of colleagues—and the best of
friends.ThesupportofUSC’sCollegeofLetters,ArtsandScienceshasbeen
unwavering throughout. Special thanks to Deans Joseph Aoun, Marshall
Cohen,andBethMeyerowitz.
Once again, I am indebted to Helen Tartar for her professionalism, her
goodhumor,andhertrulyuncannyknackforbooktitles.BethWilsondid
an extraordinary job in copyediting this manuscript. Many thanks to Jean
Skippforherhelpinpreparingtheindex.
To my wife, Alice, and my daughters, Liza and Julia, I owe a debt that
no acknowledgment or dedication can hope to express. So too my debt to
‘‘themothers’’:MarthaStarrandElizabethHill.Muchlovetoyouall.
Aportionofchapter1appearedinContemporaryFrenchCivilization29,1
(2004). Earlier versions of chapters 4 and 5 appeared in MLN 99, 5 (1984)
andNineteenth-CenturyFrenchStudies18,1/2(1989/90)respectively.Thanks
totheeditorsandpublishersofthosejournalsforpermissiontousethisma-
terialhere.
ix
.................15760$ $ACK 03-15-0610:10:14 PS PAGEix
.................15760$ $ACK 03-15-0610:10:15 PS PAGEx