Mourning Glory: The Will of the French Revolution (Critical Authors & Issues) [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover)

~ Marie Helene Huet (Author) "IN 1756, UNDER THE ARTICLE Thunder, Diderot's Encyclopedia provided the following information on how to protect oneself from thunderbolts: The thunderbolt can be broken up..." (more)
Key Phrases: sublime project, last discourse, French Revolution, Festival of the Supreme Being, Section des Piques (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In Mourning Glory Huet provides an arresting analysis of revolutionary will as the flash point between theory and everyday life-an analysis that brings out the unsettling allure of a revolutionary sublime. She also carefully examines the often phantasmatic representations, historiographical and filmic, that attempt to remember such a will, dramatize its exponents, and address its tragic yet glorious effects."—Dominick LaCapra, Cornell University

"This is without doubt a remarkable book. It is elegantly and passionately written; it is brilliant through and through. . . . It should appeal to all readers who are interested in the way cultures deal with their ancestry and their dead; the way they articulate their memory and, in the end, write their history."—Pierre Saint-Amand, Brown University

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 223 pages
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press; illustrated edition edition (August 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812234146
• ISBN-13: 978-0812234145
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,182,282 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Analysis Of How Society Interprets History, May 19, 2000

By	Erika M. Vause (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mourning Glory: The Will of the French Revolution (Critical Authors and Issues) (Paperback)

Marie-Helene Huet's collection of essays is a thought-provoking and fascinating account of the ways in which the past two centuries have dealt with one of the most controversial and multi-faceting events of all time; the French Revolution. Combatting Furet's bold "La Revolution est finie," Huet's work examines various aspects of the revolutionary myth, a myth that continues to influence popular culture to the present day. From a brilliant discussion of the meaning of the sublime in the late 18th century to the "feminization" of Robespierre and other Terrorists in historical accounts in order to embody the Chaotic as Feminine, Huet not only synthesizing previous studies of the Revolution but, most importantly, tells us how the perception of the Revolution always reflects upon the culture that created that perception. This is a fantastic combination of comparative mythology and history which should be read not only by those interested in the French Revolution but by anyone who wants to learn how society treats its dead and how that mirrors itself.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazingly well researched analysis, November 13, 2000

By	Elizabeth N. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mourning Glory: The Will of the French Revolution (Critical Authors and Issues) (Paperback)

"Mouring Glory" is certainly one of my favorite historical accounts of the French Revolution because it reaches beyond the conventional interpretations of this frightening (but fascinating) period of history. Huet gives the reader an informative analysis of the Revolutionary ideology of the sublime, and an incredibly well researched look into how and why the Revolution's idealistic leaders are portrayed as they are. The author gives insight into the Revolutionary will, and how it has been dramatized and incorrectly interpreted in an effort to remember the Revolution and its disturbing but hauntingly mesmerizing effects.