Memory, trauma, mythistory: the enduring legacy of the French Revolution in French prose fictions, 1789-1853

Thesis

The following thesis explores the literary representation and memorialization of the French Revolution, primarily in prose fiction, from 1789 to approximately 1850. I consider how the works in question contribute to the development of a broad revolutionary memory, towards what might be described as a national myth. Engaging with theoretical frameworks developed by scholars such as Pierre Nora, Jacques Le Goff, and Hayden White, among others, my study examines the function of revolutionary memory, arguing that the works I discuss reimagine, memorialize, and ultimately mythologize the Revolution. The thesis examines the representational methods and ideological underpinnings of key authors, beginning with counterrevolutionary and ‘eyewitness’ literary accounts by writers such as Joseph de Maistre, Nicolas-Edmé Rétif de la Bretonne, and Louis-Sébastien Mercier. It then moves through epistolary fiction and early Romanticism (Germaine de Staël, Sénac de Meilhan, Chateaubriand), Romantic historicism, and into the mid-century realist and national-historical mythologies of Balzac and Michelet, respectively. A recurring motif is the tension between personal experience, historical record, and imaginative reconstruction—a tension that becomes central to the literary memory of the Revolution. Rather than treating these texts as isolated responses, my thesis argues for a more unified approach, emphasizing the Revolution’s pervasive symbolic presence across genres and decades. It ultimately suggests that the French Revolution became a foundational site of literary production, shaping the imaginative possibilities of fiction and history alike. In doing so, the study reconsiders the ways literary texts served as loci of national memory, trauma, and identity formation in post-revolutionary France.

Authors: Begley, J

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-yrgwrwwm6
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: realism; novel; assassination; historical trauma; Robespierre; memory; political violence; france; mythistorical; terror; trauma; mythistory; regicide; romanticism; Louis XVI; Marie Antoinette; historical memory; generational trauma; revolution; myth
• Subjects: France--History--Revolution, 1789-1799; Collective memory; Historical fiction; Romanticism