[lbo-talk] the myth of the french bourgeoisie

shag shag at cleandraws.com
Tue Jan 22 19:48:11 PST 2008


ha! In my latest trip to the library, I stumbled over a book that caught my eye, Sara Maza's _The Myth of the French Bourgeoisie: An Essay on the Social Imaginary, 1750-1850_

I'm getting desperately, desperately bored by non-theory stuff. aiyiyiyi. After awhile, it just feels like you've read it all before. Tell me something new!

So far, Maza's a delightful writer but what made me want to share is this line:

"The thesis of bourgeois nonexistence* derives from my belief that classes only exist if they are aware of their own existence, a knowledge which is inseparable from the ability to articulate an identity. I posit here that the existence of social groups, while rooted in the material world, is shaped by language and more specificially by narrative: in order for a group to claim a role as actor in society and polity, it must have a story or stories about itself, it must take directions for a tale that links memories of the past to desires for the future. The French bourgeoisie was briefly offered an inspiring story of this sort, the one written mostly in the 1820s by liberal politicians and historians such as Augustin Thierry, Fracois Guizont, and Adlphe Theirs. That narrative, however, did not prove compelling for very long."

She also points out that, today, and historically, bourgeoisie was used more like yuppie is today. No one claimed membership per se, they used it as a label to mock others or to assign themselves, but only as sarcasm.

Anyway, I will report more if this book turns out to be interesting. Meanwhile, theory heads: tell me what to read!

http://cleandraws.com Wear Clean Draws ('coz there's 5 million ways to kill a CEO)



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