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Thesis (Ph. D.)--York University, 1999. Graduate Programme in English. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 265-285). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNQ39317.

In analyzing the 1989 bicentennial in Paris, my point of departure has been that the French government, faced with the cool reception to the memory of the Revolution of 1789, was trying to make revolutionary heritage relevant to contemporary concerns, by using allegorical techniques of spatializing and visualizing history while consequently (yet paradoxically, since it ran against their intentions) effecting a smooth passage for this heritage into the world of commodity and spectacle. To analyze this dilemma, I investigated the mechanisms of representation and the tension between spectacle and politically engaged imagery. Drawing from the work of Water Benjamin, the thesis proposed to use allegory as a mode of political criticism and redemptive interpretation. The analysis of the programming of events, for example, revealed that it contained a moral tale of sacrifice, and praised the power of the memory of the Revolution to form a community, not based on ethnicity or shared history but on shared ideals. The analysis of the use of collage in the Bastille Day Parade revealed that it reworked Republican notions of ‘fraternity in a post-colonial era to reflect contemporary discussions of métissage and take a position on its relationship to democracy. By looking at this commemoration allegorically, the double meanings inscribed in the bicentennial program, exhibits, monuments and parade can be unpacked. But the allegorical critique is violent, it does not carefully excavate layers of meaning through a gentle and constructive hermeneutic circle, it requires that the objects that are being contemplated be in fragments. As the allegorist reassembles the fragments into new meaningful constellations, the constructions remain open, driven by the impossibility of recovering what has been lost, always pointing to the instability of meaning. The analysis of the commemoration recognized that commodification and spectacularisation happen, but through reversal it also showed that the 1989 bicentennial draws from a constantly evolving relationship to memory which allows for investment on the part of the public. Because the commemoration is a powerful form of visualizing and spatializing history that occurs in public spaces, many provocative images were taken up by the press and written about, which ultimately reconfigured present-day discussions about democracy and citizenship.

This study deals with Gertrud Kolmar's literary texts, those that center upon the topic of the French Revolution. It endeavors to examine her poetic discourse dealing with the possibility of an alternative political leadership in a time of crisis. The texts comprise the essay "Bildnis Robespierres," the Robespierre cycle of poems, and the play Cecile Renault. These texts, in which Robespierre takes center stage, stand out from within the complete works of Kolmar. They were written between the fall of 1933 and March 1935 and may be read as texts of resistance against the Nazi dictatorship. / Since these texts have to be seen as a direct reaction to the historical developments of the period, they are being closely examined herein, hoping to unearth their political and ideological intent. Drawing upon the theories and conclusions of New Historicism, which assumes that the writer and her subject cannot exist outside their socio-historical environment, important historical influences have been taken into consideration, in an effort to establish possible aspects that have entered into Kolmar's literary message. / A close reading of these texts demonstrates that, by first using the genre of the essay, Kolmar searched for a positive alternative paradigm of power to counter the fascist totalitarian regime. She finds this ideal in the figure of Robespierre because of his virtue and strong sense of justice. Because Kolmar interprets the Revolution as incomplete--since the Jacobin adhered to his principles up to his death--these texts may be considered as a revolutionary call to take up the fight for human rights once again. In her poems, Kolmar poetically creates a model of ideal leadership in the figure of Robespierre. She propagates his strict and harsh rule, as he presented himself to his fellow citizens and accepts violence as necessary in order to establish justice. Thus, Kolmar's model is problematic, since it mirrors, and therefore, confirms the given dictatorial power structures of the National Socialists. In an attempt to justify the use of violence and force, Kolmar immerses her protagonist in the messianic-idea. In her play, she adheres to her model of Robespierre as a messianic figure. But in the light of the altruistic attributes and the fate of the young Cecile Renault, whom Robespierre sacrifices, he appears questioned in his role as the only possible redeemer figure. Therefore, this last Robespierre-text reveals an expanded awareness and an altered attitude of the author towards her historical environment.

In analyzing the 1989 bicentennial in Paris, my point of departure has been that the French government, faced with the cool reception to the memory of the Revolution of 1789, was trying to make revolutionary heritage relevant to contemporary concerns, by using allegorical techniques of spatializing and visualizing history while consequently (yet paradoxically, since it ran against their intentions) effecting a smooth passage for this heritage into the world of commodity and spectacle. To analyze this dilemma, I investigated the mechanisms of representation and the tension between spectacle and politically engaged imagery. Drawing from the work of Water Benjamin, the thesis proposed to use allegory as a mode of political criticism and redemptive interpretation. The analysis of the programming of events, for example, revealed that it contained a moral tale of sacrifice, and praised the power of the memory of the Revolution to form a community, not based on ethnicity or shared history but on shared ideals. The analysis of the use of collage in the Bastille Day Parade revealed that it reworked Republican notions of ‘fraternity in a post-colonial era to reflect contemporary discussions of métissage and take a position on its relationship to democracy. By looking at this commemoration allegorically, the double meanings inscribed in the bicentennial program, exhibits, monuments and parade can be unpacked. But the allegorical critique is violent, it does not carefully excavate layers of meaning through a gentle and constructive hermeneutic circle, it requires that the objects that are being contemplated be in fragments. As the allegorist reassembles the fragments into new meaningful constellations, the constructions remain open, driven by the impossibility of recovering what has been lost, always pointing to the instability of meaning. The analysis of the commemoration recognized that commodification and spectacularisation happen, but through reversal it also showed that the 1989 bicentennial draws from a constantly evolving relationship to memory which allows for investment on the part of the public. Because the commemoration is a powerful form of visualizing and spatializing history that occurs in public spaces, many provocative images were taken up by the press and written about, which ultimately reconfigured present-day discussions about democracy and citizenship. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

This thesis examines some of the influences America had on France in the late eighteenth century, and argues that they contributed to the French Revolution.

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