Lexington Books The Satiric Decade: Satire and the Rise of Republican Political Culture in France, 1830-1840

Product Description Where do democratic political practices originate? This issue has long concerned republics, but few historians have studied the process by which people learn the skills of rights-based government. In this illuminating history, Amy Wiese Forbes addresses these origins by analyzing how republicanism took shape through the political satire that flooded French newspapers, theaters, courtrooms, and even academic life in 1830. Forbes shows that satire was the chief source of the critical spirit of republicanism that erupted in the 1840s and sustained the Republic in the 1870s and argues against the notion that satire had no lasting political impact. This book will speak to historians of French politics, republicanism, popular culture, the July Monarchy, satire and political humor, class and gender formation, and legal history. Review From this often highly entertaining exposé of satire, its authors, and its opponents, Forbes concludes that 'republicanism took shape as an aesthetic of satiric criticism-a critical habit of mind'....Forbes surely has provided new insights into the workings of satire, and her book shows how satire, in combination with a lot of other factors, contributed to and redefined republicanism.--June 2011 "The Journal Of Modern History " Amy Forbes's lively and penetrating book brings the French tradition of political mockery into the modern era to illuminate how satire schooled a post-revolutionary citizenry in republicanism and democracy. Interweaving debate about the political settlements of 1830 with mounting tensions over class and gender, she joins a select group of scholars who are using cultural history to reshape our understanding of early nineteenth-century France.--Laura Mason, University of Georgia This original look at caricature in pre-1848 France shows satire and exaggeration laying the groundwork for a more democratic politics. Amy Forbes's command of detail and her lively style make this important work a pleasure to read.--Bonnie Smith, Rutgers University About the Author Amy Wiese Forbes is associate professor of history and director of European studies at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi.