Funerals, Politics, and Memory in Modern France, 1789–1996

Abstract

This is an interdisciplinary study of the state funerals that were celebrated in France between the French Revolution and the death of François Mitterrand. It explains how the funerals of such prominent figures as Voltaire, Napoleon Bonaparte, Léon Gambetta, Victor Hugo, and Charles de Gaulle became major public events that helped to mould the national memory. Combining the insights of anthropologists and sociologists with a historical analysis, it argues that the dual character of the ceremony, a political festival and final rite of passage, turned the state funeral into a gripping event to which few French people could remain indifferent. The book focuses on the republican tradition of state funerals, which emerged in the French Revolution and has continued through the Fifth Republic. Whether in power or in opposition, the republicans used the funerals of their leaders and militants to educate the masses and mobilize public support.

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