E-Book, Englisch, 272 Seiten
Ilacqua Inventing the modern region
1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-1-5261-6924-2
Verlag: Manchester University Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)
Basque identity and the French nation-state
E-Book, Englisch, 272 Seiten
Reihe: Studies in Modern French and Francophone History
ISBN: 978-1-5261-6924-2
Verlag: Manchester University Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)
This book explores the process by which the French Basque country acquired a folkloric regional identity in the long nineteenth century. It argues that, despite its origins in pre-modern customs, this stereotypical identity was invented as part of France's process of nation-building. The abolition of privileges in 1789 prompted a new interest in local culture as the defining feature of provincial France, shaping the transition from the pre-'modern' province to the 'modern' region. The relationship between the region and the nation, however, was difficult. Regional culture favoured the integration of the French Basque provinces into the French nation-state but also challenged the authority of the central state. As a result, Basque region-building reveals the strengths and weaknesses of the unitary model of French nationhood, in the nineteenth century as well as today.