1789 FRENCH REVOLUTION AS A MEDIA EVENT: IN IMAGE, RITUAL AND TEXT

D. Hanovs, V. Teraudkalns

Abstract


This article analyzes the 1789 French Revolution as an 18th century European media event present in image, revolutionary rituals and various texts. The dominating visual and written narratives in European reflections on the Revolution construed it as an horrific, unexpected event in European political culture – a cultural break. Emotions ranged from surprise to shock and from elation to fear and visions of a political apocalypse. We analyse the range of reactions through the interaction of private and public visual media discourses and public performances in revolutionary Paris and beyond the capital of France. We analyze how the concepts of “liberty” and “rights” are discussed internationally in the context of 1789. We conclude that the concept of liberty and human rights is not just in the domain of revolution: the concept developed as part of the lexicon of the opposition to 1789 as well and was presented in images and various political rituals. 


Keywords


absolutism; French revolution; festival of Federation; freedom; tyranny; human rights; political journalism; sensationalism

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