Mässu loogika. Lasteröövide afäär Pariisis 1750

by Arlette Farge, Jacques Revel, Heete Sahkai (Translator)

1750. aasta kevadel haaras Pariisi hirmu- ja vägivallakeeris. Liikusid kuuldused jäljetult kaduvatest lastest, keda röövivat politsei. Räägiti, et nad saadetakse Ameerikasse asumaadele, või et nende verega ravitakse haiget printsi. Kuulujutu tulemusena puhkes linnas mäss, mis kestis mitu nädalat.

Kaks silmapaistvat prantsuse ajaloolast, Arlette Farge ja Jacques Revel, on kirjutanud selle minevikusündmuse selgitamiseks raamatu, milles avaneb põnev vaade 18. sajandi keskpaiga Pariisile, seal valitsenud ühiskondlike suhete võrgule, inimeste käitumis- ja mõttemustritele. Farge ja Revel näitavad leidlikult, kuidas mässust kujuneb kollektiivne näitelava, kus lärmav ja vägivallatsev rahvahulk vaidleb korra ja korralageduse tähenduse üle, tuletab võimudele meelde mängureegleid ning paneb aeg-ajalt maksma omaenese reeglid. Ent kuulujutt paljastab kaudselt ka palju tõsisema saladuse - rahvas ei armasta enam oma kuningat.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, French Revolution, France, 18th Century

127 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Arlette Farge est historienne spécialiste du XVIIIe siècle. Elle a publié de nombreux ouvrages, parmi lesquels La Vie fragile. Violence, pouvoirs et solidarités à Paris au XVIIIe siècle, Le Goût de l'archive, et, avec Michel Foucault, Le Désordre des familles. Lettres de cachet des Archives de la Bastille au XVIIIe siècle.

Reviews

[Rebecca Radnor · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those who don't know, it was illegal to be a street child in Paris before the revolution, and the government was desperate for new immigrants to send to its colonies in places like Louisiana, and were offering finders fees to fill the ships. As a result, even kids who were not vagrants or pick pockets were often rounded up and sent abroad with no word given to their parents. This book considers issues like this, which were all part of the undercurrent of dissatisfaction that resulted in the revolution.

[Michael Bellecourt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This quick read provided me with a snapshot of life in Paris in 1750, an era in pre-revolutionary France with which I'm not too familiar. Frankly, I know almost nothing regarding Louis XV's reign, and so this reading was a pleasant introduction to the hellhole that was life in France during the eighteenth century.

Incredibly, a cursory Google search tells me almost nothing of the riots that took place in Paris in May of 1750. Briefly, the lieutenant général de police Berryer set in place a series of outlandish policies intended to remove vagrants from the Parisian streets. As a result, numerous children were arrested, often without reasonable cause, and brought straight to prison. The worry and heartbreak of these childrens' parents led to riots across Paris on the 22nd and 23rd of May, ending with the lynching of the police agent Labbé.

What seemed most important to me, though, was not the riot itself or even its one specific catalyst. Instead, I was most intrigued by the underlying causes to everything that had occurred. The people viewed the king as weak, and so had become disillusioned by the ancien régime itself. As formulaic as it may be to admit this, it was the final line of the book that most stuck with me: "The violence and terror [of the 1750 riots] brought forth a new and awesome truth: 'The people no longer loved their kings whom once they had held so dear.'"

[Philipp Abele · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a fast read (read the german version "Die Logik des Aufruhrs"; around 120 pages) and that's one reason why it's a good book. Conveys a good picture of the Ancien Régime in the middle of the 18th century. Approach of the authors was quite interesting: To find a way in identifying structure in a structure-free phenomena: public upheaval and mass initiatives. How big's the possibility to still 'organise' the event and to whom out of the mass is given this potential? If you're this person: What's the playing field to direct the public disorder, but also: which actions and proposals are not accepted by the masses and put yourself into danger, even when you're no stakeholder in the matter? It's a good-read, but still no hurra-and-yes-read.

[Dusty Deal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dry, but interesting. Provides a look into how events are perceived and reported by different sources. Interestingly, it has definite correlations to current events, including police actions and reactions, rioting, looting, and theories of an underlying conspiracy.

[Nightkid · Rating 3 out of 5]

這是一本格局較小的史書，主要講述一則流傳在於1750年在法國流傳的綁架兒童事件。

個人認為作者似乎過於強調這則流言的影響力，人民對王室、政府、警察體系失去信心，才是主因吧。

[moosisai]

0 tärni 😶‍🌫️😶‍🌫️😶‍🌫️😶‍🌫️😶‍🌫️ ma olen nii õnnelik, et see läbi on,,,

selle olekssaanud 1 peatykiga kokku võtta ja pidevalt segas mingi suvaline jama vahele ...maeiteaaa

[David Vaccaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great historical info about ritual and revolt in pre modern Europe

[Johanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the subject itself is intriguing what I found most interesting about the book was the authors attempts to analyze the events from different levels, concentrating mostly on micro plane but occasionally bringing in wider view (the macro element). And looking from the macro plane the event itself, while curious, was insignificant (which caused some frustration because I questioned why was I even reading about it). For me the authors struggled in the beginning to bring across their intent but did better in latter chapters.

[Blanca · Rating 4 out of 5]

The climate of pre-revolution France as dissected by first hand accounts of the uprisings that took place in 1750. At its simplest, a case of a desperate/paranoid society and police brutality. At its most complex, it's a snapshot of the psychology of mobs; sets up the mentality of France leading up to 1789. They wanted to love their king, they really did. Their king just didn't love them :/ bummer.