Overview

What is the relationship between the ideas of the Enlightenment and the culture and ideology of the French Revolution? This book takes up that classic question by concentrating on the politics of language in the second half of the 18th century. The author traces the emergence of both a new anxiety about the ""abuse of words"" and a new interest in the power of gestural communication, from ballet to the sign language of the deaf. She then explores the significance of a variety of semiotic experiments within the revolutionary struggle. ""A Revolution in Language"" explains why leading revolutionaries came to see politics as a struggle for authority over signs. And it shows how ideas about language shaped French Revolutionary political culture as a whole.

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9780804749312

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Reviews

Sopia Rosenfeld's intriguing study deals with a chapter in the intellectual history of the Old Regime and the Revolution of 1789, the puzzle of language... A very fine piece of historical scholarship... This really is a must-read for any serious student of the French Revolution. -- History: Reviews of New Books Until Rosenfeld's book, no one has attempted to explain in any convincing manner why the meanings and usage of words were so central to revolutionary political culture... [A] well-researched and creatively argued book for those who claim that the revolution was, above all else, a misplaced and deadly struggle to determine who would speak for the nation. -- American Historical Review A Revolution in Language is a thoroughly researched and documented study that convincingly demonstrates the extent to which both philosophes and revolutionaries were preoccupied with problems of language. It furthermore shows that the epistemology of the Enlightenment strongly affected not only the thinking of revolutionary leaders, but also the development of modern French political culture. -- Gita May

Sopia Rosenfeld's intriguing study deals with a chapter in the intellectual history of the Old Regime and the Revolution of 1789, the puzzle of language... A very fine piece of historical scholarship... This really is a must-read for any serious student of the French Revolution. --History: Reviews of New Books Until Rosenfeld's book, no one has attempted to explain in any convincing manner why the meanings and usage of words were so central to revolutionary political culture... [A] well-researched and creatively argued book for those who claim that the revolution was, above all else, a misplaced and deadly struggle to determine who would speak for the nation. --American Historical Review A Revolution in Language is a thoroughly researched and documented study that convincingly demonstrates the extent to which both philosophes and revolutionaries were preoccupied with problems of language. It furthermore shows that the epistemology of the Enlightenment strongly affected not only the thinking of revolutionary leaders, but also the development of modern French political culture. --Gita May, Columbia University

Sopia Rosenfeld's intriguing study deals with a chapter in the intellectual history of the Old Regime and the Revolution of 1789, the puzzle of language... A very fine piece of historical scholarship... This really is a must-read for any serious student of the French Revolution. - History: Reviews of New Books Until Rosenfeld's book, no one has attempted to explain in any convincing manner why the meanings and usage of words were so central to revolutionary political culture... [A] well-researched and creatively argued book for those who claim that the revolution was, above all else, a misplaced and deadly struggle to determine who would speak for the nation. - American Historical Review A Revolution in Language is a thoroughly researched and documented study that convincingly demonstrates the extent to which both philosophes and revolutionaries were preoccupied with problems of language. It furthermore shows that the epistemology of the Enlightenment strongly affected not only the thinking of revolutionary leaders, but also the development of modern French political culture. - Gita May, Columbia University

A Revolution in Language is a thoroughly researched and documented study that convincingly demonstrates the extent to which both philosophes and revolutionaries were preoccupied with problems of language. It furthermore shows that the epistemology of the Enlightenment strongly affected not only the thinking of revolutionary leaders, but also the development of modern French political culture. --Gita May, Columbia University

Author Information

Sophia Rosenfeld is Associate Professor of History at the University of Virginia

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