From 18-26 September 1996, the Department of History of the University of Regina hosted a colloquium entitled, Symbols, Myths and Images of the French Revolution, in honour of James A. Leith (Queen's University), a leading historian of revolutionary France for over three decades who began his teaching career in Saskatchewan. The colloquium brought together an international panel of scholars to discuss the visual imagery, propaganda, and cultural dimensions of the French Revolution--a subject which, since Professor Leith began his career, has come to occupy an ever larger place in revolutionary historiography.
One of the most modern features of the French Revolution was its intention of shaping a new kind of citizen by exposing him from childhood to inspirational messages and behavioral models. In this effort to regenerate the masses the French Revolutionaries sought to employ not only schools, but newspapers, festivals, dramas, poems, songs, paintings, statues, and engravings as well. At the peak of the Terror, French leaders brough tthe West to the threshold of the totalitarian state in the fullest sense of the world: they established a single party state, directed a regimented economy, created a mass army, and sought to mobilize all the media capable of influencing the human mind. In was an interest in both art and the Revolution which led Professor Leith to explore the groth of the idea of using art as one instrument of propaganda. The idea proved to have deep roots in western civilization, going back to classical thinkers, medieval churchmen, and the art officials of such monarchs as Louis XIV. But following the hedonistic rococo art of the first half of the eighteenth century, this idea of didactic art took on a new lease of life, reaching a crescendo during the Terror. This book analyses the contribution of the philosophes, the Encyclopedists, royal officials, art critics, and revolutionary leaders to the resurgence of the idea; it also probes the peculiar psychological assumptions which led eighteeneth-century thinkers to believe in the efficacy of visual propaganda. The outcome of this idea of art as an ideological weapon was involved in the fate of the Revolution itself, yet it was also affected by certain curious tensions already evident in the minds of its advocates under the Old Régime. Lingering interest in purely aesthetic values,k affirmation of the need for creative freedom, and determination to maintain French cultural hegemony, all complicated the effort to turn art into a vehicle of civic instruction. The final chapter examines the rôle of these tensions in the dénouement of the idea in the closing phase of the Revolution. This book should appeal not only to those interested in French civilization, the age of Enlightment, and they French Revolution, but to those concerned with the rôle of art and the artist in modern society as well.
From 18-26 September 1996, the Department of History of the University of Regina hosted a colloquium entitled, Symbols, Myths and Images of the French Revolution, in honour of James A. Leith (Queen's University), a leading historian of revolutionary France for over three decades who began his teaching career in Saskatchewan. The colloquium brought together an international panel of scholars to discuss the visual imagery, propaganda, and cultural dimensions of the French Revolution--a subject which, since Professor Leith began his career, has come to occupy an ever larger place in revolutionary historiography.
Northrop Frye describes the way symbols operate as media of exchange in literature, drawing examples from English literature in difference periods. Eva Kushner examines the increased freedom on expression possible to Renaissance poets because of the availability of a wider range of symbols. Poet and literary historian Douglas Jones probes the use of the railway as a distinctive symbol of both unity and alienation for English Canadians. Abraham Moles analyses the social impact of "dynamic myths" on social changes which break with established traditions. Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov discusses the function of symbols in the art of Van Gogh. James Leith examines the role of symbols in revolutionary movements, in particular the adaptation of the ancient symbol of the equilateral triangle. Anthony Storr discusses the vital role of symbols in the search for a sense of unity in life. Wilfred Cantwell-Smith considers various world religions as symbolic efforts to give ultimate meaning to life. In conclusion, Norman Mackenzie reflects on all the essays, drawing on his own command of modern literature and culture.
In My End Is My Beginning is the story of Mary Queen of Scots (1542–87), the tragic heroine par excellence. Queen of an unfamiliar and troubled nation when she was a week old, it was her misfortune to be a pawn in the game of international politics throughout her life. Even in the brief period from 1561 to 1567 when she was ruler of Scotland in fact as well as in name, she was beset with problems that would have defeated a much stronger, more experienced monarch. A talented poet and a charismatic leader, she contended with a treacherous, self-serving nobility, the religious ferment of the Reformation, and the political ambitions of larger and more powerful neighbours. With little real authority and few resources, Mary’s reign was successful, until her disastrous marriage to the dissolute Darnley set in motion the events that brought about her downfall. For the last 20 years of her life she was a prisoner in the hands of her cousin, Elizabeth I of England, and the subject of treacherous plots and conspiracies. A hostage to fortune, she represented a threat and a rallying-point for English Catholics. Her tragic end was inevitable. Yet her life, with all its adventurous, failures and disasters, produced the son – James – who ultimately brought about the union of Scotland and England. In the End Is My Beginning uncovers the true facts of Mary’s life in the context of Anglo-Scottish relations and shows why, after more than 400 years, she remains arguably the greatest character in popular Scottish history.
How did the brewing of beer become a scientific process? Sumner explores this question by charting the theory and practice of the trade in Britain and Ireland during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The conference took advantage of the confluence of meetings of the Royal Society of Canada, the Learned Societies of Canada, and the Canadian Federation of Biological Societies at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Planet Earth, a compendium of papers presented at the conference, is the result. Contents Humankind: Agent and Victim of Global Change in the Geosphere-Biosphere System - Digby J. McLaren Our Common Future: World Development and the Environment - Alistair M. Taylor and Duncan M. Taylor Changes in Climates of the Past: Lessons for the Future - Michael B. McElroy World Hunger, Livelihoods, and the Environment - Gita Sen Species Impoverishment - M. Brock Fenton The Interface of Health, Population, and Development: The Ecology of Health - Rex Fendall Environmental Toxicology - Gabriel L. Plaa Aboriginal Peoples: The Canadian Experience? - Marlene Brant Castellano Science and Politics on Planet Earth - Michael Ignatieff.
One of the most modern features of the French Revolution was its intention of shaping a new kind of citizen by exposing him from childhood to inspirational messages and behavioral models. In this effort to regenerate the masses the French Revolutionaries sought to employ not only schools, but newspapers, festivals, dramas, poems, songs, paintings, statues, and engravings as well. At the peak of the Terror, French leaders brough tthe West to the threshold of the totalitarian state in the fullest sense of the world: they established a single party state, directed a regimented economy, created a mass army, and sought to mobilize all the media capable of influencing the human mind. In was an interest in both art and the Revolution which led Professor Leith to explore the groth of the idea of using art as one instrument of propaganda. The idea proved to have deep roots in western civilization, going back to classical thinkers, medieval churchmen, and the art officials of such monarchs as Louis XIV. But following the hedonistic rococo art of the first half of the eighteenth century, this idea of didactic art took on a new lease of life, reaching a crescendo during the Terror. This book analyses the contribution of the philosophes, the Encyclopedists, royal officials, art critics, and revolutionary leaders to the resurgence of the idea; it also probes the peculiar psychological assumptions which led eighteeneth-century thinkers to believe in the efficacy of visual propaganda. The outcome of this idea of art as an ideological weapon was involved in the fate of the Revolution itself, yet it was also affected by certain curious tensions already evident in the minds of its advocates under the Old Régime. Lingering interest in purely aesthetic values,k affirmation of the need for creative freedom, and determination to maintain French cultural hegemony, all complicated the effort to turn art into a vehicle of civic instruction. The final chapter examines the rôle of these tensions in the dénouement of the idea in the closing phase of the Revolution. This book should appeal not only to those interested in French civilization, the age of Enlightment, and they French Revolution, but to those concerned with the rôle of art and the artist in modern society as well.
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