Becoming bourgeois : love, kinship, and power in provincial France, 1670-1880 / Christopher H. Johnson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Johnson, Christopher H., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Middle class--France--History--19th century.

Middle class.

Middle class--France--History--18th century.

Families--France.

Families.

France--Social conditions--19th century.

France.

France--Social conditions--18th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (358 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, New York ; London, [England] : Cornell University Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Becoming Bourgeois traces the fortunes of three French families in the municipality of Vannes, in Brittany-Galles, Jollivet, and Le Ridant-who rose to prominence in publishing, law, the military, public administration, and intellectual pursuits over the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Revisiting complex issues of bourgeois class formation from the perspective of the interior lives of families, Christopher H. Johnson argues that the most durable and socially advantageous links forging bourgeois ascent were those of kinship. Economic success, though certainly derived from the virtues of hard work and intelligent management, was always underpinned by marriage strategies and the diligent intervention of influential family members. Johnson's examination of hundreds of personal letters opens up a whole world: the vicissitudes of courtship; the centrality of marriage; the depths of conjugal love; the routines of pregnancy and the drama of childbirth; the practices of child rearing and education; the powerful place of siblings; the role of kin in advancing the next generation; tragedy and deaths; the enormous contributions of women in all aspects of becoming bourgeois; and the pleasures of gathering together in intimate soirées, grand balls, country houses, and civic and political organizations. Family love bound it all together, and this is ultimately what this book is about, as four generations of rather ordinary provincial people capture our hearts.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part I. The Ascent (1670-1800)

1. The Way of Print

2. Bourgeois de Vannes, Bourgeois de Paris

3. The Revolutions of the Galles

Part II. Bourgeois Culture (1800-1880)

4. The Sibling Archipelago

5. "Mon Adèle"

6. Notre Adèle

7. Guadeloupe

8. The Chosen: Educating René

9. Into the World

10. The Legacy: Bourgeois Nation Building and Civic Leadership

Bibliographical Notes

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781501701283

1501701282

9781501701290

1501701290

OCLC:

919921459