国民国家の創設と愛国少年伝説の展開 : フランス革命の英雄バラ, ヴィアラ

抄録

Bara and Viala are famous "children" of the French Revolution. It has been said that they sacrificed themselves for the revolutionary cause. There is, however, a great deal of uncertainty about these heroes. What is the truth about their deaths ? Who created their legends ? Why did these tales spread rapidly during the Revolution ? Why and how were they revived under the Third Republic ? These questions have remained unanswered. Bara and Viala died bravely in the revolutionary war; howevrer, their deaths were not as heroic as heretofore believed. It was Robespierre who made their lives and deaths more heroic. At that time, Robespierre was struggling with the dechristianisation, antireligious movement, on the one hand, and the popular cult of Marat, on the other. He needed new heroes who could garner support from the sans-culottes to his cause. Robespierre and his friends were able to impose their heroes on the people, especially on the young, at least to a certain degree. This was propably owing to the trend in French society, which became more and more evident in the 18th century, towards the decline of paternal authority and the increase in the value of children. Both were legitimized during the Revolution. Although Bara and Viala legends died out after the fall of Robespierre, legends of heroic children were revived under the Third Republic, especially in the textbooks used in primary schools. At that time, Republicans used the legends of Bara and Viala in the hope that republicanism and patriotism would become rooted deeply in children's minds, but they neglected the fact purposely that these had been created by Robespierre. In any case, these children again became heroes. The Republicans also changed Jacobin young patriots into heroes of French history.