Benjamin fraklin : image et influence en france. de l'actualite a la posterite (1776-1830)
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Abstract EN:
Benjamin franklin arrived in paris in december 1776, at a time when the american rebels' fighting against great britain stirred enthusiasm among the french. As one of the three commissioners sent by the second continental congress to negotiate a treaty of amity and commerce with the french court, he was plebicised by the french population at large. The image the french formed of franklin was quite complex : it depended on himself, of what he agreed to reveal to his contemporaries, and of his renown in the various fields of his activites. This representation was also the result of a propaganda in favor of america strategically organized by franklin as well as by his many french contacts and friends. This study tries to tell the real franklin from the imaginary franklin, to stress the gaps and the congruences between the real person and the legendary figure. At the same time it follows the construction of the representation, or rather the representations, the french had of franklin from 1776 to 1785. Certain aspects of this imagery were so firmly anchored in the eighteenth century french society's patrimony that one can follow the evolution of the image the french retain of the "savior of the two worlds" from the french revolution to 1830, as well as the impact his ideas and his writings had on the institutions, the scientific community, the people and the french society. Thus one can witness the genesis of the franklinian myth, then see its consolidation, and follow the changes triggered by french historical event. Each generation of frenchmen saw franklin in a different light and found in his works and his legend the justification for their own undertakings. From 1776 to 1830, regardless of the fluctuations in france's assessment of america, franklin remains for a large majority of the french people, a beloved household name, the epitome of the american, the embodiment of virtue and of self-improvement.
Abstract FR:
Des son arrivee en france en 1776, porte par la vague d'enthousiasme que suscite la lutte des insurgents des colonies britanniques contre leur metropole, benjamin franklin, l'un des representants officiels de la nouvelle republique d'outre-atlantique, est plebiscite par tous les francais. L'image de franklin durant son sejour en france est complexe, car elle depend de lui-meme, de ce qu'il a bien voulu reveler a ses contemporains, et de sa renommee dans les differents domaines de ses activites variees. Mais cette representation est egalement le resultat d'une strategie de propagande en faveur de l'amerique, habilement menee par franklin lui-meme, et ses contacts francais, officieux et officiels. Cette etude essaie de faire la part des choses entre le vrai franklin et le franklin imaginaire, entre le personnage reel et la legende vivante, de noter les ecarts eventuels, et les coincidences, entre l'authentique et l'artificiel, et de reconstruire la formation de l'image, des images, de franklin de 1776 a 1785. Certaines facettes de l'imagerie franklinienne s'ancrent si profondement dans le patrimoine francais que l'on peut suivre de la revolution de 1789 a celle de 1830, non seulementl'image que les francais conservent du "sauveur des deux mondes," mais egalement l'impact que ses idees ou ses ecrits ont sur les institutions, la communaute scientifique, le peuple et la societe francaise. Ainsi on note la genese du mythe franklinien, puis sa consolidation, et le mouvement typique de flux et de reflux que lui impriment les evenements historiques qui se deroulent en france. Durant cette periode franklin demeure aux yeux de la majorite des francais, l'americain typique et exemplaire, pour des raisons diverses. A chaque epoque correspond une ou plusieurs representations de franklin et au cours des ans a lieu une veritable appropriation de son personnage par la memoire collective des francais ; d'ou comme aurait pu dire le bonhomme richard: "a chacun son franklin".