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Images du peuple : discours et représentations des élites lyonnaises au XVIIIe siècle

Claire Simon

Abstracts

During the XVIIIth century, the changing perception of social relations appears through the discourse of Lyon's elite, which, in the grip of fear and contempt, is used to objectivize and keep a growing multitude of unruly manufacturing craftsmen at a distance. The vision of the people, at once pragmatic and filled with fantasy, legitimates the repression and the élite supremacy. Nevertheless, its special care for social issues makes the judgment balanced. Soon, at the age of Enlightenment, the charity ethics sketches out the tragic figure of a romanticized people. The advent of a true political reflexion, which confers to the worker an increased stature and a more human aspect, prevails throughout the charity rhetoric. The precocious concern for urban and scientific problems induce a progressive but cautious discourse, which gives the people a new insight into the economic strategies.

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Index terms

Chronologique:

Ancien Régime
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References

Electronic reference

Claire Simon, “Images du peuple : discours et représentations des élites lyonnaises au XVIIIe siècle”Cahiers d'histoire [Online], 44-1 | 1999, Online since , connection on 28 March 2024. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/ch/50; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/ch.50

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About the author

Claire Simon

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Copyright

The text and other elements (illustrations, imported files) are “All rights reserved”, unless otherwise stated.

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