Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Poings levés et bras tendus. la contagion des symboles au temps du front populaire

1986; Presses de Sciences Po; Volume: 11; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3406/xxs.1986.1481

1950-6678

Philippe Burrin,

Communism, Protests, Social Movements

Clenched fists and outstretched arms. The contagion of symbols at the time of the Popular Front, Philippe Burrin. The spectacular success of a gesture such as the raised fist, the staging of demonstrations and grandiose celebrations, the massive reappropriation of the national revolutionary tradition : this symbolic and ritual effervescence gives a distinct and virtually unanalyzed flavor to the period 1934-1936. Such an analysis, which enriches our knowledge of the history of the Popular Front and French anti-fascism, requires a preliminary study of the Marxist attitude toward political symbolism to which the two French working-class parties adhered. It is also necessary to take a look at Germany, in a way the experimental laboratory for the phenomenon. Thus in perspective, the symbolic tide which carried away the French left becomes intelligible and meaningful.