2 - Greek identities and French politics in the Revue des Deux Mondes (1846–1900)

Summary

Abstract

The longevity of the magazine Revue des Deux Mondes, its position among the French magazines, its contents, contributors and directors, all prominent scholars of France, establish the Revue des Deux Mondes as an important record of intellectual and political life in the nineteenth century, as well as of the way in which the West in general and France in particular regarded contemporary Greece during the same period. This study aims to provide an overview of all Greek-themed articles in the magazine from 1829 to 1899, with the purpose of exploring the various aspects of ancient and contemporary Hellenism, in relation to France's foreign policies as well as the activities of the French School at Athens.

Keywords: Modern Greece, ancient Greece, French School at Athens, French policies, geography, Mediterranean travels

The French magazine Revue des Deux Mondes was created on 1 August 1829, with the title: La Revue des Deux Mondes, recueil de la politique, de l’administration et des moeurs [The Magazine of the Two Worlds: An Overview of Politics, Administration and Customs]. Prosper Mauroy (political editor) and Pierre de Ségur-Dupeyron (from the Ministry of Interior Affairs) were the founders of the magazine. Initially, its content was mainly geographical. On 8 February 1830, Mauroy bought the magazine Journal des Voyages (founded in 1818), which merged with the Revue des Deux Mondes to form a new entity bearing the long title: Revue des Deux Mondes, journal des voyages, de l’administration, des moeurs, etc., chez les différents peuples du globe, ou archives géographiques et historiques du XIX^e siècle [Magazine of the Two Worlds: Journal of Travels, Administration, Customs etc., among the Different Peoples of the Globe, or Geographical and Historical Archives of the Nineteenth Century]. The publication ceased the day after the Revolution of 1830 and the magazine, at least in part, ended up in 1831 in the hands of the gifted Francois Buloz, who remained its editor until his death in 1877. Buloz, born in 1804, was just 27 years old when his life was inextricably linked to that of the RdDM. Buloz passionately fought for the financial survival of the magazine, and managed to turn it into an established publication in continuous circulation, in spite of occasionally adverse political circumstances.