A Revolution in Language: The Problem of Signs in Late Eighteenth-Century France
"Sopia Rosenfeld’s intriguing study deals with a chapter in the intellectual history of the Old Regime and the Revolution of 1789, the puzzle of language. . . . A very fine piece of historical scholarship. . . . This really is a must-read for any serious student of the French Revolution.”—History: Reviews of New Books\ "Until Rosenfeld’s book, no one has attempted to explain in any convincing manner why the meanings and usage of words were so central to revolutionary political culture. . . ....
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What is the relationship between the ideas of the Enlightenment and the culture and ideology of the French Revolution? Rosenfeld takes up that classic question by concentrating on changing conceptions of language and signs during the second half of the eighteenth century.
Introduction11The Gestural Origins of Semiosis and Society: An Enlightenment Solution, 1745-60132Pantomime as Theater, 1760-89573Pantomime as Pedagogy, 1760-89864Revolutionary Regeneration and the Politics of Signs, 1789-941235Ending the Logomachy, 1795-99181Conclusion: The Savage, the Citizen, and the Language of the Law after 1800227Notes249Bibliography345Index399
