Fra kongens til nasjonens kultur : Fransk kulturpolitikk fra Ludvig XIV til den franske revolusjon

• For André Malraux the purpose of cultural policy was to promote human sociability and French national identity by giving as many Frenchmen as possible access to the great works of art, and especially the French ones. He wanted to keep the influence of market forces at a distance. The purpose of this article is to give an historical perspective of the French tradition of strong ties between political power and the arts. Under Louis XIV the arts were subjugated to the purpose of securing obedience by celebrating the glory of the monarchy, particularly using Versailles as a cultural and social as well as a political instrument of power. Creating the royal academies was part of this strategy. This was, however, not solely a subjugation, but also a liberation from the medieval, economic framework of the guilds, creating a separate aesthetic sphere. In the 18th century this sphere would form the basis for autonomus aesthetic judgements, which would then be turned into moral and political judgements. The 18th century saw at first a resurgence of aristocratic power, symbolized aesthetically in the Fête galante immortalized by Watteau. Towards the end of the century a moralizing patriotic movement gained ascendancy, often adopting a critical stance against both monarchy and aristocracy. The ascendancy of stern patriotism, politically and aesthetically, reached its apogee in the radical phase of the French Revolution, symbolized in the twin roles of Jacques-Louis David as politician and leading artist. Under the Revolution we see the processes of both liberation and of a subjugation of art to politics more thorough than ever before. A lasting result of the French Revolution was to appropriate cultural objects as a national cultural heritage and turn them into subjects of pedagogy, especially through the establishement of public museums, archives and libraries.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Royal academies

Watteau

le salon

Public opinion

Boucher

Desacralization of the monarchy

David

Cultural revolution

Louvre

Kulturpolitik

Versailles

Library and Information Science

Biblioteks- och informationsvetenskap

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)