Symbolism in French Revolution Printings

French Revolution Printing
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French Revolution – Printing
According to Darnton and Daniel (1989), from 1775 to 1800, various forms of publication imagery and executions were utilized in addressing multiple social groups. During this era, only a third of the population could barely read as they lived in a traditional world where oral communication was the primary form of passing messages. Therefore, the illustrated broadsides were necessary tools to ensure a supplemental function of conveying political information was fulfilled (Carlyle, 2019). Through art, the revolutionary message was made accessible to ordinary people, and this widened the public sphere as individuals learned the importance of having an opinion on matters. The prints were also a means of political education, and many of them belonged to the oral culture, which through various means had been suppressed. Using Bastille, "ephemera," and political pornography, the paper will discuss the role played by printed material in the French Revolution.
The first print is "ephemera," which became popular in 1792. Most of the symbols used included the replacement of a king with liberty, and liberty was adorned with a flowing gown. A rod capped with a bonnet was a symbolic figure, as the rod was used as a reminder of one that the Roman magistrate sued in the emancipation of the slaves (Carlyle, 2019). The ordinary man was given something to symbolize the suffering he went through at the hands of the few in power. The bonnet on the rod acted as a symbol of freedom since it was similar to that worn by former slaves. Additionally, with liberty came a broken chain and, on other occasions, a cat. The cat and the broken chain were symbolically used to symbolize freedom. Furthermore, the fasces was also symbolically used in ephemera "to symbolize power (Darnton & Daniel, 1989). The fasces had liberty caps in the places where the axe symbolized the power that liberated people had. Through broadsides, ordinary people were given hope that they could be liberated and that this would bring an end to oppression and lack of opinion in matters that involved them.
The second is the Bastille, which was featured in over 150 broadsides with a revolutionary repertoire. The Bastille symbolized despotism as those in power were abusing individuals. Ordinary people had no voice, but through the broadsides, individuals learned that they could earn a voice (Carlyle, 2019). Also, martyrs of liberty pictures were symbolically used to portray the need to fight for liberty. Additionally, the siege of the Bastille was symbolically used to show that ordinary people continue to suffer at the hands of those in power (Darnton & Daniel, 1989). Furthermore, the image of ordinary men fighting monsters symbolized that people would fight that which is destructive and wrong by coming together. Also, broadsides such as "view of decoration and illumination of the site of Bastille" were used to symbolize the Faubourg St. Antonie victory, giving hope to ordinary people that they could attain victory through unity.
Additionally, political pornography was symbolically used to educate on immorality and the need for women to ...