Inventing the modern region

Basque identity and the French nation-state

von Talitha Ilacqua

274 Seiten, Taschenbuch

Kurzbeschreibung des Verlags

This book explores the process by which the French Basque country acquired a folkloric regional identity in the long nineteenth century. It argues that, despite its origins in pre-modern customs, this stereotypical identity was invented as part of France's process of nation-building. The abolition of privileges in 1789 prompted a new interest in local culture as the defining feature of provincial France, shaping the transition from the pre-'modern' province to the 'modern' region. The relationship between the region and the nation, however, was difficult. Regional culture favoured the integration of the French Basque provinces into the French nation-state but also challenged the authority of the central state. As a result, Basque region-building reveals the strengths and weaknesses of the unitary model of French nationhood, in the nineteenth century as well as today.

• Reihe: Studies in Modern French and Francophone History
• Themen: Geschichte und Archäologie Geschichte Europäische Geschichte
• ISBN: 9781526194886
• Sprache: Englisch
• Erscheinungsdatum: 20.01.2026
• Größe: 216 x 140 mm
• Verlag: Manchester University Press