French National Anthems: Expressing the Country's Image

During the late eighteenth and nineteenth century, songs were an extremely popular and effective way of communicating in France: their memorable and lively tune would make it easy for all sectors of society to understand the message that was trying to be made. Songs like La Marseillaise and La Marseillaise des cotillons reflect the problems and the general atmosphere of the time when they written. Hence, they are of great use to modern historians who are interested in this era, because they represent the mood amongst the French, allowing historians to create an image of France's situation.

The infamous La Marseillaise was written in 1792 during the French Revolution by Claude-Hoseph Rouget de Lisle for the mayor of Strasbourg, to obtain public support and troops for the war, and so it creates various images of France and of its people. The songs calls for French people to unite and fight against 'la tyrannie' which they have endured due to their careless monarchs.

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Therefore, the writer endeavours to rally support by appealing to the public's sense of nationalism, resulting in the French being portrayed as extremely patriotic and proud of the Republic's principles.

This is highlighted in the first line of the song 'allons enfants de la Patrie': the fact that it is written in the first person plural emphasises how united the French are. Moreover, the fact that the personal pronoun 'nous' is used, is significant as it reflects the collective sentiment of a nation, embodying the republican principle of 'fraterniti??'.

The other republican principles of 'egaliti??' and 'liberti??' are also denoted in the song, which emphasises how proud the French were of the values their republic had acquired. The former is reflected in le refrain by the use of the new ord 'citoyens': this word is highly significant as it emphasises equality among all sectors of french society, unlike prior to the Revolution, where everybody was subject to the monarch. The demand for 'egaliti??' by the French in La Marseillaise is further displayed in the manner in which the monarchy is criticised for being 'de Rois conjuri??s' and 'de vils despotes's.

France's demand for the latter features noticeably in the song, mainly because France faced possible invasion from foreign monarch's who supported Louis XVI and therefore 'liberti??, liberti?? chi??rie' is called for. The people's assionate support for the republican principles, creates the image of a revolutionary France who is trying to eradicate the monarchy. La Marseillaise seems to take French nationalism to the extreme, to the point that they come across as racist. In the refrain it says: Marchons, marchons, Qu'un sang impur Abreuve nos sillons! The fact that it is saying 'let impure blood drench our fields' is extremely racist. Therefore, the French appear as being extremely proud people, who believe themselves to be superior.

Furthermore, they seem xenophobic, as it says 'Quoi! Des cohortes i??trangi??res/feraient la loi dans nos foyers? . Although, the song embodies fraternity it is made clear, that it is exclusively for French people only. La Marseillaise displays France as being a militaristic country. It is no surprise that this song portrays this image of France for the song was originally entitled 'Chant de guerre de l'armi??e du Rhin', highlighting that it was designed for war purposes. The song has an extensive amount of military vocabulary, such as 'cohortes', 'guerriers', 'soldat', emphasising the France's desire to fight for a democracy. Moreover, the enemy is depicted as 'de vils despotes', which accentuates

French people's positive action in fighting against the monarchy. Consequently, the song is full of vocabulary evoking victory, such as in the last stanza where the song calls for 'tes ennemis... /voient ton triomphe et notre gloire'. This therefore, creates an image of a glorious and invincible nation. La Marseillaise creates the image of a patriarchal nation for it excludes women. The song's language exclusively revers to men for it says 'egorger vos fils, vos compagenes' and 'que la victoire/Accoure i?? tes mi??les accents'. This ultimately shows that women, although they participated in the revolution did not achieve the ame civil rights as men. Some may argue that it is natural that the song excludes women since it is a military song, because it was not common during this era for women to participate in the army.

The image of France being a patriarchal nation is further reflected in the song La Marseillaise des cotillons. Women still remained 56 years after the revolution in the public sphere: unable to vote and without rights. This song therefore parodies the original La Marseillaise, as now the enemy is no longer the monarchy but men. This song creates the image of feisty women whose 'patience est i?? bout', and who are determined to achieve equality:

Tremblez tyrans portant culottes, Femmes notre jour est venu! Their will-power is accentuated by the imperative 'tremblez' and the exclamation mark at the end of 'venu ! '. Moreover, the word 'tremblez' is repeated in the refrain, as it says 'tremblez, tremblez maris jaloux/respect au cotillon', emphasising women's wish to make men feel threatened. The fact that the song demands respect for women, creates the image of women being utterly subservient to the male sex. Also, the call for 'liberti?? sur [leur] fronts' reiterates their socially deprived situation. The song portrays men in a negative light, revealing french women's lack of espect for men and their dislike of their social condition. Men are portrayed as 'tyrans' and are referred to as being a 'despote sauvage': this is significant as it parodies La Marseillaise, as these same words were used to describe the national enemy, so it shows the extent of women's resent towards men. Furthermore, the song demands women to 'mettons en botte/tous les torts du sexe barbu', which indicates women's dissatisfaction with the way men govern. As a result, they threaten to do a revolution if 'l'homme en l'an 93/eut soin de penser qu'i?? lui/faisons nous une Marseillaise! .

The language used in both songs shows the different level of education in France. La Marseillaise is a far more eloquent song, full of new words such as 'citoyens' and expressive images like 'la terre en produit de nouveaux/contre vous tout pri??ts i?? se battre', whereas the language used in La Marseillaise des cotillons is more colloquial. Although the writer of La Marseillaise des cotillions is anonymous; the difference in the language between the two songs is significant, as the fluency of La Marseillaise reinforces the intellectual superiority of men and thus shows the ifference in education of both sexes during this era in France. In conclusion, both songs create different images of France and of its People. La Marseillaise portays a militaristic, nationalistic, sexist country who wishes to defeat the national enemy to maintain the republic. Whereas La Marseillaise des cotillons presents determined women who wish to share the same right's as men. Although the demands expressed in both song's are distinct, they both portray a nation full of determined people who are fighting for their ideals in order to make a country where 'liberti??, i??galiti?? and fraterniti??' exists.