HIST 450: Proposal and Annotated Bibliography

Emily O’Neil 20770394

February 3rd, 2022

My interest in this topic stems from both my interest in History as well as in literature. I have

always been a fan of the French Revolution, with one of my favorite novels of all time being A

Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. I chose the novel Ninety-Three by Victor Hugo, as I have

written on the Dickens novel in the past, and wanted to dive into something new. I have written a

shorter paper on The Terror back in my second year, and really enjoyed that research, so I am

looking forward to examining further into The Terror as well as looking into the war at Vendeé. I

will be writing this paper with a focus on social history, as I find that the individual person can

sometimes be ignored in popular histories of large events like the French Revolution, despite

their playing a very important role. The topic of the counterrevolutions which took place during

the French Revolution are clearly important given the importance of their mother-subject: the

French Revolution itself. However, in terms of relevancy, I believe that it is useful to look into

all angles of such an important event like the Revolution, and so examining the

counterrevolutions and the historical context of Hugo’s novel is relevant in this case. For a

working thesis, I have this so far: Victor Hugo’s historical novel Ninety-Three can provide

context and insight into the important social themes of the counterrevolutions which took place

during the French Revolution, and acts as a portal into the minds of the citizens who were greatly

affected by these insurrections. There are many sources on the French Revolution, but narrowing

them down to the useful ones can be a challenge. Since this is more of a social history, I am

looking for items which provide an overview of how people felt about the Revolution and the

counterrevolutions. To do this, I find myself drawn to art from this period: it is emotionally
evocative and very intense. Of course, Hugo’s novel will be the main primary source that I will

be using. I will be looking for further sources such as letters or diaries which can act as direct

information from the people who were involved in these insurrections. Like primary sources, the

secondary source material is vast on this topic. There is an excellent introduction to my copy of

the Hugo novel, written by Ayn Rand, which is a great source for contextualizing the novel. I

have also found some great sources on counterrevolutions in general, as well as some sources on

the battle at Vendeé, which is featured prominently in the novel. I have ordered a history book

from the library which has a variety of articles written by different authors, which I predict will

be very useful in contextualizing the Revolution and also for tracking the historiography.

Bibliography

Bell, David A. 2020. "The French Revolution, the Vendée, and Genocide ." Journal of Genocide

Research (Routledge) 22 (1): 19-25.

This source examines the historiographical discussion of the war at Vendée and the

treatment of this event as a genocide. This article is useful in tracking the historiographical trends

which accompany the event which is central to Hugo’s novel, and therefore to this paper. This

paper is limited in that it is not objective, yet it is useful as it serves as a very recent

historiographical addition to this discussion of the Vendée.

Hugo, Victor. 2002. Ninety-Three. Cresskill, New Jersey: The Paper Tiger Inc.

This novel is the primary source which will be used as the basis for this essay. This

source offers a glimpse into the multiple viewpoints of and responses to the counterrevolutions

which took place during the French Revolution. The majority of this essay will be spent
contextualizing Hugo’s novel. Hugo’s novel is an insightful primary source, but is still fiction

and will be treated as such.

Pestel, Friedemann. 2017. "On Counterrevolution: Semantic Investigations of a Counterconcept

during the French Revolution." Contributions to the History of Concepts (Berghahn

Books) 12 (2): 50-75.

This article focuses on the definition of counterrevolution, the origins of the term, and the

weight of meanings which it carries. Since this essay is focused on counterrevolutions and its

place in the memory of those who were a part of it, the semantics of this term is important. By

understanding the term counterrevolution itself, the real events which took place under the name

of counterrevolution can also be better understood.

Petitfrère, Claude. 1988. "The Origins of the Civil War in the Vendée." French History (Oxford

University Press) 2 (2): 187-207.

This article by Claude is incredibly useful in contextualizing the ear in the Vendée. It will

aid in situating Hugo’s novel historically, which is the main focus of this essay. It explains the

various viewpoints of the civil war and its participants from a historical perspective, which is a

parallel to the contents of Hugo’s novel which participates in the same action but from a literary

and artistic perspective. This article also addresses the historiography of the event, and so can be

compared and contrasted to the Bell article which addresses this topic as well.

Petrey, Sandy. 1989. "Victor Hugo and Revolutionary Violence: The Example of "Claude

Gueux"." Studies in Romantacism (The Johns Hopkins University Press) 28 (4): 623-641.

This article provides information on the presence of the French Revolution in literature.

The text deals with a different work of Hugo’s, but does still comment on Ninety-Three as well
as on the wider presence of the Revolution in literature. This will help to better understand how

Hugo’s work is influenced by the historical events of the Revolution.

Rand, Ayn. 1962. "Introduction." In Ninety-Three, by Victor Hugo, vii-xv. New York: The Paper

Tiger Inc.

This introduction to Hugo’s book written by Ayn Rand is useful in contextualizing the

novel itself. It also helps to understand some of the wider themes of the novel, which will be

examined in this essay. The Rand introduction is illuminating in terms of the literary context, but

more research will need to be done in order to further understand the historical context.