Five seconds of history : temporal perspectives on a public execution in eighteenth-century Paris

Talk by Pascal Bastien (Paris IAS fellow) at the Queen Mary Center for Eighteenth-Century Studies.

Abstract

The paper will explore a recurrent quotidian feature of Parisian life in the eighteenth century, namely, a public execution. It will analyse it as an urban micro-event in temporal perspectives that ranged from anticipation of the act through to memories produced by it. The focus will be not simply on the public executioner but also on the different individuals and communities caught up in the event.

More informations (Queen Mary Center for Eighteenth-Century Studies website)