«Osez, comme (les anciens), penser d’après vous-mêmes! Soyez originaux, simples, ingénus!»: l’Antiquité, le modèle pluridisciplinaire de Joseph de Gérando et la genèse du monde contemporain

Abstract

Joseph de Gérando is a witness, thinker and contributor to the changes in the society that he studies and takes part in at various levels: economic, political and social. His multifarious references to Ancient times aim at legitimating a conservative model, be it political, religious or cultural. His recourse to Ancient civilizations opens up new pathways for his Christian calling while yielding key elements for our analysis of the driving forces behind his achievements. For Gérando, Antiquity may be likened to a ‘commemorative site’, both political and cultural, for Western civilization. In the private as well as the public sphere, he operates a synthesis over time and space, crossing over two temporalities: on the one hand the present of the French Revolution and Restoration, on the other the past of Antiquity. Ancient times are deeply rooted within his outlook on life and the course of History. He takes interest in long expanses of time and attempts to give shape to these within the limited scope of his own lifetime. Beyond the frame of his own time and space, he projects antiquity in relation to his own concerns and those of his period. His reference to Ancient times is interesting since it cannot be placed under a reactionary banner, even though it does not bear the flag of progress.