Inventing the Modern Region: Basque Identity and the French Nation-State

di Talitha Ilacqua (Autore)

Manchester University Press, 2026

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. -- .

• Autore: Talitha Ilacqua
• Editore: Manchester University Press
• Collana: Studies in Modern French and Francophone History
• Anno: 2026
• Rilegatura: Paperback / softback
• Pagine: 272 p.
• Dimensioni: 216 x 140 mm
• Peso: 322 gr.
• EAN: 9781526194886

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