The empire and the nation: The place of colonial images in the republican visions of the French nation

Representations of the French nation, and the development of national identity and culture, have occupied a large place in the historiography of France in the late twentieth century. Among the images of the French nation in Republican France, be it in monuments, literature, film, festivals, building and street names, advertising for French products or in history manuals (official or unofficial), can almost always be found a selection which have their origin in, or draw upon, the French colonial empire.¹ What is striking is that while an absence of colonial images in any area of national representation is rare, it is equally rare for them to occupy a central or even prominent place in any dimension of the national or Republican discourse. The primary purpose of this chapter is to examine the place of the French colonial empire in the images and identity of the French nation, and to come to terms with this paradox of their omnipresence and marginality. It will begin by examining the imperial or colonial policies of the Republic, and then attempt to place them in the context of other Republican policies, particularly those of the building of the Republican nation and the assimilation of the regions. It will examine similarities and differences in the intention of the architects of the policies, in the practical results they achieved, and in the way in which historical analysis has coloured our perception of what they thought they were doing. It will also consider the influence the two policies may have had upon one another, including the way they have been perceived, and then go on to look specifically at a selection of images drawn from the colonial empire in order to analyse their place in the overall image and identity of the French nation.