Theorizing Race in Nineteenth-Century France: Music as Emblem of Identity

Pasler deconstructs late-nineteenth-century discourse about race in France--how the French saw themselves--and suggesst how music, in its ability to embody and recall the past, was understood to contribute to various racial myths embedded in French identity. Not only was this meant to counteract French pessimism and fuel French pride, it could be used to validate political positions as well as promote visions of the nation's future, even when these were mutually exclusive.