'Filling the Void': Absence, Memory and Politics in Place Clichy.

PARIS (France); FRANCE

In 1899, a statue of Charles Fourier was inaugurated in Place Clichy in Paris. The monument's proponents hoped that the statue would breathe new life into Fourierism and draw younger adherents to this brand of utopian socialism. The statue attracted little attention, however, until its disappearance. In December 1941, Fourier's statue, like thousands of others throughout France, was dismantled by the Vichy regime, its bronze sent to Nazi Germany for munitions. Since then the empty base has become the site of frequent and strident political and artistic activity and a rebirth of Fourierism. The Surrealists, the Situationist International and, most recently, the Coordination des Intermittents et Precaires have looked to Fourier and his absent statue to further their own causes, be they revolutionary, utopian, or concerned with social justice, all the while leading to a rediscovery of Fourier's thought and its popularisation. What is interesting about the evocation of memory at this site, however, is that—contrary to the intentions of the statue's nineteenth-century champions—it is its absence that has led to memory work, and the destruction of Fourier's physical representation that has led to a resurgence of interest in his philosophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

En 1899, un monument est erige Place Clichy en l'honneur de Charles Fourier. Les Fourieristes esperaient que la statue attirerait de nouveaux adherents au mouvement socialiste utopique. Mais l'interet suscitee par la statue fut negligeable jusqu'a sa disparition en decembre 1941. Sous le regime de Vichy le monument a Fourier, comme tant d'autres partout en France, est « mobilise », son metal non ferreux expedie en Allemagne Nazie. Depuis, le piedestal est devenu un site de protestations politiques et artistiques et donne lieu a une resurgence de Fourierisme. Les Surrealistes, L'International Situationniste, et plus recemment La Coordination des Intermittents et Precaires ont mis le socle de Fourier au service de leurs causes, qu'elles soient revolutionnaires, utopiques ou devouees a la promotion de la justice sociale. Ce qui est frappant en ce qui concerne ce lieu de memoire c'est que, contrairement aux intentions des Fourieristes, c'est precisement l'absence de la statue de Fourier qui, depuis, ravive sa memoire et stimule un interet pour sa philosophie. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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