ARCHIVE - The Shadow of the Enlightenment - Books and Revolution http://www2.evergreen.edu/shadow/taxonomy/term/21/0 Both Chartier and Darnton have given extended arguments about whether or not books make revolutions. What do you think? Do you agree with one of them or do you have some other ideas? en ARCHIVE - Dave Raileanu http://www2.evergreen.edu/shadow/dave-raileanu-0 <p>I would say that both present a valid argument for both sides. Revolutionaries owe their most powerful ideas to those who created them in the years before, but the books themselves would fade to intellectual curiosity were it not for their eventual impact. It is necessary to respect both views; if they depend on each other, neither has a greater importance than the other. However, were it not for Thomas Paine, would we have taxation with representation? Of course we would, but we&#39;d be talking about colours and centres while we did. And had it not been for Marx and Engels, would there be misguided youths across the country calling for the dismantling of the cruel, oppressive capitalist machine that only serves the rich, white slaveholders and their so-called economic motivations? Undoubtedly, but their language would be far less imaginative.</p> <p><a href="http://www2.evergreen.edu/shadow/dave-raileanu-0">read more</a></p> http://www2.evergreen.edu/shadow/dave-raileanu-0#comment Books and Revolution Thu, 09 Nov 2006 22:22:07 -0800 raidav20 154 at http://www2.evergreen.edu/shadow ARCHIVE - Michelle Klenn http://www2.evergreen.edu/shadow/michelle-klenn-0 <p>Books have a huge part in impacting the way people think about the world. The dissemination of ideas through literature can be used as a very powerful tool in reaching the public. Although books can change the way people think about their culture, the ideas present in books have already been percolating among the intellectual elite. Therefore literature can be a way to spread ideas from a small group of people to a larger one. </p> http://www2.evergreen.edu/shadow/michelle-klenn-0#comment Books and Revolution Sat, 04 Nov 2006 15:15:22 -0800 klemic12 149 at http://www2.evergreen.edu/shadow ARCHIVE - Stephanie Ash http://www2.evergreen.edu/shadow/stephanie-ash-1 <p>I do not think that books by themselves make revolutions. Both authors point out that none of the texts read by the Revolutionists called for a rebellion. Do books contribute to rebellion and revolution? I think so but the people reading the books have to already have the impetus to want to rebel. Books provide a way of communication, of transmitting ideas and spawning new ideas that help revolutions occur. I think without books and writers, the revolution would have happened anyway but at a different time and under different circumstances, there was too many factors that made the French peopl</p> <p><a href="http://www2.evergreen.edu/shadow/stephanie-ash-1">read more</a></p> http://www2.evergreen.edu/shadow/stephanie-ash-1#comment Books and Revolution Thu, 02 Nov 2006 09:44:56 -0800 ashste04 135 at http://www2.evergreen.edu/shadow