1
INTRODUCTION
Da id Du and Ma c Po ée
O he émig és e u ning o F ance a e he all o Napoleon and he es o a ion
o he Bou bons, Talley and, he P ince o Diploma s, no o iously quipped: “Ils
n’on ien app is, ni ien oublié” (They ha e lea n no hing, and o go en
no hing).
1
Cha ac e is ic and accu a e as i may ha e been, ha (in) amous
con empo a y esponse alls a sho o he complex u hs o displacemen , o
which emig a ion, exile and expa ia ion a e c ucially emblema ic componen s.
C ucial bu highly di e en ia ed: whe eas he émig é has ended o be iewed as
a cowa d o a ai o o his o he na ion, bi e ly ili ied as such, a leas in he
F ench Republican his o iog aphy, he exile has equen ly been in es ed wi h a
he oic s a us, and cons ued as ou shining o he o eigne s in iew o he mo al
and symbolic supe io i y asc ibed o him o he , igh ly o w ongly. As o
expa ia es, hey ha e ended o occupy a g ey zone, a no man’s land o de ini ions,
as be i s hei condi ion o esidence, p o isional o pe manen , in a coun y ha
is no hei own.
O igina ing in pape s ead a an in e na ional symposium held in Pa is in
2018 on he opic “Exiles, Émig és and Expa ia es in Roman ic-E a Pa is and
London,”
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his special issue has as one o i s p ima y objec i es o cla i y he
seman ics o such a iad. The ac ha wo o he e ms en e he English
language in his e a, du ing he F ench e olu iona y emig a ion and i s
a e ma h, sugges s a once he impo ance o his his o ical expe ience in
1
Fo he o igins o his (pa ially apoc yphal) s a emen , see F iedemann Pes el,
Kosmopoli en wide Willen: Die “mona chiens” als Re olu ionsemig an en (Be lin:
Oldenbou g – De G uy e , 2015) 512-13.
2
The Pa is Symposium o he London-Pa is Roman icism Semina , held a he École
No male Supé ieu e ( ue d’Ulm), on 12-13 Ap il 2018.
Da id Du and Ma c Po ée
2
shaping ou mode n unde s anding o hese concep s and he ocabula y wi h
which we a icula e hem. Acco ding o he OED,
3
he F ench wo d émig é
(some imes al e ed o emig é) en e s English in 1792, he yea o he i s majo
in lux o e ugees om e olu iona y F ance. The exis ing English noun emig an
(da ing om 1754), also acqui es new cu ency and a speci ically F ench
esonance in he 1790s, while he adjec i al o m emig an is i s used in 1796.
The noun immig an is i s eco ded in 1787 bu is a ely used in his con ex ,
sugges ing ha emo al (o en o cible) om home was a s onge de e minan
o iden i y han adop ion by a o eign hos .
4
Expa ia e as a e b meaning “ o
wi hd aw om one’s na i e coun y,” and, in a legal sense, “ o enounce one’s
ci izenship o allegiance,” da es om 1787; he noun ollows in 1818, bu he
assump ion o olun a iness ha i ca ies oday (c ys allised in he colloquial
o m “expa ,” a 1960s coinage) is a la e de elopmen , since in 1817 “ o expa ia e”
also mean “ o d i e a pe son om his o he na i e coun y; o banish.” This
akes i close in meaning o he much olde e m exile, which da es back o he
ou een h cen u y and has been widely used as e b, noun and adjec i e e e
since, o co e bo h compulso y and olun a y o ms o banishmen ( he la e ,
o en ia he e lexi e ph ase, “ o exile onesel ”). Again, he wo d de elops new
isibili y in ou pe iod, as does e ugee, applied equen ly o he F ench
e olu iona y exiles, hough de i ed his o ically om an ea lie in lux o F ench
people, he Hugueno s who led o B i ain in se en een h cen u y a e he
e oca ion o he Edic o Nan es. Ano he wo d in his ocabula y o
displacemen is alien, he p e e ed legal e m o a o eign na ional, gi en esh
cu ency by he Aliens Ac o Janua y 1793, which in oduced a new sys em o
egis a ion and igh con ols on he mo emen o o eign isi o s.
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The “Alien
3
Ox o d English Dic iona y Online, a www.oed.com. The his o y o co esponding
F ench e minology can be explo ed on he da abase o he Cen e Na ional de
Ressou ces Tex uelles e Lexicales, a h ps://www.cn l. /de ini ion/. See also he
disc imina ion o (English) e ms a emp ed by Julie e Reboul, F ench Emig a ion o G ea
B i ain in Response o F ench Re olu ion (Basings oke: Palg a e Macmillan, 2017) 1-29
(“Émig és, Re ugees and Emig an s”).
4
Though no conce ned wi h he his o y o e minology, Wiley makes he impo an
claim, con i med by he p esen olume, ha i was a he end o he eigh een h
cen u y ha “ he concep o mig a ion acqui ed he complex seman ic and ideological
ange amilia o he wen y- i s cen u y.” Michael Wiley, Roman ic Mig a ions: Local,
Na ional, and T ansna ional Disposi ions (Basings oke: Palg a e Macmillan, 2008) x.
5
Fo he impac o his legisla ion, see Ki s y Ca pen e , Re ugees o he F ench Re olu ion:
Émig és in London, 1789-1802 (Basings oke: Macmillan, 1999) 35-39.
In oduc ion
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O ice” was c ea ed a he same ime, as a sub-depa men o he Home O ice:
6
one o i s ac ions was o expel Talley and in Ma ch 1794 wi h i e days’ no ice.
The jux aposi ion o Pa is and London as poin s o ocus o his lexical and
his o ical inqui y e eals bo h symme ies and con as s. As he “capi al o he
Emig a ion,”
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London and i s su ounding a eas a ac ed a la ge p opo ion o
he es ima ed 130,000 o 150,000 émig és om e olu iona y F ance han any
o he Eu opean ci y;
8
numbe s o B i ain as a whole may ha e been 20-25,000 a
hei peak in 1792, wi h London and i s en i ons accoun ing o he la ge
majo i y o hese. Equi alen numbe s o B i ish émig és in Pa is a his ime
we e much smalle bu hey we e none heless signi ican , and he ac i i ies o
he B i ish emig an communi y ha e been well documen ed, no leas by he
spies who we e sen o F ance o moni o hem ( hough hei eco d is ha dly a
eliable one).
9
Fo eign na ionals in he wo ci ies – which o cou se included
na ionali ies o he han B i ish and F ench – aced apidly changing condi ions
which d ama ically a ec ed he emig an expe ience, some imes in pa allel
ways. The same yea , o example, in which F ench émig és in B i ain became
subjec o he p o isions o he Aliens Ac , B i ish expa ia es in F ance el he
e ec s o he Law o Suspec s o 17 Sep embe , allowing a es o anyone
suspec ed o coun e - e olu iona y sympa hies o insu icien commi men o
he Re olu ion, and s ipula ing he in e nmen o all o eign na ionals (Helen
Ma ia Williams, Ma y Wolls onec a , Thomas Paine, Sampson Pe y and o he s
discussed in his olume we e jus some o he es ima ed 250 B i ish expa ia es –
along wi h o he na ionali ies – imp isoned unde his Ac ).
6
Elizabe h Spa ow, “The Alien O ice,” His o ical Jou nal, 33 (1990): 361-84.
7
Ki s y Ca pen e , “London: Capi al o he Emig a ion,” The F ench Émig és in Eu ope
and he S uggle agains Re olu ion, 1789-1814, ed. Ki s y Ca pen e and Philip Mansel
(Basings oke: Macmillan, 1999), 43-67. See also Ki s y Ca pen e , “London: Emig a ion
in Poli ics and Imagina ions,” The Ox o d Handbook o he F ench Re olu ion, ed. Da id
And ess (Ox o d: Ox o d Uni e si y P ess, 2015) 330-45.
8
Donald G ee , The Incidence o Emig a ion du ing he F ench Re olu ion (Camb idge, MA:
Ha a d Uni e si y P ess, 1951) 19-20; igu es o B i ain a e aken om Ca pen e ,
Re ugees o he F ench Re olu ion 39-44, who s esses he di icul y o making accu a e
es ima es because o yea -by-yea luc ua ions. Ca pen e p oposes an annual a e age
o 12,500 o 1789-1802.
9
See John G. Alge , “The B i ish Colony in Pa is, 1792-1793,” English His o ical Re iew,
13.52 (1898): 672-94; Rachel Roge s, Vec o s o Re olu ion: The B i ish Radical Communi y
in Ea ly Republican Pa is, 1792-1794 (unpublished doc o al disse a ion, Uni e si é
Toulouse le Mi ail – Toulouse II, 2013). Fo a b oade his o ical o e iew, see Robin
Eagles, F ancophilia in English Socie y, 1748-1815 (London: Palg a e Macmillan, 2000)
94-119 (“The B i ish Expa ia e Communi y in F ance 1748-1815”).
Da id Du and Ma c Po ée
4
In bo h loca ions, oo, mig a ion pa e ns we e di ec ly linked o poli ical and
mili a y e en s: he a e o emig a ion om F ance o B i ain was de e mined by
successi e pieces o go e nmen legisla ion which p osc ibed di e en ca ego ies
o cle gy, nobles and dissiden s one by one and hen dep i ed hem o hei
ci izenship and o bid hei e u n on pain o execu ion. B i ish a i als in Pa is,
likewise, ollowed he u ns and coun e - u ns o he F ench poli ical si ua ion,
as he “bliss ul dawn” o 1789-92 which a ac ed so many adical sympa hise s
(William Wo dswo h among hem) ga e way o a mo e ola ile si ua ion which
led B i ons many o come home – hough F ench egula ions o en impeded his
and he ou b eak o wa in Feb ua y 1793 made c oss-Channel a el o any kind
ex emely dange ous. Domes ic poli ics, hough, was ano he ac o , and some
B i ons came o Pa is less o sympa hise wi h he F ench Re olu ion han o
escape he inc easingly e ocious pe secu ion o adicalism a home. The yea o
peace ushe ed in by he T ea y o Amiens in Ma ch 1802 p o ided a b ie
oppo uni y o émig és on bo h sides o e u n home (Napoleon ha ing e oked
he dec ees which made his punishable by dea h o F ench exiles), bu he
enewal o hos ili ies in May 1803 le many apped, among hem F ances
Bu ney, ano he B i ish w i e discussed b ie ly in his olume. When he wa
inally came o end wi h he Ba le o Wa e loo, a new p ocess o epa ia ion
began, no ably o eleased p isone s o wa , whose numbe s ac oss Eu ope,
es ima ed a 130,000, ma ched hose o he émig és, hough his ca ego y o exile
is o en o e looked. The pos -wa wo ld also b ough new oppo uni ies o
mig a ion and a el, and London and Pa is esumed hei o me s a us as si es
o in e na ional ou ism and o cosmopoli an sociabili y o he educa ed and
weal hy. The case s udies ha ollow gi e many examples o indi idual des inies
shaped by he mo emen s o his o y and he luc ua ions o public opinion.
The seman ics o ou iad o e ms a e hus ne e ixed o igid: hey shi ,
blend o mo ph, o become some hing else o o accommoda e o he ypes, as is
illus a ed by Gus a on Schlab endo , discussed by Philipp Hunnekuhl.
Technically Schlab endo was an expa ia e in Pa is – he had come olun a ily,
and se led – bu he el and beha ed mo e as an exile, h ea ened by his Silesian
ela i es and he P ussian go e nmen wi h con isca ion o his es a es i he did
no cease his philan h opic ac i i ies (an o e -zealous display o e olu iona y
a e ni é, in hei opinion) and e u n home. He expe ienced, oo, a o m o exile
in his adop i e home, unde going imp isonmen du ing he Te o o his
associa ion wi h he Gi ondin ac ion and na owly escaping he guillo ine, hen
la e becoming a dange ously ocal c i ic o Napoleon. His Napoleon Bonapa e
und das anzösische Volk un e seinem Consula e (Napoleon Bonapa e and he
F ench People unde his Consula e), published anonymously in Hambu g in
In oduc ion
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1804, isked p osc ip ion in F ance bu secu ed his epu a ion as an in e na ional
man o le e s and impa ial obse e o wo ld-his o ical e en s. Mee ing him in
Pa is in 1817, Hen y C abb Robinson, ano he cosmopoli an, obse ed some o
hese ans o ma ions and saw a uni y in his di e si y, desc ibing him in his
dia y as an embodimen o he Kan ian p inciples o disin e es edness and
syn hesis (i onically, because o he double anonymi y, hey we e bo h unawa e
ha Robinson has ansla ed Schlab endo ’s 1806 sequel o his book).
A mo e ex eme case, as Ch is oph Bode demons a es, is he Ge man
e hnologis , a el w i e and e olu iona y Geo g Fo s e , who a elled o Pa is
in 1793 o ask o he admi ance o he sho -li ed Republic o Mainz o he
F ench Republic, only o die he e unde mise able ci cums ances a ew mon hs
la e , no ye 40. The mul iple ca ee s and iden i ies o his polyglo polyma h –
who used h ee e sions o his i s name, in Ge man, English, and F ench –
make his esponse o expa ia ion a pa adigm o he seman ic mobili y his
olume explo es. Bode’s essay asks he kinds o ques ions all biog aphe s o
cases like Fo s e ’s mus add ess: how did he end up in e olu iona y Pa is?
Wha made him go o F ance a a ime when so many we e leeing in he
opposi e di ec ion? Wha made him simul aneously an expa ia e, an exile, and
an immig an , seeking he assimila ion no only o himsel bu o own coun y
in o he F ench Republic? Fo s e is p esen ed by Bode as “an in ellec ual wi h no
a ilia ions o loyal ies o any linguis ic, e hnic o na ional communi y – a ci izen o
he wo ld, obliged only o li e a li e in which he p o es o be ‘wo hy o
himsel .’” Ye his in ensely pe sonal c usade also in ol ed equally in ense
sociabili y, he eco d o his encoun e s in Pa is e ealing he ex ao dina y
in e na ionalism and connec edness o he expa ia e communi y, in which he
could mee Ma y Wolls onec a , H.M. Williams, Thomas Ch is ie, Thomas
Paine, Gus a on Schlab endo , Be nadin de S Pie e and nume ous o he s in
a ma e o days o weeks.
A simila imp ession is gi en by Edwa d Weech’s case s udy o Thomas
Manning, iend o Cha les Lamb, who came o Pa is in 1802 o in ellec ual and
cul u al a he han poli ical easons – o pu sue his in e es in ma hema ics and
deepen his knowledge o he Chinese language and cul u e in wha was hen he
cen e o Eu opean Sinology. Al hough he a i ed in Pa is nine yea s a e
Fo s e and was mo i a ed by o he conce ns, his con ac s lis s ikingly o e laps
wi h hose o Fo s e (including Paine, o whom hey o e con as ing po ai s,
and Helen Ma ia Williams, s ill he leading B i ish salonniè e), bu also includes
e u ned F ench émig és such as F ançois-René de Cha eaub iand, who was hen
imme sed in inishing his Génie du ch is ianisme. Despi e his la gely apoli ical
empe amen (his cu iosi y o see Napoleon was he one excep ion, and, ema kably,

Da id Du and Ma c Po ée
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he was la e o in e iew Napoleon on S Helena), Manning ell ic im in 1803,
like many o he expa ia es, o he F ench in e nmen policy, spending a yea in
cap i i y in he own o Ange s be o e e en ually being allowed o e u n o
England. Wha began, hen, as essen ially an in ellec ual esea ch ip became a
complex and a imes di icul expe ience in which Manning el he shi ing
challenge o expa ia e li e and he insepa abili y o poli ics, cul u e and pe sonal
des iny a his his o ical momen .
I hese examples illus a e some o he di e en modali ies o exile and
emig a ion, he case o Ma y Wolls onec a shows how ca ego isa ion by gende
can also p o e e ec i e and ui ul. Emma Cle y’s essay on Wolls onec a ’s
p olonged s ay in Pa is lays emphasis on he eminis ope equa ing he
condi ion o women wi h a s a e o exile. Women ha e no coun y which hey
can call hei own, Vi ginia Wool would amously claim, in an essay which
d aws on, wi hou di ec ly e e encing, Wool ’s eading o Wolls onec a ’s
un inished no el The W ongs o Women; o , Ma ia (1798). The same ope o
womanhood as exile su aces in o he 1790s women’s w i ing, no ably Cha lo e
Smi h’s poem The Emig an s (1793) and no el The Banished Man (1794), which
was o iginally en i led “The Exile.” Awa eness o his eminis in lec ion o he
heme o expa ia ion enables Cle y o eapp aise exed issues in
Wolls onec a ’s biog aphy, namely he mo i es o a elling o Pa is in
Decembe 1792, o deciding o s ay a he ou b eak o wa in Feb ua y 1793, and
o being so eluc an o lea e in ea ly 1795, despi e ha ing wi nessed he
excesses o he Te o and he execu ion o many o he Gi ondin iends. In he
case, li e al and me apho ical meanings o exile con e ge – wha e e deg ee o
olun a iness we asc ibe o he decisions – and a ulle unde s anding o he
expe iences and hei li e a y exp ession can p o ide a new way o hinking
abou he ela ionship be ween gende and exile.
A b oade con ex o Wolls onec a , Williams, Paine and o he B i ish
expa ia es in Pa is is p o ided by he essay ha opens his olume, Rachel
Roge s’s wide- anging s udy o he expa ia e communi y cen ed a Whi e’s
Ho el in 1792-93, and o he “associa ional cul u e” o ged i s by adical
ga he ings he e and hen by he collec i e pe secu ion and inca ce a ion ha
ollowed wi h he Law o Suspec s and he onse o he Te o . Roge s s esses
he in e nal di e si y o he so-called “B i ish Club,” sha p awa eness o he
sepa a e na ional iden i ies o English, Sco ish, I ish, and Welsh membe s (each
coun y wi h i s dis inc i e adical adi ions) coexis ing wi h a commi men o
uni e salism and Anglo-F ench solida i y. This ac alone pu s in ques ion any
simplis ic link be ween expa ia ion and bland cosmopoli anism: expa ia e li e
encou ages he pe o mance o na ional di e ences as well as i es o assimila ion.
In oduc ion
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Roge s emphasises, oo, he di e si y o mo i es ha d ew B i ish adicals o
Pa is and de ained hem he e, showing how poli ical ac i ism o en in e wined
wi h en ep eneu ial ini ia i es as B i ish esiden s expedien ly exploi ed he
oppo uni ies which opened up unde e olu iona y go e nmen – by acqui ing
p ope y a ailable a low p ices a e he ligh o émig és, o ins ance, o by
engaging in poli ical jou nalism o eed local and in e na ional demand o
au ho i a i e news and commen . Th ough a se ies o examples anging om
Thomas Paine o he poe and d ama is Robe Me y and he adical jou nalis
Sampson Pe y – who had he a e dis inc ion o being imp isoned in bo h
London and Pa is – Roge s highligh s once again he shi ing modali ies o
émig é iden i y. In a inal sec ion, she also pinpoin s a ecu en li e a y e ec o
his dis inc i e pa e n o expe ience: he choice o un inished, ough o ms
(o en deno ed by he e m “ske ch”), whe he due o he absence o a ully-
ledged mas e na a i e on he opic o expa ia ion, o o he pe cep ion ha
incomple e, o - he-cu s a emen s o a is ic ges u es we e mo e mime ic o ,
and mo e ue o, a condi ion o agmen a ion and disloca ion. He ape çu sheds
ligh on many o he w i ings co e ed in his olume.
The las ou essays u n a en ion om Pa is o London, o occasionally
o he B i ish loca ions. Dominic Bellenge s udies one o he la ges and mos
isible ca ego ies o F ench émig és, he exiled cle gy, which accoun ed a imes
o mo e han hal he emig an popula ion and included epa ia ed B i ish
cle gy om he ne wo k o Ca holic schools and colleges a Douai, S Ome and
elsewhe e. Bellenge conside s bo h he sho - and long- e m e ec s o his
in lux, om he pe spec i e o B i ish public opinion as well as ha o he exiled
cle gy hemsel es. The massi e ein o cemen o he B i ish Ca holic communi y
was in some eyes he bes hing ha had happened since he Re o ma ion, bu
he a i al o as quan i ies o Roman Ca holics in o p edominan ly P o es an
B i ain could no bu cause esen men and s i long-supp essed emo ions.
Though elici ing widesp ead public sympa hy and ecei ing ex ensi e cha i able
suppo , he emig an cle gy we e a imes also in dange o becoming an enemy
wi hin, h ea ening he delica e balance be ween di e en eligious
denomina ions and awakening he ea o indoc ina ion o B i ish you h.
P o ec i e o p e-emp i e legal mo es such as he Aliens Ac had as pa o hei
mo i a ion he moni o ing o his ideologically powe ul communi y, hough he
e idence sugges s he emig an cle gy con ibu ed mo e o he an i-Jacobin
c usade han o any o he poli ical cause. This is demons a ed by Abbé Ba uel’s
bes -selling Memoi s, Illus a ing he His o y o Jacobinism (1797-98), whose
conspi acy heo ies imp essed Edmund Bu ke and la e in luenced e en w i e s
as ideologically opposed o Ba uel as Pe cy and Ma y Shelley.
Da id Du and Ma c Po ée
8
F iedemann Pes el’s essay akes up di ec ly he ques ion o indoc ina ion o
he young and challenges Talley and’s dic um ha he émig és had “lea n
no hing” by analysing émig é schooling. Émig é pa en s, pa icula ly hose om
p i ileged backg ounds, aced he challenge o educa ing hei child en so as o
p epa e hem bo h o an adap i e li e in B i ain, sepa a ed om hei weal h
and p i ilege, and p epa ing hem o become F ance’s u u e eli e a e he
wished- o Res o a ion. This dis inc i e ideological agenda shaped he
cu iculum o émig é schools, o which a la ge numbe we e c ea ed, o en wi h
he suppo o local poli icians o digni a ies and wi h eache s d awn om he
émig é cle gy o some imes pa en s hemsel es. The bes known we e he Penn
School ounded by Edmund Bu ke and he Abbé Ca on’s ins i u ions on
To enham Cou Road and la e Some s Town, some o which admi ed B i ish
child en as well as F ench, os e ing social in eg a ion. The pedagogic emi and
public engagemen p og ams o such schools es i y o hei pi o al ole in
émig é communi y li e, and Pes el’s analysis shows how “educa ion helped o
s eng hen he émig és’ iden i y and mobilise hei hos s o he ideological,
mili a y and humani a ian s uggle agains he Re olu ion.” No less ideologically
loaded we e child en’s émig é no els, a ashionable subgen e inaugu a ed by
S éphanie de Genlis’s Les pe i s émig és (1798), which embodied he same se o
expec a ions in ic ional o m, aking educa ion as a cen al heme.
The penul ima e essay, by Richa d Tholonia , conside s he exilic expe ience
o p isone s o wa , ocussing on he case o René-Ma in Pille , who was aken
p isone a he Ba le o Vimei o in 1808 and spen he es o he wa in B i ish
jails, including he in amous p ison hulks on he Medway es ua y. Pille ’s
accoun o his expe iences, L’Angle e e ue à Lond es e dans ses p o inces pendan
un séjou de dix années, don six comme p isonnie de gue e (1815), is usually ead as
a wo k o abid Anglophobia, designed o uel F ench esen men a e he de ea
o Napoleon, bu Tholonia o e s a mo e sub le eading which highligh s he
insigh s as well as he dis o ions and exagge a ions o Pille ’s book, and his
genuine app ecia ion o ce ain ea u es o B i ish poli ical, cul u al and
economic li e, despi e he ad e se condi ions o his six-yea s ay (he has also
spen ime in England as a ee man be o e his cap i i y). Though empha ically a
piece o exile li e a u e, o he special kind ha depic s o eign imp isonmen ,
and a wo k o an i-English p opaganda (immedia ely banned by he B i ish
au ho i ies who occupied Pa is o h ee yea s a e he Ba le o Wa e loo),
Pille ’s book is also émig é w i ing, wi h he obse a ional ene gy and
con as i e echniques which ma k o he examples o he gen e. He e, once
again, he seman ics o ou iad me ge and mo ph.
In oduc ion
9
The olume concludes wi h an essay by Paul Hamil on on a heme which
lu ks benea h many o he con ibu ions o his inqui y: “ he uses o exile.”
Acco ding o Hamil on in his compa a i e ea men o Ugo Foscolo and Thomas
Moo e, exile, pain ul and deplo able as i o en is, can be pu o use, in he same
way ha ghas ly and c uel ai y- ales a e pu o use by hei ( eenage) eade s, as
a gued by B uno Be elheim in his amous book on The Uses o Enchan men : The
Meaning and Impo ance o Fai y Tales (1976). Hamil on’s con en ion, oughly
s a ed, is ha émig és and exiles came o sha e and exchange hei espec i e
g ie ances, leading o a ede ini ion o sympa hies and allegiances. Someone’s
pa io ic eelings came o be iewed, i no as e e yone’s pa io ic ies, a leas as
“a na u al ecou se o o he na ionali ies,” whe he s anded in London, Pa is o
Be lin. F om a Eu opean pe spec i e, exile, emig a ion and expa ia ion hus
come o be seen as pa and pa cel o he ac i i y o doing poli ics in he con ex
o he nine een h cen u y, “ he cen u y o exiles,” as pos ula ed by Syl ie
Ap ile,
10
bu also he cen u y o e olu ions, leading o he eme gence o a new
igu e, a “pe sonnage concep uel,”
11
ha o he poli ical e ugee. I may also be pa
and pa cel o Roman icism, Foscolo’s no el Ul ime le e e di Jacopo O is (Las
Le e s o Jacopo O is) (1802/1816) being bo h a ic ional e lec ion o he au ho ’s
expe ience o poli ical aliena ion and ul ima ely exile, and a ecas ing, o a
con empo a y eade ship caugh up in he poli ical u bulence o he ea ly
nine een h cen u y, o he sen imen al mode o Rousseau’s Julie, ou la Nou elle
Héloïse (1761) and Goe he’s Die Leiden des jungen We he s (1774).
12
Though
adically di e en in gen e and s yle, Moo e’s I ish Melodies (1808-34) p esen s an
analogous case, bo h wo ks being designed, as Hamil on a gues, “ o le use ully
powe ul allies app op ia e such w i ings o oice, as hei own na ionalis
sen imen s, causes o iginally I ish and I alian.”
Fo all he di icul ies and dange s, hen, his olume ad ances he idea ha
lea ing one’s coun y can be cons ued as an oppo uni y. No in any easily
cynical kind o way, bu simply because, in ac ual ac , pace Talley and,
10
Syl ie Ap ile, Le siècle des exilés. Bannis e p osc i s de 1789 à la Commune (Pa is: CNRS
Edi ions, 2010); Syl ie Ap ile and Delphine Diaz, “Eu ope and I s Poli ical Re ugees in
he 19 h Cen u y,” ans. Ka e Macnaugh on, Books and Ideas, 18 Ap il 2016, h p://www.
booksandideas.ne /Eu ope-and-i s-Poli ical-Re ugees-in- he-19 h-Cen u y.h ml.
11
Gilles Deleuze, Félix Gua a i, Qu’es -ce que la Philosophie? (Pa is: Edi ions de Minui ,
1991) 64.
12
Fo o he sugges i e explo a ions o he ela ionship be ween Roman icism and exile,
see S ephen Cheeke, By on and Place: His o y, T ansla ion, Nos algia (London: Palg a e
Macmillan, 2003); and Jane S able , The A is y o Exile: Roman ic and Vic o ian W i e s
in I aly (Ox o d: Ox o d Uni e si y P ess, 2013).