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The rise of the European socialist movement under the leadership of the Second International at the turn of the century and its breakup with the outbreak of the 1914 war is a persistent historical problem. The contradiction is obvious. Here was a movement that firmly proclaimed "proletarian internationalism", but which, when the time came to implement it, affirmed the necessity of "national defense". The concrete forms of this contradiction are illuminated by a study of the impact of the rise of imperialism on the internationalism of French and German socialists in the period leading up to the war, from the London Congress of 1896 to the resolution of the Agadir crisis in 1912. The Second International is a movement whose organizational and practical forms are rooted in a national framework, while its fundamental conceptions are those of internationalism. Imperialism reinforces this contradiction, and becomes at the same time the source of a concretization of socialist internationalism in theory, and of its abandonment in practice. Emphasizing the analysis of internationalism as a political rather than a cultural or sentimental phenomenon, this work demonstrates the existence of a chasm between the theoretical discourse and the practice of the movement. The rise of imperialism is accompanied by the rise of reformism within the socialist movement, which, along with other phenomena, reinforces its national tendencies. The national tendencies of the movement persisted at key moments, notably the imperialist crises of Tangier (1905) and Agadir (1911), to the point of calling into question the internationalist foundations of the movement.

This master's thesis analyses the institutional transformations of the Institut d'études médiévales of the Université de Montréal between 1942 and 1968. To do so, we focus on the effects of the Quiet Revolution on the Institut d'études médiévales, an institution of higher learning founded by the Dominican Order in 1930. Inspired by the Nouvelle Théologie outlined by Marie-Dominique Chenu, the Institute embraces a doctrinal raison d'être and uses scientific know-how to achieve it. By adapting the historical-critical method to infer the teaching of Thomism, the Institute represents an interesting religious-scientific amalgam to understand the effects of the secularization of the Université de Montreal on its structures, its culture, and its institutions. We describe the journey of this institution through La Grande Noirceur, the Quiet Revolution, and the secularization of the university’s Charter. Through the analysis of the archives of the Université de Montreal and the Canadian Province of the Dominican Order, we describe the institutional history of the Institut d'études médiévales according to the evolution of its hopes and of its functions at the university. Through the analysis of its mission statements, we describe how the Institute adapts to keep pace with the structural and cultural evolution within Quebec’s Quiet Revolution.

George Sand, born Aurore Dupin (1804-1876), was one of the most prolific writers of the July Monarchy (1830-1848). Her monumental work focuses on a myriad of subjects, which are often studied from the perspective of the ideal. Among other things, Sand was interested in the notion of the poet-artist, which refers to an ideal artist. This notion, specific to this period, is distinguished from the other poet, which is a writer. While the meaning of the notion of poet-writer is well determined, that of poet-artist is subject to a vague and subjective definition. For her part, Sand considers that the poet-artist designates both an artist and a philosopher. This proposition, which is clearly stated, constitutes a central axis to all the artistic thought that she develops. This is what is explored in the present work, through three themes of George Sand's artistic thought. Each chapter is devoted to one of these themes, with an attempt to organize the artistic thought of Sand. The theme of the brotherhood of the arts will be studied first. This typically romantic theme, omnipresent in Sand's writings, perceives the different disciplines as forming a whole. Then, the hierarchy of arts will be reviewed: George Sand considers that music is the superior discipline, compared to some of her contemporaries who believe that poetry is the superior discipline. Finally, George Sand perceives a figure of genius in her writings, which comes close to the ideal artist. All these themes are studied in close relation to the usual visions found under the July Monarchy.

This master’s thesis concern impurity in Greek religion and more specifically the miasma related to the intimate life. The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive portrait of intimate life through the analysis of religious inscriptions and literary documents. The examination of these sources allow the identification of the modalities for entering the temple and the processes necessary to regain its state of purity. This first objective leads to a second: I aim to formulate an explanatory theory on the origin of impurity in ancient Greece that departs from the traditional and interpretative theories by taking into account the contribution of cognitive science and social psychology to this question. Divided into four chapters, the research first focuses on the impurity of menstruation, a deeply intimate event and little studied due to persistent modern taboos. The second chapter dwells on the impurity of sexual relations. More specifically, this second section analyzes the differences between the miasma caused by relationships between spouses and by extramarital relationships. The third chapter deals with events related to motherhood, namely childbirth, abortion, miscarriage and breastfeeding. The juxtaposition of several types of impurity allow the identification of certain trends or similarities. Finally, the fourth chapter consists of the exploration of the biological and cognitive theories that could explain the origin of impurity in Ancient Greece. This final chapter seek to conclude that impurity is partly due to cognitive processes and reflexes which have been socially reinforced by the Greek religion.

As Jules Ferry’s Laws (1881-1882) rendered French primary education secular, mandatory and free, most republican pedagogues designed educational lessons developed on the principle of emulation. By promoting national historical figures and heroes, they mostly sought to provide moral and patriotic models, embodying republican values, to all young boys and girls. Many examples offered in classrooms illustrated and perpetuated a vision of French society based on the sexual division of labor: masculine icons expressed public, military, and political roles while feminine icons revealed private, domestic, and maternal attributes or responsibilities. Previous academic studies on the subject explored almost exclusively the content of primary official textbooks. Meanwhile, feminine models presented in children’s literature, especially within popular collective biographies, have not yet been the object of extensive historical research. Although this literary genre was consumed in great numbers by the public in fin-de-siècle France, it has until recently always been sidelined in academic studies. However, it can be argued that collective biographies showed a significant diversity of role models to French youth. Thereby, this Master’s thesis proposes an analysis of moral, civic, and patriotic icons, which schoolgirls were meant to emulate, included in three collective feminine biographies published during the years following Ferry’s school system reforms (between 1886 and 1893). This study attempts to define the « feminine » and « French » identity shaped by the authors of these books, which recommended less conventional and alternative models, different from traditional examples usually seen in official textbooks of the period.

Between the second half of the10th century and the beginning of the 11th century, the Old English poem Judith was written in one of the great monastic centers of the Anglo-Saxon world. This poem, based on the biblical text of the Book of Judith, is the result of the meeting of traditional biblical material and the heroic Anglo-Saxon poetic tradition. From this encounter emerges a work celebrating biblical history and the moral teachings it carries, as well as the values of Anglo-Saxon aristocratic culture and heroism. The poem Judith is therefore a strong example of cultural adaptation of biblical material. This thesis is concerned with this question of cultural adaptation, but even more with that of the coexistence of different traditions and cultural references within the Old English poem Judith. Throughout this thesis, it will be a question of determining the nature of this coexistence, namely how is it articulated? Does the poem present a case of hierarchization between these different cultural references? Or would it be fairer to speak of cultural pluralism and parallelism? Finally, how important is the historical context of the 10th and 11th centuries in the development of this poem? Following our analysis of the poem and its historical context we will demonstrate that Judith is a work of cultural parallelism where each cultural reference is presented without the need for hierarchy. In addition, we will demonstrate that the Judith is the result of changes in Anglo-Saxon society between the 9th and 11th centuries and the political and military instability caused by conflicts between Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians.

Maintenant is a French Canadian catholic paper created by the Dominican Order and published from 1962 to 1974. Its authors are proponents of Emmanuel Mounier’s personalism. According to this philosophy, the true catholic faith calls for believers to positively transform profane society following evangelical lines. Maintenant’s writers postulate that Québec’s numerous catholic institutions are an obstacle to this ideal : rather than encourage believers to reshape their environment, these institutions seek to isolate them from society in order to shield them from nefarious beliefs and temptations. This « system », la chrétienté, is relentlessly criticized and painted as the main cause behind the observed religious decline. Indeed, the monthly publication argues that these institutions are indissociable from an authoritarian stance that breeds conformism and religious ignorance. From 1965 onward, secularism in Québec dramatically reduces the Catholic Church’s institutional presence. The Liberals’ « Bill 60 », for example, makes the government the primary actor in matters of public education. In turn, the intellectuals of Maintenant gradually shift their focus from la chrétienté to secularism’s impact on religious belief and practice. Convinced that Catholicism and the rising secular mentality can coexist, they put forward ideas of pastoral, liturgical and ecclesiological reform aimed at reconciling the two. These propositions are deeply influenced by the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) during which a majority of the clergy is won over by personalist ideals. The paper’s authors are nonetheless disappointed by the reforms emanating from the works of the Council as they are deemed unambitious and badly implemented.

This dissertation is structured in three distinct sections: in the first one, we examine the divine figure of Liber Pater and the perception of this divinity in Roman Italy. Liber never ceases to surprise scholars, mostly because of his association with Dionysus, so it is necessary to address a simple but crucial question: who is Liber Pater? We emphasize in this section that Liber is an agrarian deity recognized within the pantheon of Rome and thus receives a public cult through the Liberalia and the triad that he forms with Ceres and Libera. The tutelage of Liber on libertas is also questioned: rather than understanding it in terms of political freedom, we must rather focus on a physical and mental freedom. In the second section, we establish a connection on the Italian territory between Liber and Dionysus-Bacchus thanks to the process of acculturation that took place with the arrival of Dionysus in Magna Graecia in the 8th and 7th century BC. We then explore, through the tutelage of Liber and Bacchus over wine as well as the repression of the Bacchanalia, the heterogeneous forms that the rituals and cults dedicated to these deities may have taken. Finally, our last section dives into the cult of Liber in Italy in the Early Empire. To do so, we use the methodological framework of lived ancient religion, which focuses on the spectrum of religious strategies that can be put in place to communicate with Liber, be it through donation, prayer, gesture, sacrifice, etc. This model of analysis gives us the opportunity to focus on the lived worship of Liber, therefore bringing us closer to the religious experience of individuals. We demonstrate, through an epigraphic corpus comprising several types of inscriptions, that numerous communication strategies were used, notably the rituals of votum, dedicatio, and consecratio through the donation of objects such as altars and statues. In groups, these strategies become more complex since the associative phenomenon produces a significant cult diversification: several Roman associations, all different from one other in their practices and composition, honored Liber and his benefits.

My master’s thesis examines the representations of First Peoples in French-language history textbooks produced and used in Quebec between 1920 and 1960, with a particular focus on those intended for elementary school children. This research is at the crossroads of studies on Quebec colonialism, childhood history and the study of representations. Several theories emanating from visual studies, othering and performance studies are also mobilized in my study of history textbooks. By positioning itself at the intersection of this mosaic of historiographies and conceptual approaches, my master’s thesis answers the following questions: how are the First Peoples in Canada represented in French-language history textbooks produced between the 1920s and the 1960s and to what extent are these representations at odds with the previous period? How are these representations mobilized in the Quebec colonial imagination? How is the colonial image of the ‘imaginary Indian’ received, appropriated and performed by children? My study contributes to a historiography exploring history of representations of the First Peoples in history textbooks since the beginning of public education in Quebec. The first chapter explores three historiographical fields on which my dissertation draws: children's history, settler colonialism, and representations of First Peoples in North American popular culture. Chapters two and three are devoted, in order, to the analysis of history textbooks produced between 1920 and 1950 and those between 1950 and 1960. I show that the figure of the Indian is mobilized by the authors of the first period’s textbooks to justify the dispossession and colonial violence of the past, notably through the use of political, moral and genealogical arguments. In the latter period’s, more nationalistic series of textbooks, the authors reiterate these same ideas, but with a stronger emphasis on the idea of the ‘civilizing mission’ to the point of cleansing the Quebec historical narrative of its original violence. Furthermore, I argue that these textbooks show the continuation of colonialism in the present. First Peoples no longer disappear from the narrative after the Conquest, as was the case in history textbooks before 1950, but they are still subject to a colonial discourse that denigrates and invisibilizes them, while attempting to justify the dispossession of their lands.

This master’s thesis analyses Italian women discourses on their living conditions in the feminine press during the fascist era, from 1922 to 1937. On the basis of three publications, l’Almanacco della donna italiana, La Donna Italiana: rivista mensile di lettere, scienze, arti e movimento sociale femminile and Il Giornale della donna, which will become, in 1935, La Donna Fascista, this study tries to demonstrate that maternity, employment and leisure are all present in the discourses, and that they have been written about openly. It is possible to note an evolution of the feminine points of view with the different events happening at the time, like Matteotti’s assassination and the new work legislation. Journalists share their ideas with multiple techniques. They use the parameters of the fascist regime to justify the role and services to which they pretend, as well as the gendered society division to self-assign some tasks and the ideals carried by the ideology to justify points of view. Therefore, despite freedom of expression restrictions during Benito Mussolini’s regime, women do have some latitude in the discourses related to their living condition, which have the particularity of being written strictly for a female audience. This thesis demonstrates the particularities of women’s discourses in a totalitarian society. To do so, the publication selection has been studied by statistical analysis first to seek out common subjects and journalists, and then by comparative analysis to demonstrate similarities and differences in the topics’ treatment.

In 1988, British gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield describes a new type of phenomenon. According to his Since 1970, specialists have noticed an upsurged in the amount of diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Quebecois children and children across the world. Once considered “unfortunate souls” suffering from an “unknown illness”, autism is now a disorder the public is now well-aware of, and on which multiple studies were conducted. However, with the publication of a study in 1998 claiming the origins of the disorder is the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR vaccine), the conversation on autism is now polluted by the question of its origins, to the point few people have considered the portrayals of autism and autism in the period leading up to this publication, when the years 1970 to 1990 represent an important period in terms of the evolution of autism’s markers and its treatments, in Quebec in particular. To this end, a series of articles from daily newspapers La Presse and Le Devoir concerning autism over the period 1970-1998 were analyzed in order to highlight three important axes in the present research: the characteristics of autism, the causes of the disorder as well as the care of autistic people, and in particular, young autistic people. From this analysis, we first retain a transformation in the perception of the autistic, where the ‘idiot’ child of the 1970s becomes a misunderstood genius in the 1990s. Simultaneously, we note the appropriation by popular discourses of the role of parents (and mothers especially) on the origins of autism, as well as the popularization of the myth of giftedness in the 1990s. In order to answer these questions, the present dissertation hopes to question the thickness, complexity and temporality of these representations, and do so by trying to observe if those representations interact or are independent from each other during this period, and if we see through the press tensions between discourses used by both communities, or a mixture of mutual appropriations.

This study aspires to place thirteenth-century Iceland more fully within the historiographical debate on the individual in the Middle Ages, which has tended to focus on continental Western Europe. It interrogates the perception that the ancient Icelanders had of themselves in relation to the notion of individualism. In turn, it seeks to identify the sustained relationship with the collective, to determine if the Icelanders could conceive and define themselves beyond group structures or membership. Analysis of the content of the sagas of Icelanders (Íslendingasögur), a literary genre specific to Iceland, makes it possible to formulate a history of mentalité for this purpose. The notion of honor, a central theme in the texts, serves to evaluate the degree of individuality accorded the ancient Icelanders. The various dimensions of honor as expressed in the sagas are then dessected to answer this question. Honor is first considered in its relation to reputation. The importance of the idea of reputation as well as the process by which it is established is then observed. Analysis of how honor and its pursuit are motivating themes in the sagas are then considered. Finally, honor is perceived under the theme of the perception of oneʼs dignity and its social implications.

During the 1930s, France was hit by a political, economic, and diplomatic crisis which revealed many divisions in society. French journalists, seeking a solution to the national crisis, showed a particular interest towards their neighbor across the Rhine after the nomination of Hitler as Chancellor of Germany on January 30th, 1933. Hitler took advantage of France’s weakness and divisions to question but also oppose and act against the clauses of the Treaty of Versailles until the outbreak of World War II on September 1st, 1939. The objective of this research is to analyze how the French national press reacted to German revisionism from 1933 to 1939. In this context, the press’ perception of Hitler’s actions and how its opinions changed (or not) over time reveals the ways in which French newspapers interpreted events in Germany that affected France itself. By consulting editorials and opinion articles from five daily newspapers of different political orientations, namely L’Action française, L’Humanité, Le Figaro, Le Petit Parisien and Le Temps, this memoire analyse the opinion of the French national press on the revision of the Treaty of Versailles. This study contributes to the historiography of the interwar period and France’s reaction to German aggression in two ways. First, it shows that the press was not blind to Hitler’s revisionist plan. It also demonstrates that the French press remained divided concerning the actions of Nazi Germany until 1939. The protection of the Treaty of Versailles’ clauses and its system, which maintained the balance of power in Europe, polarised the French press and created a weakened national feeling until the outbreak of World War II. German revisionism fuelled the disagreements in the daily newspapers studied from 1933 to 1939.

The study of the Roman imperial cult in the 4th century has often been relegated to the background in research relating to this subject. The imperial cult has even often been relegated to the same fate than the rest of the Roman traditional cults. However, in the light of period sources and the work of certain historians, such as Louis Bréhier, the imperial cult seems to have survived this prognosis of disappearance. More interesting still, the imperial cult appears to have transformed and adapted to the new reality offered by a Christianizing Roman Empire while the power of the emperor was becoming more sacred. The work presented in this thesis parallels the metamorphosis experienced by the imperial cult with the strengthening of imperial power during the fourth century, while comparing the evolution of the perception that Christians had of this fundamentally traditional institution. As mentioned above, the study is based on a body of contemporary sources, ranging from Christian homilies to epigraphic sources which will corroborate the information found in the work of several historians who have studied the topic. Overall, this research demonstrates that the imperial cult succeeded in shedding religious connotations that Christians considered problematic while continuing to function and occupy a central place in the life of the Romans. This, together with an imperial power expressed in absolute terms, initiated the metamorphosis of the imperial cult into a "monarchical cult", exalting even more the emperor's power for centuries to come.