SECULARIZATION, ENTHUSIASTIC RHETORIC, AND HISTORICAL ACCELERATION: NOTES ON THE RECEPTION OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION IN GERMANY

Abstract

The reception of French Revolution in Germany
comprehended different viewpoints: from strong
support to clear reject, including also a variety of
moderate judgments. Many of these stands
articulated themselves through the discussions on
the rhetorical uses of “enthusiasm”; a particular
kind of speech with cultural and ideological
connotations disturbingly associated to the excesses of fanaticism and millennial prophecy.
Throughout these meanings, the enthusiastic
rhetoric began to express the sudden changes of
the revolutionary experience as a new type of
historical perception: an accelerated process, full
of contingencies and unpredictable developments.