**2. Delimiting the focus of the paper**

A firm and stable culture invariably relies on an alliance among the divergent discourses that run through it and that guarantee the projection of this ideological structure on people. This means that the more a topic is repeated, the more effective and convincing becomes, since we cannot overlook the fact that persuasion is a forceful component in the cohesion of any culture. Generally speaking, this continuum among the various social spheres emanates from a cluster of formats, namely, different materials portraying events or/and people, whose thematic affinity makes them being the primary vehicle of the political apparatus, whether it is a well-established political system or a budding one. Under these circumstances, the French Revolution is admittedly a case to be taken into account. It set the groundwork for a fresh start that benefited from the crumbling and staggering monarchical landscape, and, as expected, its votaries built an intricate and thick network through the recurrence of a topic from dissimilar artistic devices such as paintings, engravings, caricatures, drawings, busts, theater plays, songs and music, festivals, coins, newspaper articles and sculptures. The intermediality of all these aesthetic expressions, as a motto

always articulated, thought and imagined in consonance with discourse, and secondly, the rapport between politics and intellectuals uncovered one of the mainstays of nationalism, namely, the understanding of the nation as a cultural and political entity. If before the French Revolution, the State as a political unity had remained totally disconnected from the nation as a cultural wholeness, their fusion opened a singular stage in the history of nation

The success of this intellectual middle class undertaking depended on the masses cooperation, which explains why people were invited to partake of this historical project and why this invitation was written in the intelligible language that typifyed the populist nature of nationalism (Nairn 1994: 70-76). For example, writers became the public opinion leaders and began to play the role usually reserved for politicians. During the French Revolution, the abundant circulation of pamphlets and documents attempted to anger people against the king. In this sense, *L´Ami du peuple*, edited by Marat, was one of the most

In sum, the artistic achievements of intellectuals were an unmistakable struggle to protect and systematize the cultural continuity of the nation as well as to legitimate all national discourses, whether literary, historical or critical. Thereby, the narrative of the nation began to be told and retold through national histories, literature, popular culture, that is to say, through a kind of art interested in providing stories, images, symbols and rituals that could

The relevance of this paper rests on its timelessness. Although at first sight, its scope might be quite restrictive, since its topic is limited to France and to a very concrete time range (between 1789 and 1799), in truth its reading will prove the contrary. Not only does the paper help to understand the foundations of nationalism and nation construction, given that France was a pioneer in this subject matter and a model for many other countries, but also to deepen into the current working of those nationalisms still functioning thanks to their

A firm and stable culture invariably relies on an alliance among the divergent discourses that run through it and that guarantee the projection of this ideological structure on people. This means that the more a topic is repeated, the more effective and convincing becomes, since we cannot overlook the fact that persuasion is a forceful component in the cohesion of any culture. Generally speaking, this continuum among the various social spheres emanates from a cluster of formats, namely, different materials portraying events or/and people, whose thematic affinity makes them being the primary vehicle of the political apparatus, whether it is a well-established political system or a budding one. Under these circumstances, the French Revolution is admittedly a case to be taken into account. It set the groundwork for a fresh start that benefited from the crumbling and staggering monarchical landscape, and, as expected, its votaries built an intricate and thick network through the recurrence of a topic from dissimilar artistic devices such as paintings, engravings, caricatures, drawings, busts, theater plays, songs and music, festivals, coins, newspaper articles and sculptures. The intermediality of all these aesthetic expressions, as a motto

portray identity as primordial, essential, unified and unchangeable (Valdés 2002: 71).

important newspapers inciting to rebellion and to Louis XVI´s overthrow.

drawing inspiration from the French prototype.

**2. Delimiting the focus of the paper** 

States (Cobban 1994: 245-50).

superimposed on a standard, conveyed just one and very simple message, that of the making of the French Republican nation during the period ranging from 1789 to 1799, that is to say, the French revolutionary years. Throughout this paper, we will pay particular regard to this subject and to the way French artists resorted to the body, both male and female, as a core concept encapsulating the republican citizen by drawing upon political strategies fraught with mental and emotional manipulation.
