ABSTRACT
The bicentennial of the French Revolution was observed in 1989, and Bastille Day (July 14) was celebrated with more than the usual vigour. Working under the direction of President Francois Mitterrand, the planners organized the celebrations around the idea that the French Revolution had been the founding act of modern times, signalling the end of feudalism and the birth of the ideals of democracy and human rights in the world. The festivities began with French celebrities reading, in front of the assembled world leaders, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, part of the constitution of every French republic since 1789. The problem faced by Antilleans, with their long association with France, is slightly different. For them, the price of Frenchness appeared in 1989 to require that they forget the history of the Antilles during the 1789 Revolution in favour of a standardized French celebration of that period.
