>From Brad to Nestor:
>>No, we wouldn't. We wouldn't particularly in a semicolony such as
>>Argentina, where the deeds of those you call "nationalist-
>>militaristic" were in fact deeds effected during a revolutionary war,
>>a war that carried the flags of the most modern ideas in the times
>>against absolutism, the remnants of feudalism, slavery and the
>>bondage of the Indians.
>
>So does the iconography of the square focus on the triumph of
>liberty? Is it like the Place of the Bastille, or the Lincoln
>Memorial, or the 55th Massachusetts Memorial on Boston Common? From
>your description it would seem not: that the lesson taught is not
>that it is good to fight for liberty but that it is good to die to
>protect your hierarchical superiors. The cause memorialized is
>just--but the nationalist-militarist iconography seems destructive.
>
>Brad DeLong, off to read Barbara Ehrenreich's _Blood Rites_
Here's a song for lovers of liberty: La Marseillaise. Militant
patriotism at its most full-blooded. Nestor's description of an
Argentine nationalist icon sounds serene, with its sense of duty to
patria fulfilled, in comparison to La Marseillaise.
Allons enfants de la Patrie
Le jour de gloire est arrivé.
Contre nous, de la tyrannie,
L'étandard sanglant est levé,
l'étandard sanglant est levé,
Entendez-vous, dans la compagnes.
Mugir ces farouches soldats
Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras
Egorger vos fils,
vos compagnes.
[Let us go, children of the fatherland
Our day of Glory has arrived.
Against us stands tyranny,
The bloody flag is raised,
The bloody flag is raised.
Do you hear in the countryside
The roar of these savage soldiers
They come right into our arms
To cut the throats of your sons,
your country.]
Aux armes citoyens!
Formez vos bataillons,
Marchons, marchons!
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons.
[To arms, citizens!
Form up your battalions
Let us march, Let us march!
That their impure blood
Should water our fields]
Amour sacré de la Patrie,
Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs,
Liberté, liberté cherie,
Combats avec tes defénseurs;
Combats avec tes défenseurs.
Sous drapeaux, que la victoire
Acoure à tes mâles accents;
Que tes ennemis expirants
Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire!
[Sacred love of the fatherland
Guide and support our vengeful arms.
Liberty, beloved liberty,
Fight with your defenders;
Fight with your defenders.
Under our flags, so that victory
Will rush to your manly strains;
That your dying enemies
Should see your triumph and glory]
Aux armes citoyens!
Formez vos bataillons,
Marchons, marchons!
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/marseill.html
Yoshie
