Le Romantisme: Problème de Génération

At a time when social differences are constantly being reduced by increasing education and dispersion of wealth, the deep social conflicts no longer find their expression in the concept of "class," but in the concept of "generation," understood in a social and historic sense. This concept, however, is not widely recognized and is often misunderstood. This study tries to apply Karl Mannheim's generational theory to the youth of 1830, which is of special interest as it is the first generation in the history of France to encounter all the conditions favorable to the awakening of a social generation. It is the first one to have realized its own entity, to have organized a systematic revolt against existing society, and to have developed its own counter culture in which we see a pattern duplicated by the counter cultures of today. The analysis of the various elements that made it possible for the generation of 1830 to achieve this realization can be of much help to better understand the recurring process of the generational phenomenon, to accord it the recognition it deserves as an active force in the evolution of society, and to learn how to deal with it. (In French) (MCS)