As one takes a relaxing promenade through Paris, a pattern begins to emerge while navigating the streets of this bustling city. Unlike cities such as DC or New York where streets are often organized in a system way, alphabetically in DC and numerically in New York, Parisian métros and streets take on events and names of the past. Through the systematic naming of métros and streets, as well as the integration of monuments into normal Parisian life, the entire city is thus transformed from a normal big city to a space of memory and commemoration.
The first reason Paris can be called a city of memory and commemoration is based on the sheer number of commemorative sites throughout the city. Going down the list of the city’s most popular sites yields a plethora of commemorative locales. On my bike ride home from church this morning, I was guided by many of these commemorative sites, beginning in Montparnasse and ending in the 17th arrondisment. Sans carte I rode my velib’ across town, with Les Invalides, La Tour Eiffel, Les Champs-Elysées, and Sacre Coeur as my guides. As I was guided by these sites, I was struck by the significant role each of these sites has played in the memory and commemoration of French history and culture. Although they have become normal for me to see, they represent so much more than guideposts for finding one’s way home. Some might see the normalization of these sites as a sign that they have lost their commemorative value and are now just tourist sites; however, I see their integration into normal Parisian life as a sign that they are of great value to the collective memory and consciousness of the French. For example, while to a tourist, Les Champs-Elysées is the hub for a French shopping spree, to the French it represents so much more. It represents the hub of pride for la Patrie, a place where the Nazi’s arrived to occupy and De Gaulle arrived to liberate. Similarly, locations of cultural interest for tourists like Place de La Concorde and Le Palais du Louvre represent to the French the rich history of France’s shift from monarchy to republic, the former being the site of purging the past, the later a nation’s reminder of the tyranny of that past. To note that these sites serve different purposes for Parisians and tourists is not to say one purpose is better than the other. Instead it is conversely to show their true importance as sites which while sometimes cliché have affirmed importance through their appeal to tourists and Parisians alike.
The second way in which Paris represents a space of memory and commemoration is through the naming of rues and places. While the naming of streets and squares after famous people is nothing new in urban planning, the manner in which these spaces are marked in Paris sets them apart from other eponymous spaces in cities worldwide. Take the name of a street I often frequented last semester, Avenue Émile Zola. The street is marked as AVENUE ÉMILE ZOLA along with a short note about who Zola was underneath. This short description is interesting to note, but for those who have an understanding of French history and Zola’s role as both an author and intellectual mind, the intersection of Zola’s avenue with Place Alfred Dreyfus is much more than a coincidence. Ingeniously placed to intersect, La Place and L’Avenue show the intersection of an intellectual (Zola) who came to the defense of a wrongly accused French officer (Dreyfus). In this sense, the street signs serve to commemorate a part of French history in a nuanced way. In other cases, street signs overtly recognize the contributions of many people to French society. Boulevard Haussmann is tightly linked with the revolution in city planning which occurred under the direction of Haussmann. In addition to streets named after famous Frenchmen, some streets recognize those whose contributions to society may have otherwise been lost. For example, there are nearly 100 Parisian streets, squares, or boulevards named after mathematicians. ("JOC/EFR" 1-5) By including common and famous names alike as well as making references to nuanced events in French history such as the Dreyfus Affair, the city becomes a treasure chest of history and information at every corner.
The final way in which Paris serves as a space of memory and commemoration is through métro stations. Choose any métro line, and you will be transported across French history. For example, on line 1, you can hit some of the highlights of French history, from Le Palais du Louvre, Bastille and ending at Charles de Gaulle-Étoile. And viola, you have just made it all the way from the Monarchy to the Revolution to the end of World War II! While these are three obvious examples of historical naming, there are also references to less famous historical events and people throughout the system. Several metro stops refer to Napoleon’s conquests—Austerlitz, Place d’Italie, and Pyramides to name a few. Other stations are named after artists, intellectuals, and military figures such as Picasso, Avenue Émile Zola, Denfert-Rochereau. In addition to referring to these events and people, the Paris métro system goes a step further by placing signs with historical points of interest regarding the name of the métro station or neighborhood where it is located. Therefore, it may be possible to learn quite a bit about French history simply by riding the métro and stopping to look at these historical reference points along the way. In conjunction with understanding the historical significance of the current métro names, it is also interesting to note how station names have changed over the last century. The most interesting examples are the changes of Berlin to Liège and Allemagne to Jaurès following World War I as well as the change of Marboeuf to Franklin D. Roosevelt following World War II. ("Histoire en ligne" 1-15) These changes not only hold significance in their names like the other station names, but also indicate the historical and political circumstances under which they were changed. Given the complexity and diversity of métro station names as well as the concerted effort made to publicly catalog the history of many stations, the Paris métro can be described as a primary source of memory and commemoration for the French.
The city of Paris is to many a charming location because of its café culture, beautiful parks, and the clichéd baguette and beret wearing locals. Add to this the many world famous monuments like La Tour Eiffel and La Musée du Louvre, and the city becomes irresistible to tourists worldwide. However, the city represents much more than what one finds on a postcard. Instead, the city, through the integration of memory and commemoration with day to day living is a space which honors the past of the French people, while continuing to give it present value. By choosing to make history part of not only official monuments but also through city planning, the French have been able to ensure the survival of events and names which may have otherwise been lost.
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