The Society is pleased to annnounce the beginning of a new series on this blog. A spin off from our regular Historian spotlights, this current sereis will focus on shining a light onto our rich cohort of Post-Graduates and Early Career Researchers, offering an exciting view of up-and-coming scholars in the field; their passions, interests, and where they are going next.
We start our series by turning our spotlight onto Anthony Chapman-Joy (Royal Holloway University of London) whose PhD on Caricatures of the Franco Prussian War and the Paris Commune is in its final stages.
What is your research about?
My PhD explored (primarily satirical) printed imagery produced across Europe during 1870-1. I argued that l’année terrible provided a significant moment of definition and redefinition for contemporary artists, who questioned and negotiated fluctuating categories of identity (e.g. of race, gender, class and nation) in their imagery across a number of themes, from France’s deployment of troops from its colonies to the ruins of Paris following the Commune.
What was your motivation for researching French history?
There are so many reasons. My favourite lecturers on my BA were French specialists, and as a particularly angsty late-teen I loved the drama of the French Revolution, learning the lines of Saint-Just’s 1792 speech on the King’s Fate off by heart. Another reason was that my hometown is (allegedly) twinned with Colmar in Alsace; though after visiting the latter I soon realised the two do not resemble one another in the slightest.
What is your favourite part of the research process?
I think there’s a lot to enjoy – and abhor – at different stages of the process. The almost butterflies-esque feeling upon finding something interesting that might’ve been overlooked. The ability to connect sources to wider arguments and engage with the work of others. The tired feeling at the end of a long, but ultimately successful day of writing. And then going back to something I’d written months – or even years – ago and finding that it was actually pretty good.
You’re given a time machine for one day. Where would you go? What would you do?
I’d say to one of the Parisian printing rooms during the siege/Commune in 1870-1; however, upon my return, when I put what I’d learnt into an article or a book, would peer reviewers accept ‘I was given a time machine for a day by the French History Network Blog’ as proof of my information in a reference? Unlikely.
Who would you invite to your French History fantasy dinner party? (figures from French history or historians)This question caused me a lot of grief. I’m torn between just inviting people I’d like to meet or selecting a coherent set of guests to ensure a convivial atmosphere. Electing for the former, I’d choose Jean-François Champollion, Émile Zola, Elisabeth Dmitrieff, Georges Pilotell, and Lilian Thuram. Perhaps I could just have one course with one guest at a time.
What have you found most rewarding and most frustrating about your career?
Frustrating is a tough one, as I was fortunate enough to have a really strong support network which mitigated the difficulties of starting my doctorate in October 2020, meaning I was pretty isolated in the first few months.
As for rewarding, there’s a lot. My first conference presentation sticks out – I met historians whose work I’d been reading for years at that point, and they were supportive and left me feeling really confident and excited for the following years of my PhD.
If you weren’t in your current role, what would you be doing?
I’ve always felt that if I didn’t do a History degree I’d have chosen Classics, so perhaps I’d have followed a similar path in that direction instead. If we’re eschewing academia altogether, I’d love to be a football commentator or a curator of an art gallery.
What is the most surprising or unique thing you’ve found in the course of writing your thesis?
I really enjoyed finding images that had crossed borders months after their original publication somewhere else. This was the case with one of my favourite prints included in my thesis, entitled ‘Die Wilde Jagd’, which had been originally published in Vienna’s Der Floh magazine (1869-1919) in December 1870. The image depicts Bismarck and Kaiser Wilhelm crushing French soldiers in a mythological setting of the folkloric ‘Wild Hunt’ tale. In June 1871, Parisian satirical journal L’Éclipse (1868-1876), republished the image under the title ‘La Chasse sanglante’, without crediting the original.
Aside from this, I was engrossed by the global news coverage of a scuffle between star caricaturist Georges Pilotell and Henri Rochefort on the streets of London in 1889, both in exile – one as a result of the Commune (refusing to return despite the amnesty), one for his fervent support of Boulanger. Pilotell is definitely amongst my favourite caricaturists, and following his journey after escaping la semaine sanglante – from Paris, to Geneva, to Milan (where he published a French language satirical journal, Milan-Caprice, the radicalism of which likely caused his deportation from Italy in 1874) and finally to London – was really interesting.
Any advice for 1st year PhDs or Master students thinking of starting a PhD?
The best advice I got at the start of my PhD was to never compare myself to others, and to follow what I found interesting and engaging. Aside from this, I found it really useful to make sure I carved out time for the things I actually enjoyed – particularly on the weekends – though I did not always adhere to this rule. I’ve also found it really helpful to read fiction alongside working, too. It helped improve my writing, and allowed me to inhibit another world, away from Microsoft Word and the archives.
What do you hope to work on next?
One of my thesis chapters examined French caricaturists’ (largely negative) attitudes towards the Second Empire’s projects of foreign expansion in 1870-1. Their derision was particularly acute in images of the campaigns in Mexico (1861-7) and Italy (1859-70), but also in China (1856-60) and continued French expansion in North Africa. Artists elsewhere in Europe (including across those publishing in the German states, Italy, Austria-Hungary and Spain) took a similarly negative view of foreign expansion before 1870. For instance, Barcelona-based journal La Flaca printed an image in September 1870 which insisted that Austria-Hungary and Britain were too preoccupied with their respective interests in Poland, Ireland, India and the Near East to intervene in the Franco-Prussian War on either side.
I’m keen to expand my research beyond 1870-1 and representations of solely French expansion(s) to evaluate how European artists represented empire-building projects undertaken by multiple states in the second half of the nineteenth century. I’d like to explore whether artists and journals’ attitudes towards empire changed over time, whether there was dissent against these projects, and if shared ideas of empire found currency across the continent – and how these ideas and representations varied from place to place, publisher to publisher, artist to artist.
In my investigations of such imagery from 1870-1, I found a lot of representations of foreign expansion drew on transnational stereotypes about the past – including the frequent use of biblical and classical references, or images that drew on specific historical moments, such as the Vikings in the case of Prussia, or (the original) Napoleon for France. I’d be fascinated to explore how ideas of the past influenced representations of empire in this period – and what historical/mythological frameworks these artists used to imagine and represent different parts of the world, and how this reflected popular perceptions of contemporary global politics.
Quick-fire questions (you can offer a justification if you wish!)
Archives Nationales or Archives Départementales (or another resource altogether…?)?
Difficile! I’ve recently spent a lot of time in smaller archives, though, so départementales.
Writing in silence or to music?
Typing up notes to music, writing words I have to think about in silence.
Best conference you’ve ever been to?
Either my first (Commune and its Others, ’21) or my most recent (German History Society Conference, Sept ’24).
X (Formerly known as Twitter) or Bluesky?
Neither
Favourite Boulangerie item ?
Anything – literally.
Éclair or saucisson?
Éclair *just*.
