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> We don't "celebrate" Napoleon Huh, I must have visited a different country then. It seems there isn't a single Bridge, Column or otherwise important building

> We don't "celebrate" Napoleon Huh, I must have visited a different country then. It seems there isn't a single Bridge, Column or otherwise important building in Paris that hasn't a pompous "N" mounted onto it.

joconde 5y ago
As parent comment said, it's part of the background. I've probably seen these bridges a hundred times, yet I don't remember the Ns.
- woodpanel 5y ago
  So it's a technicality? Technically every bridge bears his symbol, but no, "celebrating" him we are not. I mean you have to willfully interprete the word "celebrating" as people dancing in the streets out of joy to read the parent's parent comment that way. In other words: "It's in the background" rather means it's the foundation upon which (as other comments have pointed out) the French Revolution's winning side's narrative rests.
  - johncoltrane 5y ago
    "It's in the background" means exactly that. They are just bridges that we cross to get from A to B, without a care in the world for their alleged symbolism. We just don't care.
  - himinlomax 5y ago
    This is like saying that the continued existence of cathedrals is a celebration of Christianity. The République celebrates the Napoléons as much as it celebrates Roman Catholicism or kings: not at all.
  - jvzr 5y ago
    Also, those are old bridges/columns/whatever. The French are not erecting any new structure bearing his name or symbol.
  - joconde 5y ago
    I interpret "celebrating" as remembering something in a positive way. We're just indifferent, he's one of a few dozen important guys we heard about in history lessons, and that's it.
himinlomax 5y ago
The bridge was not built to celebrate Napoléon, it was built by a Napoléon. Not erasing history does not mean condoning it.
elcomet 5y ago
Those monuments were built by Napoleon, what do you suggest, that they demolish them ? Those monuments are not celebrations of Napoleon..
mmarq 5y ago
In Rome you can still find Mussolini’s obelisk and some fascist inscriptions here and there. Italians definitely don’t celebrate Mussolini these days (well, some do, but you get the point).
- woodpanel 5y ago
  > "some fascist inscriptions" are hardly comparable to thousands of streets named after him, thousands of bridges wearing his enblem, and statues still standing. Again "celebrating Napoleon" as in "in the background" as in "a foundation of the winning side's narrative"

joconde 5y ago

As parent comment said, it's part of the background. I've probably seen these bridges a hundred times, yet I don't remember the Ns.

woodpanel 5y ago
So it's a technicality? Technically every bridge bears his symbol, but no, "celebrating" him we are not. I mean you have to willfully interprete the word "celebrating" as people dancing in the streets out of joy to read the parent's parent comment that way. In other words: "It's in the background" rather means it's the foundation upon which (as other comments have pointed out) the French Revolution's winning side's narrative rests.
- johncoltrane 5y ago
  "It's in the background" means exactly that. They are just bridges that we cross to get from A to B, without a care in the world for their alleged symbolism. We just don't care.
- himinlomax 5y ago
  This is like saying that the continued existence of cathedrals is a celebration of Christianity. The République celebrates the Napoléons as much as it celebrates Roman Catholicism or kings: not at all.
- jvzr 5y ago
  Also, those are old bridges/columns/whatever. The French are not erecting any new structure bearing his name or symbol.
- joconde 5y ago
  I interpret "celebrating" as remembering something in a positive way. We're just indifferent, he's one of a few dozen important guys we heard about in history lessons, and that's it.

himinlomax 5y ago

The bridge was not built to celebrate Napoléon, it was built by a Napoléon. Not erasing history does not mean condoning it.

elcomet 5y ago

Those monuments were built by Napoleon, what do you suggest, that they demolish them ? Those monuments are not celebrations of Napoleon..

mmarq 5y ago

In Rome you can still find Mussolini’s obelisk and some fascist inscriptions here and there. Italians definitely don’t celebrate Mussolini these days (well, some do, but you get the point).

woodpanel 5y ago
> "some fascist inscriptions" are hardly comparable to thousands of streets named after him, thousands of bridges wearing his enblem, and statues still standing. Again "celebrating Napoleon" as in "in the background" as in "a foundation of the winning side's narrative"