Insulted gaze. Political iconoclasm after the French Revolution

One of the insoluble questions that constantly raises fierce discussions is what to do with the monuments to “ambiguous” historical personalities? Demolish? Remove out of sight? Leave in the same places? Participants in such disputes often refer to the example of France, and the French are taken to the allies and those who advocate the preservation of odious monuments, and those who do not agree with this. As in reality, the case in France of the 19th century with monuments helps to find out the book of the modern French historian Emmanuel Füx. It is dedicated to political iconocraticism, that is, the fight against political signs and emblems, which the author himself calls the alternative way to engage in politics. The period investigated in the book is from the overthrow of the statue of Napoleon from the top of the Vandom column in 1814 to the demolition of the Vandom Column itself in the year 1871 m. However, the book tells not only the struggle, but also about what these political signs were: flags, bandages , cockades, statues and busts, flowers, pets, coins, seals and stamps, razors, knives, playing cards, snuffboxes, fans, hoses of areas, waffle molds, labels for liquors and spirits, soap, sweets, gingerbread and much more . Everything risked to offend someone"s vigilant gaze and turn political semiotics into semiotic paranoia. Everything was significant, everything could become and became an argument and target in the political struggle