Talk:Legacy of Napoleon

Untitled
This is a spinoff from the main Napoleon article. I plan to add a lot of new material that is too detailed for that article. Rjensen (talk) 00:21, 7 May 2021 (UTC)

Name
Shouldn't it be Napoleon legacy and remembrance? --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus&#124; reply here 04:39, 20 May 2021 (UTC)

Gratuitous Politicizing
I find this passage unduly and gratuitously politicized:

"Critics have had to deal with the fact that many intellectuals and artists have praised Napoleon. Victor Davis Hanson notes that Paul Johnson explains away "the fawning by Shelley, Keats, Hegel, Carlyle, Belloc, Chesterton, Hardy, and Shaw—as the precursor of the Left's modern-day worship of odious tyrants."

Considering that Napoleon is an icon of the French right, and considering the right's own infamous coziness with some legendarily odious tyrants, I'd say such hobbyhorsing is out of place in an encyclopedic article. If someone wants to discuss perceptions of Napoleon across the political spectrum, I think that such a topic would make a very interesting section in this article. But the passage in question seems concerned mainly with taking potshots at "the Left." Until such time, I'm removing the passage. Mpaniello (talk) 02:00, 5 July 2021 (UTC)


 * Additionally, under the section 'Harsh Criticism', there's the following remarks:
 * "The Continental powers as late as 1808 were willing to give him nearly all of his gains and titles, but he was overly aggressive and pushed for too much, until his empire collapsed."
 * I think this is another example of politicizing within the editor's voice, which is inappropriate. It paints a sympathetic, acquiescing image of Napoleon's political peers and a warmongering, Icarian image of Napoleon. If the entry cited a particular historian's viewpoint it would be acceptable. Right now it is too colorfully opinionated to exist without a provenanced preamble. Aslan the man (talk) 15:12, 25 April 2023 (UTC)

annotations which express an opinion of references
I was surprised to see biographies described as favorable or hostile. Isn't this a point of view ? It is useful to know the scope of the book, but judging it doesn't seem appropriate for Wikipedia. But then I'm pretty new around here. Humphrey Tribble (talk) 03:31, 30 October 2021 (UTC)


 * After another year and a half of wiki-experience, I have more knowledge on the subject of biographies. While trying to verify some facts about Andrew Jackson, I consulted the early biographies. They can only be described as fawning (as well as what we would now call ultranationalist). So, it is accurate to call a biography favorable or hostile. Nevertheless, the corollary is “says who?” If the article about Napoleon expresses an evaluation of biographies, a source is needed. Therefore, I propose to remove these assessments unless such a source is provided. I will leave this post for a while to allow comment by others. Humphrey Tribble (talk) 23:00, 25 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Ultranationalistic is the wrong word; superpatriotic might be better. But as with the Napoleon biographies, my opinion is irrelevant. Humphrey Tribble (talk) 23:36, 25 April 2023 (UTC)

Art & Politics - Susan Siegried's Assessment
"For Susan Siegfried (2006), the painting shows not just a man but the complexity and glory of his new empire. The insignia conveys the inter-relations of old French traditions and the new imperial formation, an empire for which Napoleon provided the brain but many others ultimately helped create."

I am concerned about the citation - page 38 of the cited passage says little about any such interrelations, and the following pages make only implications. Page 58 comes close but the linked preview ends there. For claims to such abstract allusions, interpretations, etc. I think it's imperative to provide more explicit citations and quotes. Aslan the man (talk) 16:46, 22 May 2023 (UTC)

“Jacques-Louis David's painting of his coronation”
I think this is an error. It should probably read ‘Jacques-Louis David's painting of the coronation of Josephine…’. However, the intention might also be the painting of Napoleon on his throne by Ingres. Does anyone know which painting was widely shown in the United States? Humphrey Tribble (talk) 00:37, 23 May 2023 (UTC)