This revised second edition of Gourdon's 2001 book of the same title reveals the growing interest in the history of grandparents, as well as the lack of new research and work on this topic. Indeed, grandparenthood has been a flourishing topic of research for sociologists but forgotten for a long time by historians, even historians of the family. Gourdon aims to change this situation and to provide a historical approach to grandparenthood.
In his book, he draws a first synthesis of the history of grandparents from the eighteenth century until the interwar period in France, outlining the importance of grandparents within the family. He also demonstrates that grandparents were not always the authoritarian and despotic figures often perceived. Gourdon thus contradicts the idea that young, kind and indulgent grandparents (‘softy grandparents' or ‘grands-parents gateau’ in French) are characteristic of the twentieth century, claiming that they were to be found much earlier.
To cover such a wide theme, the author uses a variety of sources, written and iconographic ones, including paintings, plays, songs, books of etiquette, autobiographies and novels from less well-known to classical ones. Victor Hugo, for instance, focused on grandparenthood in several books, highlighting ageing, which for him was the height of life (‘apogée de la vie’; p. 205) and a moment of wisdom. Gourdon also presents a quantitative analysis of parish registers in a region to the west of Paris (Vernon) and tutorship records in Vernon and Paris. Although his study does not cover all French territory, he nonetheless believes that variation existed. It would be valuable to have further studies of other French regions, which could reveal wider differences.
These data were used to prove that the object of research, being a grandparent, is not new. Gourdon demonstrates convincingly that, since the eighteenth century, there was a strong probability that grandchildren would have known one or more of their grandparent(s), especially female ones. Compared with nowadays, grandparents were less present and for less time but they were still in contact with their grandchildren, and asked to help the family on several occasions. In the case of parents' death, widowhood, remarriage or if parents had to work, grandparents could be called upon to care for grandchildren.
The author outlines that traditionally grandparents had an active role in the family, describing different forms of solidarity and sociability. Before the twentieth century, there was an important sociability in rural and urban areas, with families either cohabiting with grandparents, or living in the same neighbourhood, especially in the South of France. Although this was a characteristic of nobles, bourgeois and working-class families, the author comments on the lack of studies of this question in France, particularly on cohabitation within bourgeois and working-class families.
Two out of eleven chapters are focused on the evolution of the image of grandparents, from an authoritarian character during the ancien régime to a tender person during the Enlightenment period (eighteenth century). For Gourdon, the image of ‘softy grandparents' was already well established in the nineteenth century. In order to draw this portrait, he uses extensive quotations that make his arguments more vivid, although in some cases quotations can be too long.
The role of grandparents in educating their grandchildren has not been forgotten in this study, taking also into consideration the growing importance of school and individualism. The author also analyses the place occupied by grandparents within the family, possible relations and conflicts that might occur. As part of this large picture of grandparenthood, the traditional image of a grandparent, as a fragile elderly person with glasses and a stick, is also explored. The presence of grandparents in family rituals, such as marriage, New Year's Eve, birthdays and their role as godparents are also considered.
An interesting and very rich approach involves the analysis of over a 100 autobiographies, memories and souvenirs. It reveals the remembrance of grandparents and lays out a few social differences. For instance, working-class people seem to have had almost no memories of their ancestors, contrarily to nobles that insisted in family genealogy. As for the bourgeoisie, they portrayed grandparents as persons and individuals, thus contributing to perpetuate the image of ‘softy grandparents'.
In his conclusion, Gourdon expands his analysis to the role of grandparents in the second half of the twentieth century, which leads to a series of pertinent questions on the future evolution of grandparenthood. In the annexes, he describes the methodological problems he faced and the choices made for his analysis. Nineteen tables and two figures are also included in the annexes, giving detailed and concise information to help follow the text. A wide bibliography is quoted in the notes; and the book also contains an index with names cited, which can be handy if researching a specific person or family.
It is pleasant to read the book, since the author has included several detailed examples of families, making it more vivid, even giving statistics a lively approach. Although the book can be considered too long, it gives a total picture of grandparenthood, covering all the questions we might raise. Since it was written for a French audience, the reader devoid of basic notions of French history might find it difficult to follow up all the details of this work.
This book illustrates ancestors as a total object and traces the evolution of grandparents within French society, giving us a new and overall view, strengthening the importance of this theme. It is a massive work that summarises over two centuries of family history, in different social classes from industrial workers to aristocrats. Therefore, this work can be extremely interesting for those wishing to draw a comparison between their areas and the French case, while scope remains for further research on the latter, such as comparisons within French territory. This book will also be useful reading for researchers working on linked themes such as ageing, family issues, heritage and behaviour, amongst others.
