Artikkelen undersøker eidsvollsadressene
som eksempler på revolusjonær retorikk, og analyserer noen sentrale
retoriske elementer som preger adressene. Den norske revolusjonen
i 1814 skiller seg fra den franske i 1789 ved å rettferdiggjøre seg
selv gjennom tradisjonalistiske ideer. Revolusjonen ble begrunnet
i et forsvar for den gamle orden. Samtidig ga den nye historiske
konteksten adressene er skrevet i, de tradisjonelle ideene nytt
innhold.
Eidsvollsadressene har tradisjonelt blitt sett på enten som
kilder til «stemningen i folket» i Norge i 1814, eller som propagandaredskap
for prins Christian Frederik. Uten å se bort fra propagandaaspektet,
forsøker artikkelen å forstå adressene som et resultat av møtet
mellom pålegg ovenfra og ulike aktørers forståelse av påleggene
og den situasjonen landet befant seg i våren 1814.
Revolutionary speech? New perspectives
on the Eidsvoll addresses
On 19 February 1814, the governor of Norway, Christian Frederik,
declared himself regent of the country and summoned a constitutional
assembly to commence at Eidsvoll on 10 April that year. As conformation
of the election of representatives to the assembly, addresses were
drawn up from every parish, district, town and military regiment
in the country and presented to the regent at the commencement of
the constitutional assembly. The addresses contain declarations
of gratitude to the regent, as well as reflections on the precarious
situation of the nation and the coming constitutional assembly.
The article analyses these addresses as examples of revolutionary rhetoric.
1814 can be seen as a year of revolution in Norway in that it marks
a break with absolutism and the implementation of a constitution
based on the principle of sovereignty of the people, and because
Christian Frederik led a rebellion against a newly established order
represented by the Kiel treaty. Contrary to the French revolution
of 1789, however, the Norwegian revolution of 1814 was justified
through extensive references to the national past. The rhetoric
of the addresses amounted to a large extent to a defence of the
old order. At the same time, the historical context the addresses
appeared in gave the traditional ideas new content, a content pointing
towards a discourse of nationalism that would come to dominate nineteenth-century
culture and politics.
Traditionally, the Eidsvoll addresses have been seen by historians
either as evidence of «the mood of the people» in 1814 or as propaganda
tools for Christian Frederik. With a mind to the propaganda aspect,
this article views the addresses as the result of the meeting between
declarations from above and different actors’ understanding of these
declarations and the situation of the country in the spring of 1814.
The different actors are defined by their socio-cultural background,
such as the patriotic bourgeoisie of the cities, paternalistic ministers
of the rural parishes and enlightened civil servants.