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This article explores the epistemological and cultural evolution of nostalgia in nineteenth-century France, focusing on the crucial period (1850-1914) when the concept lost its medical meaning and embraced new cultural scenarios created by the rise of a modern nationalism and the perception of national territory. The analysis examines two major scientific discourses on nostalgia, medical and geographical, recognizing that these representational systems broadly exceed the limits of scientific logic and function as heterogeneous genres that include political, philosophical, and literary concerns of the period. By tracing the genealogy of the concept of nostalgia, the article establishes a relationship between the medical thesis and the work of Paul Vidal de la Blache, who is considered the founder of the discipline of modern geography in France. The article delves into the cultures of sensibility and explores the politics of feelings--areas of research that are quite relevant for our own nostalgic era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Le présent article se propose d'étudier, le "principe" du régime, au sens montesquivien du terme, établi dans les territoires d'outre-mer de la Troisième République en s'intéressant aux passions et aux agissements des colons et des "indigènes" afin de mieux comprendre comment une minorité blanche parvient, en plus des prérogatives exorbitantes confiées au détenteur du pouvoir, à s'imposer jour après jour en donnant d'ellemême une image de toute-puissance. Pour analyser les ressorts de cette situation, il faut chercher à atteindre la quotidienneté et l'intimité des rapports de domination imposés par les Français grâce l'instauration de nombreuses règles écrites et non-écrites qui régissent la vie des autochtones. Langue particulière, violences symboliques et discriminations raciales multiples; telles sont les principaux éléments qui contribuent à la pérennité de l'ordre colonial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]