World history and global thematic perspectives have become integral parts of European history, at least as practiced in the United States. Historians in France are now increasingly grappling with how to mesh global historical interpretations with French national history, which is often viewed as part of la patrimoine, or the French national patrimony. The problem, then, is how to consider global perspectives that sometimes clash with the powerful French concepts of citizenship and national heritage that are present in French historical writing and teaching—as well as in representations of history in French media and popular culture.

An article in Le Monde reports on how the tensions between transnational global history and national French history have emerged at the current Les Rendez-vous de l’Histoire conference being held in Blois on the theme of “L’Orient.”