BILINGUAL SYMPOSIUM WILL OFFER TWO VIEWS ON DE TOCQUEVILLE

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Oct. 21 -- The French House of the
University of Virginia will present a symposium on French and
American perspectives on the writings of Alexis de Tocqueville, the
French politician and author who visited the United States in the
early 1830s and wrote the classic book Democracy in America.  The
symposium titled "Les Deux Tocqueville" will take place on Nov. 3rd
at 3 p.m. in Minor Hall Auditorium and is open to the public.
	The bilingual symposium, co-sponsored by U.Va.'s French
House and the French Embassy, will feature Francoise Melonio,
professor of literature at the University of Paris VII, and James
Kloppenberg, associate professor of history at Brandeis University.
In French, Melonio will talk about the way the French perceive de
Tocqueville.  Kloppenberg will speak in English on the Americans'
perspective on de Tocqueville.  An audience discussion, moderated by
Olivier Zunz, professor of history at U.Va., will follow the two
speeches.  Questions and comments during the discussion will be
conducted in the language preferred by the speaker.
	According to Zunz, the goal of the French-American symposium
is to develop a bilingual dialogue on the contrasting views of the
French and Americans about the writings of de Tocqueville.  De
Tocqueville wrote about the French Old Regime and the French
Revolution, as well as about American democracy and equality in the
western world.  Americans tend to view de Tocqueville's writings as
a canon of American democracy, whereas the French regard these
writings as more of a critique of these ideals.
	Both guest speakers are on the editorial board of The
Tocqueville Review, a journal of French and American affairs,
published biannually in the spring and the fall by the University of
Toronto Press.  The speeches of both lecturers will be published in
the October 1996 issue of the journal.
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October 20, 1995
	For more information about the symposium, contact Olivier
Zunz at (804) 924-6390.