The Great Cat Massacre and Other Episodes in French Cultural History

What is Darnton’s methodology in exploring the cultural attitudes undergirding 18th-century France? How does it differ from the methods of event history? Why does anthropology serve as a strong model for his approach?

How do French folktales most differ from German folktales? How does Darnton use these differences to approach a set of general qualities he associates with “Frenchness”?

What role does Darnton believe folktales played in the lives of peasants? Of what use are stories that seem unbound to morality and full of horrifying taboos?