Heroes and Legends of Fin-De-Siècle France: Gender, Politics, and National IdentityIn Heroes and Legends of Fin de Si cle France Venita Datta examines representations of fictional and real heroes in the boulevard theater and mass press during the fin de si cle (1880 1914), illuminating the role of gender in the construction of national identity during this formative period of French history. The popularity of the heroic cult at this time was in part the result of defeat in the Franco Prussian War in 1870, as well as a reaction to