George Sand: thwarted newspaper publisher or pioneer literary journalist?

This article argues that Sand's newspaper publishing activities—from their inception in 1841 to their decline at the end of the Second Republic—deserve recognition within the history of the press. Hitherto neglected writings are analysed as a hybrid form of literary journalism according to some definitions of the genre provided by Norman Sims. This permits a focus on Sand's ‘flights of imagination’, articles written under pseudonyms and in the voices of fictional characters, created as a tool for idealistic political education. The now classic Benedict Anderson paradigm of ‘imagined communities’ is used to contextualise Sand's use of the vernacular and helps to position her contribution towards the use of newspapers as a vehicle for the communication of democratic and progressive ideas.