Maurice Barrès (1862--1923), forgotten as a writer, but still remembered as a nationalist, is discussed here for the first time in terms of his three-tiered construction of identity and the response it aroused in two different national contexts. With reference to his literary works and political activities, the study demonstrates how, in the face of the crisis triggered by 1870/71, Barrès (who had moved to Paris from his native Lorraine) mapped out a wide-ranging identity concept encompassing self, region, and nation. The analysis of the hitherto neglected reception accorded to him in Germany indicates the way in which, from 1905, Barrès was taken there as a negative model, a 'bone of contention' generating counter-concepts of identity on the German side.