The world of the salons : sociability and worldliness in eighteenth-century Paris /

The world of the salons : sociability and worldliness in eighteenth-century Paris /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Lilti, Antoine, author.
Uniform title:	Monde des salons. English
Imprint:	New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2015]
Description:	viii, 328 pages ; 25 cm
Language:	English
Subject:	Salons -- France -- Paris -- History -- 18th century. Upper class -- France -- Paris -- History -- 18th century. Elite (Social sciences) -- France -- Paris -- History -- 18th century. Worldliness -- Social aspects -- France -- Paris -- History -- 18th century. Political culture -- France -- Paris -- History -- 18th century. Elite (Social sciences) Intellectual life. Manners and customs. Political culture. Salons. Upper class. France -- Social life and customs -- 18th century. France -- Intellectual life -- 18th century. Paris (France) -- History -- 1715-1789. Paris (France) -- Social life and customs -- 18th century. Paris (France) -- Intellectual life -- 18th century. France. France -- Paris. History.
Format:	Print Book
Local Note:	University of Chicago Library's copy 2 has original dust jacket.
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/10130897

Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:	9780199772346 0199772347
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary:	"The world of the 18th century salon has long been lauded as a meritocratic setting where writers, philosophers, and women created the Enlightenment. Based on a thorough study of archival sources and using methodology derived from cultural history, social history, and the history of literature, The World of Salons proposes a completely new reading of salons' sociability in eighteenth-century Paris. It challenges the commonly accepted vision of salons as literary circles that were part of the Republic of Letters. It argues, instead, that salons were institutions of worldly sociability, had helped shape 'the world' (le monde) and high society. They have been essential places where the aristocratic elites of the capital met and interacted with literary figures. These interactions based on the mastery of the codes of polite conversation but also on the circulation of news and of personal reputations are the subject of this book. The World of the Salon looks at the way in which eighteenth-century social elites redefined themselves through their practices of worldly sociability. It highlights why some men of letters of the Enlightenment attended the salons. Moving from the salons to worldliness permits taking on some broader debates as well. What relations did worldly sociability maintain with the public sphere? How did the Parisian nobility use the idea of worldly merit and the figure of the man of the world (homme du monde) to preserve its social preeminence? Was the new political culture characterized by an appeal to the public compatible with the monarchical apparatus and with court intrigues? The World of the Salons is suitable for an Anglophone audience of early modern European cultural, political, and intellectual historians"--Provided by publisher.

Table of Contents:

Part I. From the salon to the world : sociability and distinction
Sociability and hospitality
The worldly sphere
Men of letters and worldliness
Part II. News and opinion : the politics of high society
Word games : literature and sociability
Society's judgment and worldly opinion
Politics in the salon
Appendix.