Author: Jennifer Tsien
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 081220512X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 275
Book Description
An act of bad taste was more than a faux pas to French philosophers of the Enlightenment. To Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot, and others, bad taste in the arts could be a sign of the decline of a civilization. These intellectuals, faced with the potential chaos of an expanding literary market, created seals of disapproval in order to shape the literary and cultural heritage of France in their image. In The Bad Taste of Others Jennifer Tsien examines the power of ridicule and exclusion to shape the period's aesthetics. Tsien reveals how the philosophes consecrated themselves as the protectors of true French culture modeled on the classical, the rational, and the orderly. Their anxiety over the invasion of the Republic of Letters by hordes of hacks caused them to devise standards that justified the marginalization of worldy women, "barbarians," and plebeians. While critics avoided strict definitions of good taste, they wielded the term "bad taste" against all popular works they wished to erase from the canon of French literature, including Renaissance poetry, biblical drama, the burlesque theater of the previous century, the essays of Montaigne, and genres associated with the so-called précieuses. Tsien's study draws attention to long-disregarded works of salon culture, such as the énigmes, and offers a new perspective on the critical legacy of Voltaire. The philosophes' open disdain for the undiscerning reading public challenges the belief that the rise of aesthetics went hand in hand with Enlightenment ideas of equality and relativism.
The Bad Taste of Others
Author: Jennifer Tsien
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 081220512X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 275
Book Description
An act of bad taste was more than a faux pas to French philosophers of the Enlightenment. To Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot, and others, bad taste in the arts could be a sign of the decline of a civilization. These intellectuals, faced with the potential chaos of an expanding literary market, created seals of disapproval in order to shape the literary and cultural heritage of France in their image. In The Bad Taste of Others Jennifer Tsien examines the power of ridicule and exclusion to shape the period's aesthetics. Tsien reveals how the philosophes consecrated themselves as the protectors of true French culture modeled on the classical, the rational, and the orderly. Their anxiety over the invasion of the Republic of Letters by hordes of hacks caused them to devise standards that justified the marginalization of worldy women, "barbarians," and plebeians. While critics avoided strict definitions of good taste, they wielded the term "bad taste" against all popular works they wished to erase from the canon of French literature, including Renaissance poetry, biblical drama, the burlesque theater of the previous century, the essays of Montaigne, and genres associated with the so-called précieuses. Tsien's study draws attention to long-disregarded works of salon culture, such as the énigmes, and offers a new perspective on the critical legacy of Voltaire. The philosophes' open disdain for the undiscerning reading public challenges the belief that the rise of aesthetics went hand in hand with Enlightenment ideas of equality and relativism.
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 081220512X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 275
Book Description
An act of bad taste was more than a faux pas to French philosophers of the Enlightenment. To Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot, and others, bad taste in the arts could be a sign of the decline of a civilization. These intellectuals, faced with the potential chaos of an expanding literary market, created seals of disapproval in order to shape the literary and cultural heritage of France in their image. In The Bad Taste of Others Jennifer Tsien examines the power of ridicule and exclusion to shape the period's aesthetics. Tsien reveals how the philosophes consecrated themselves as the protectors of true French culture modeled on the classical, the rational, and the orderly. Their anxiety over the invasion of the Republic of Letters by hordes of hacks caused them to devise standards that justified the marginalization of worldy women, "barbarians," and plebeians. While critics avoided strict definitions of good taste, they wielded the term "bad taste" against all popular works they wished to erase from the canon of French literature, including Renaissance poetry, biblical drama, the burlesque theater of the previous century, the essays of Montaigne, and genres associated with the so-called précieuses. Tsien's study draws attention to long-disregarded works of salon culture, such as the énigmes, and offers a new perspective on the critical legacy of Voltaire. The philosophes' open disdain for the undiscerning reading public challenges the belief that the rise of aesthetics went hand in hand with Enlightenment ideas of equality and relativism.
Author:
Publisher: Odile Jacob
ISBN: 2738172067
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 243
Book Description
Publisher: Odile Jacob
ISBN: 2738172067
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 243
Book Description
The Plays
Author: William Shakespeare
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 560
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 560
Book Description
The Studio
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 146
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 146
Book Description
A New Dictionary French and English, with another English and French; according to the present use and modern orthography of the French, etc
Author: Guy Miège
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 688
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 688
Book Description
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Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Forests and forestry
Languages : en
Pages : 788
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Forests and forestry
Languages : en
Pages : 788
Book Description
A New Dictionary French and English, with another English and French, etc
Author: Guy Miege
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 698
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 698
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ISBN:
Category : Christianity
Languages : en
Pages : 778
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Christianity
Languages : en
Pages : 778
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Lingering over Words: Studies in Ancient Near Eastern Literature in Honor of William L. Moran
Author: Tzvi Abusch
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004369554
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 542
Book Description
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004369554
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 542
Book Description
United States Treaties and Other International Agreements
Author: United States
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Treaties
Languages : en
Pages : 1092
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Treaties
Languages : en
Pages : 1092
Book Description