Public Acoustics – The Sound of Society in Ancien Régime Literature Welch

Name: Public Acoustics – The Sound of Society in Ancien Régime Literature Welch
Brand: University of Pennsylvania Press

University of Pennsylvania Press

Public AcousticsThe Sound of Society in Ancien Rgime Literature\nAuthor(s): Ellen R. Welch\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, United States\nImprint: University of Pennsylvania Press\nISBN-13: 9781512829471, 978-1512829471\nSynopsis\nExplores how Ancien Rgime writers theorized public communication through acoustic metaphors\n\nThe salons, cafs, theaters, and print shops of Ancien Rgime France have long occupied a key place in histories of the \""public sphere\""that is, a cultural arena where private individuals could discuss topics of public interest. Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century French writers certainly acknowledged the emerging importance of public discussion to their society and political culture. Yet when they wrote about contemporary public discourse, they typically used different words to describe it. Most often, they reached for a metaphor, referring to it as noise (bruit). What did it mean to characterize the public's discourse in this way?\.