La société littéraire de Lausanne : sociabilité et débats de réforme /
Located at the crossroads of the continent's main roads, in the last third of the eighteenth century, Lausanne welcomed a flourishing community of foreigners, more or less titled, more or less brilliant, with whom members of the local elite liked to mingle. The social life of the city, in line...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | French |
| Language Notes: | In French, with abstracts in both French and English. |
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Liverpool :
Published by Liverpool University Press on behalf of Voltaire Foundation,
[2025].
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| Series: | Oxford University studies in the Enlightenment ;
2025:03. |
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| Summary: | Located at the crossroads of the continent's main roads, in the last third of the eighteenth century, Lausanne welcomed a flourishing community of foreigners, more or less titled, more or less brilliant, with whom members of the local elite liked to mingle. The social life of the city, in line with the latest European trends, but governed by the familiar logics of a small urban center, attracted praise from figures such as Voltaire and Edward Gibbon, who stayed there on several occasions. Among the various centers of sociability in Lausanne, the Literary Society stands out for its cosmopolitanism and its commitment to the main debates of the Europe of the Enlightenment. This work reconstructs the composition, practices and intellectual activity of the Literary Society of Lausanne on the basis of its rich manuscript collection, which has been largely unexploited until now. By putting it into perspective with the practices of sociability and the reform debates of the time, he paints the portrait of an institution organized to welcome a variety of profiles, from northwestern, central and eastern Europe, and dedicated to the major themes of the moment. Through the analysis of its debates on sensitivity, prejudice, criminal law, luxury and depopulation, it offers an overview of the intellectual dynamics of the Enlightenment in Lausanne and invites us to question current interpretations of the Enlightenment by highlighting the dialectical relationship between their continental and local dimension. Sitting in the heart of Europe, in the last third of the 18th century, Lausanne was home to a thriving community of foreigners, some titled, some brilliant, with whom members of the local elite liked to mingle. The city's social life, in tune with the latest European trends but governed by familiar logics specific to a small urban center, attracted the praise of figures such as Voltaire and Edward Gibbon, who stayed there on several occasions. Among Lausanne's societies and clubs, the Literary Society stood out for its cosmopolitanism and its involvement with the main debates of the European Enlightenment. This book reconstructs the composition, practices and intellectual activity of the Lausanne Literary Society on the basis of its rich manuscript collection, hitherto largely unexploited. By placing it in perspective with the sociability practices and reform debates of the time, it paints the portrait of an institution organized to welcome a variety of profiles, from northwestern, central and eastern Europe, and dedicated to the major themes of the day. Through an analysis of its debates on sensibility, prejudice, criminal law, luxury and depopulation, it offers a glimpse into the intellectual dynamics of the Enlightenment in Lausanne and invites us to question current interpretations of the Enlightenment by highlighting the dialectical relationship between its continental and local dimensions. |
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| Physical Description: | xv, 318 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 283-312) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781836240402 1836240406 |