French salons: From social ritual to literary practice

The paper examines various functions that the salon performed in France during the 17th and 18th centuries: the salon as a form of aristocratic and literary leisure, as a place of literary and linguistic innovations, cultivation of the art of conversation, theatrical play, etc. Various types of salo...

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Main Author: E. E. Dmitrieva
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. RANEPA 2022-06-01
Series:Шаги
Subjects:
Online Access:https://steps.ranepa.ru/jour/article/view/123
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author E. E. Dmitrieva
author_facet E. E. Dmitrieva
author_sort E. E. Dmitrieva
collection DOAJ
description The paper examines various functions that the salon performed in France during the 17th and 18th centuries: the salon as a form of aristocratic and literary leisure, as a place of literary and linguistic innovations, cultivation of the art of conversation, theatrical play, etc. Various types of salons are considered: aristocratic, philosophical, literary, political, but it is shown that there was no clear boundary between these categories. Special attention is paid to the role that the encyclopedists played in the history of salons and how the functioning of salons changed after 1793 and again in the era of Empire and Restoration, when the salon turned from a social locus that was feeding literature into one of its nostalgic plots. The second part, Signs of salon life, analyzes the rules that allow us to operate with the concept of salon culture and to reconstruct its implicit and explicit etiquette (the role of a woman hostess and her status, conversation, hospitality, verbal and social games, theatrical performances arranged in salons). Such different authors as Stendhal, Balzac, Proust inscribe salons in the cultural memory of the nation, outgrowing the narrow limits of the world of aristocracy. In these new salons, the status of ladies who are no longer able to control public opinion is changing (Balzac). As a result, the art of conversation gradually loses its status as a practice of secular life, having also some literary ambitions.
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spelling doaj-art-70563f6486424ff5befde018385e5e6a2025-08-20T03:13:00ZengRussian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. RANEPAШаги2412-94102782-17652022-06-018210212310.22394/2412-9410-2022-8-2-102-123122French salons: From social ritual to literary practiceE. E. Dmitrieva0Институт мировой литературы им. А.М. Горького РАН; Институт русской литературы (Пушкинский Дом) РАНThe paper examines various functions that the salon performed in France during the 17th and 18th centuries: the salon as a form of aristocratic and literary leisure, as a place of literary and linguistic innovations, cultivation of the art of conversation, theatrical play, etc. Various types of salons are considered: aristocratic, philosophical, literary, political, but it is shown that there was no clear boundary between these categories. Special attention is paid to the role that the encyclopedists played in the history of salons and how the functioning of salons changed after 1793 and again in the era of Empire and Restoration, when the salon turned from a social locus that was feeding literature into one of its nostalgic plots. The second part, Signs of salon life, analyzes the rules that allow us to operate with the concept of salon culture and to reconstruct its implicit and explicit etiquette (the role of a woman hostess and her status, conversation, hospitality, verbal and social games, theatrical performances arranged in salons). Such different authors as Stendhal, Balzac, Proust inscribe salons in the cultural memory of the nation, outgrowing the narrow limits of the world of aristocracy. In these new salons, the status of ladies who are no longer able to control public opinion is changing (Balzac). As a result, the art of conversation gradually loses its status as a practice of secular life, having also some literary ambitions.https://steps.ranepa.ru/jour/article/view/123french salons of the 17<sup>th</sup> — first third of the 19<sup>th</sup> centuriessalon culturethe art of conversationsalon gamessalon as a topos of hospitality
spellingShingle E. E. Dmitrieva
French salons: From social ritual to literary practice
Шаги
french salons of the 17<sup>th</sup> — first third of the 19<sup>th</sup> centuries
salon culture
the art of conversation
salon games
salon as a topos of hospitality
title French salons: From social ritual to literary practice
title_full French salons: From social ritual to literary practice
title_fullStr French salons: From social ritual to literary practice
title_full_unstemmed French salons: From social ritual to literary practice
title_short French salons: From social ritual to literary practice
title_sort french salons from social ritual to literary practice
topic french salons of the 17<sup>th</sup> — first third of the 19<sup>th</sup> centuries
salon culture
the art of conversation
salon games
salon as a topos of hospitality
url https://steps.ranepa.ru/jour/article/view/123
work_keys_str_mv AT eedmitrieva frenchsalonsfromsocialritualtoliterarypractice