Soupçon II.iv

                     Soupçon II.iv                                                           The Salon Saga

Let us begin with an MCQ. The salon tradition began in 1) England 2) France 3) Italy 4) Greece. The correct option is (3) Italy where it began in the sixteenth century, though it truly flourished in the seventeenth and eighteenth century France of the "philosophes" from the "Encyclopedie" movement.

In fact, the etymology of the term, "salon" is most interesting. It originates from the Italian "salone" (which means a large hall) and the Enlightenment concept of "salon"  (the reception hall) rather than the contemporarily prevalent meaning of the term "salon/sala" in the Latinate family of languages. 

Which factors feed in to the spread of the salons? Till the French Revolution decimated it noticeably, there was a sizable and influential aristocratic class. In addition, there was the rising middle class, both ambitious and aspirational, and hence craving for an intellectual veneer. There was, moreover, an active intellectual life. The "Encyclopedie" project, for instance, encouraged rational and scientific spirit.

At the center of salons were the "salonnières", the aristocratic ladies, extremely well-informed, self-educated/"autodidactes", and aware. They conducted their famous salons along the principles of "civility, politeness and honesty". 

In no way gossip centers, these intellectual/literary circles were far better versions of the royal court and/or the patronage positioning prevalent then. Habermas thinks of these Enlightenment era salons as the fountainheads of the public sphere, though critics disagree with him because the salons did not enjoy any tradition of dissent, of the oppositional civil society.

Did the salon tradition end in 1789 with the French Revolution, with the storming of the Bastille on July 14? Not really! Remember, Prufrock mentions with timid irony "women come and go/talking of Michael Angelo". Gertrude Stein, for example, entertained a replica of such intellectual "alcoves" which nourished the "lost generation" of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Eliot, John Dos Passos, and e.e. cummings, among others.

Were there any salons outside France? Yes, not only across the whole of Europe, but also in far away Argentina flourished such intellectual centers.

Did a man run a salon?Yes, Charles Babbage, the progenitor, in a way,  of the modern computer, used to conduct "scientific soiree" every Saturday, and these were attended by the likes of Faraday, Darwin, Dickens, and George Eliot amongst others.

In brief, the Enlightenment era salons did indirectly help in the formation of the public sphere, though the salon did not exactly enjoy the normative, oppositional paradigm implicit in the concept called the public sphere. 

Pratima Agnihotri                                          Pune 

N.B.:                                                                              I am sorry that due to certain issues over here, I have not exactly been regular with the discussion of the public sphere in "Soupçon II". I shall certainly complete it by Sunday, May 10. Thereafter, "Soupçon" would be most regular, believe me.