Organizers: Anne Larsen and Diana Robin
We would like to organize a panel on « Revisiting Early Modern Salons. »
The place of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century salons and salon sociabilité in the production of culture has been a topic of renewed interest for literary historians for well over a decade.
As we and other scholars have begun to take into consideration women’s leadership and patronage in such contexts, in Italy, France, England, and Spain, the notions about what constitutes women’s empowerment regarding the production of literary culture, especially, but also their influence on social, political, and religious issues (such as marriage, education, the law, and religious choices) have come under new scrutiny.
Salon-style sociabilité was already in practice in sixteenth-century Italy (sometimes referred to as ridotti, cenacoli, or veglie) and France (the cénacles and other gatherings in the hôtels particuliers of noble and royal hostesses, as well as coteries and circles in major cities such as Lyon and Poitiers) long before the architectural form and term salon caught up with it in seventeenth-century France. In England the Sidney/Wroth/Russell/Herbert circle exercised a profound influence on sociability.
The Sixteenth-Century Studies conference provides the opportunity to examine our contemporary views of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century salon culture in Europe. We would be interested in papers on any of the following:
–salon sociabilité and women’s influence on cultural production, religious controversies, or political contexts.
–consideration of the longue durée of salon sociabilité.
–the international influence on salon sociabilité not only in France, but in Italy, Spain, or England.
Please send abstracts of no more than 250 words and a one-page C.V. by Friday 22 March 2014, by email attachment, to each of the following:
Anne Larsen
Professor of French
Hope College
Diana Robin
Scholar-in-Residence,
Newberry Library