Culture and Politics in Europe: Was there any place for women in the Republic of Letters ?

Résumé du document

The Network of private correspondence between "Men of Letters", was, at the beginning, the Republic of Letters. The heiress of Erasmus and her colleagues developed it into a more complex and institutionalized organization. As a universal community of scientists and knowledge, the Republic of Letters included all sciences recognized since the knowledge of Latin and Greek was required for the understanding of old medical, mathematical and philosophical texts. The Republic of Letters was an international organization. Philosophers stayed in contact and presented their new ideas, exchanging letters, manuscripts, or books. They also met in academies, libraries, cabinets de curiosité and salons. All its members had a common ideal: the liberty of judgment, love of reason and truth. The main values defended by these enlightened philosophers were tolerance, liberty and equality. The Republic of Letters declared equality for all its members, and recognized only one hierarchy, based on merit, not on birth. However we may wonder what kind of place was given to a specific group of the population which was neglected and denigrated and usually held well away from the society at this period within the Republic of Letters: women. Was there any place for women in the Republic of Letters?

Extraits

[...] Then we will speak about the other groups of women within the Republic of Letters. And in a third part, we will deal with the theme of the philosophes' opinion relating to the "enlightened" women. When thinking about the role women could have played in the Republic of Letters, we have the Salonnières in mind. Salonnières were women who invited philosophes and artists at their home or in rooms especially installed for that. These meetings which often took place once a week, were intended for debates. [...]

[...] It was another mean for them to take part in the discussions of the Republic of Letters. For instance, Marie du Deffand's correspondence contained 1,400 letters. And the most famous correspondence is the one of Marie de Sévigné. Important Salonnières maintained line of communication with Catherine the Great and Frederik the Great. Some women also participated in the Republic of Letters by protecting or helping financially some projects. Wealthy and aristocratic women helped philosophes to avoid censorship. For instance, Catherine the Great invited scientists to her court. [...]

[...] Culture and Politics in Europe: Was there any place for women in the Republic of Letters? Network of private correspondence between "Men of Letters" at the beginning, the Republic of Letters, heiress of Erasmus and his colleagues, developed into a more complex and institutionalised organisation. As a universal community of scientists and knowledge, the Republic of Letters included all sciences since the knowledge of Latin and Greek was required for the understanding of old medical, mathematical and philosophical texts. The Republic of Letters was international. [...]

[...] French Women and the Age of Enlightenment, (1984), chapter 16, pp. 260-261. Clinton Katherine, 'Femme et philosophe: Enlightenment Origins of Feminism', Eighteenth-Century Studies (1975), p Clinton Katherine, 'Femme et philosophe: Enlightenment Origins of Feminism', Eighteenth-Century Studies (1975), pp. 283-299. Ibid. Lamoureux Diane, in Recherches féministes, Renée B. Dandurand ed (1994), pp. 154-155. [...]

[...] Centres of sociality and social life, salons could especially be seen as places of assessments. There, the Salonnières did and undid careers of a lot of philosophes, writers and artists. These women did not hold their Salons in order to become famous. They were cultivated. They seriously wanted to take part in the development of the Enlightenment. And they managed to do so through the discourses of the Enlightenment in their salons. For instance, it had been said that the Salon of Julie de Lespinasse was the "laboratoire de l'Encyclopédie"[2], the muse of which she was more or less. [...]