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France and Culture
Libri proibiti. Pornografia, satira e utopia all'origine della rivoluzione francese
Le Rivoluzione francese non è stata solo l'improvvisa sostituzione dell'assolutismo monarchico con la democrazia repubblicana, ma è stata soprattutto un gigantesco rinnovamento dei costumi e delle idee: dalla morale sessuale alla fede in Dio e nella Chiesa, dai rapporti tra le classi sociali all'atteggiamento nei confronti della tecnica e dell'industria. Gli storici hanno finora attribuito il merito, o la responsabilità, di questo mutamento agli Illuministi e ai loro libri. L'autore intende dimostrare che il terreno per il grande cambiamento delle idee e dei costumi è stato preparato non tanto dai libri colti, ma dalla assai più popolare e diffusa letteratura libertina, pornografica e satirica, dissacratrice del Re, di Dio e della Chiesa.
444 pages, Softcover
First published January 1, 1995
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About the author
Robert Darnton
67 books173 followersCarl H. Pforzheimer University Professor and Director of the Harvard University Library
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 4, 2011
I went to France this past summer so, given my history kick, I thought I'd give this another try. In grad school, one of the seminars focused on French history and cultural history. So I remember that books were illegally trafficked but I don't remember much else about this book.
So, it took 91 pages for me to find something in the book that interested me. It's not that I don't appreciate the research. It's amazing to dissimenate the culture of dissent by looking at the books people were illegally reading during the era of the French Revolution. Darnton looks at extensive book records, both those confiscated and those still available from booksellers, to find those books that were most popular and, in particular, illegal because they presented texts that were anti-Church, anti-morality, and anti-King. I also find it fascinating that people had to risk trafficking these books into the country...very scary job to undertake. But the first portion of the book is so boring, to me, as Darnton painstakingly explains, through his analysis of STN records and then others, what books and how. Explaining that books were hidden in others is interesting. Reading it ad infinitum is not. Anyway, just not my favorite part.
BUT part two includes discussion of those actual illegal texts. And that I can sink my teeth into. In Chapter 3, he looks at philosophical pornography, really at Therese philosophe, "an education in pleasure, the philosophizing and the pleasure seeking run[ning]together through the narrative until they converge in the end as philosophical hedonism," (100). But this novel he analzyes, as he explains, wasn't just about the base act of sex, which the novel does equate to simple mechanics and also remind readers that all sex acts, from masturbation and on, are natural and should be exercised whether for pleasure or spiritual ecstasy. Besides that, though, he ventures to explain that this novel was dangerous not just for its lengthy, albiet tame (by today's standards) sex scenes but also for its presentation of a woman who called the shots in the relationship, of a woman who decided not to marry and mother, of a woman who engages in sex if only childbirth is not a possiblility. Interesting chapter! Also interesting is the actual document itself which Darnton also provides towards the end of the book. It's humorous and certainly, as Darnton said, more than just licentious. It really questions the role of the church in life, not religion, but the church. In Chapter 4, on the Utopian Fantasy of Paris 2440, I was interested in what the futuristic book showed could happen. Of course the world presented in this novel isn't ideal. It's an escape from despot to another. My favorite lines, as quoted, were "Just one loud voice was needed to awaken the multitude from their slumber. If oppression thundered over your heads, you had only your own weakness to blame. Liberty and happiness belong to those who know how to seize them." Even better, as quoted "...praising a limited monarchy as the best form of government in contrast to democracies, which decline into anarchy, and despotisms, which generate slavery." How true. Next came an examination of Madame Du Barry's Anecdotes, her story of her rise from the brothel to the royal bedroom. That was also interesting.
The subsequent portion of the book goes into a discussion of the role of these novels. That was also an interesting look at what came first-publications or discourse...and does that even matter? How does each influence the other? "For everything about a book bears the mark of cultural conventions...the reader also brings a great deal to the text-expectations, attitudes, values, and opinions..." (187). Darnton posits that the subjects of the books popular at the time preceding and during the revolution actually did change and did reflect a shift in thinking. And yet, none of the works encouraged a revolution, just a different mind set, which Darnton also argues added to the general shift. People were angry with people, not necessarily the actual monarchs. Interesting.
This book is not for the lay person nor is it for someone uninterested in cultural history. But if you can persevere through the drier parts, you may enjoy the second and third part. :)
So, it took 91 pages for me to find something in the book that interested me. It's not that I don't appreciate the research. It's amazing to dissimenate the culture of dissent by looking at the books people were illegally reading during the era of the French Revolution. Darnton looks at extensive book records, both those confiscated and those still available from booksellers, to find those books that were most popular and, in particular, illegal because they presented texts that were anti-Church, anti-morality, and anti-King. I also find it fascinating that people had to risk trafficking these books into the country...very scary job to undertake. But the first portion of the book is so boring, to me, as Darnton painstakingly explains, through his analysis of STN records and then others, what books and how. Explaining that books were hidden in others is interesting. Reading it ad infinitum is not. Anyway, just not my favorite part.
BUT part two includes discussion of those actual illegal texts. And that I can sink my teeth into. In Chapter 3, he looks at philosophical pornography, really at Therese philosophe, "an education in pleasure, the philosophizing and the pleasure seeking run[ning]together through the narrative until they converge in the end as philosophical hedonism," (100). But this novel he analzyes, as he explains, wasn't just about the base act of sex, which the novel does equate to simple mechanics and also remind readers that all sex acts, from masturbation and on, are natural and should be exercised whether for pleasure or spiritual ecstasy. Besides that, though, he ventures to explain that this novel was dangerous not just for its lengthy, albiet tame (by today's standards) sex scenes but also for its presentation of a woman who called the shots in the relationship, of a woman who decided not to marry and mother, of a woman who engages in sex if only childbirth is not a possiblility. Interesting chapter! Also interesting is the actual document itself which Darnton also provides towards the end of the book. It's humorous and certainly, as Darnton said, more than just licentious. It really questions the role of the church in life, not religion, but the church. In Chapter 4, on the Utopian Fantasy of Paris 2440, I was interested in what the futuristic book showed could happen. Of course the world presented in this novel isn't ideal. It's an escape from despot to another. My favorite lines, as quoted, were "Just one loud voice was needed to awaken the multitude from their slumber. If oppression thundered over your heads, you had only your own weakness to blame. Liberty and happiness belong to those who know how to seize them." Even better, as quoted "...praising a limited monarchy as the best form of government in contrast to democracies, which decline into anarchy, and despotisms, which generate slavery." How true. Next came an examination of Madame Du Barry's Anecdotes, her story of her rise from the brothel to the royal bedroom. That was also interesting.
The subsequent portion of the book goes into a discussion of the role of these novels. That was also an interesting look at what came first-publications or discourse...and does that even matter? How does each influence the other? "For everything about a book bears the mark of cultural conventions...the reader also brings a great deal to the text-expectations, attitudes, values, and opinions..." (187). Darnton posits that the subjects of the books popular at the time preceding and during the revolution actually did change and did reflect a shift in thinking. And yet, none of the works encouraged a revolution, just a different mind set, which Darnton also argues added to the general shift. People were angry with people, not necessarily the actual monarchs. Interesting.
This book is not for the lay person nor is it for someone uninterested in cultural history. But if you can persevere through the drier parts, you may enjoy the second and third part. :)
December 24, 2015
Sometimes you come across works of history whose playful iconoclasm and poking and prodding of established historiography is actually more interesting than the actual subject at hand. Darnton, who wrote the terrific "Great Cat Massacre" challenges establishment views of the French Revolution and its links to the Enlightenment by hesitantly making inroads towards a history of reading. Hilariously, what he ends up with is more questions than answers and he has a lot of fun doing it.
His basic argument is that historians have badly and overly interpeted the roots and causes of the French Revolution mostly by backwards projecting stupid theories and ideas onto a time and place that we cannot experience (his disdain for phrases like "public space" are welcome). The main issue with historical study of any event, he posits, is that we don't take great enough pains to understand what contemporaries are thinking and how and why.
This book is a kind of an introduction to a method that might sort of be a way to do this: studying readership, specifically, clandestine and illicit literature, its movements and its popularity. Is pornography and libelous, tabloid pamphleteering a window into the time? Why not? It's better than retreating into abstruse post-modernity and fauxcaultism.
Throughout we get treated to a wonderful insight into the smut and anti-regime invective of the time. The chapter on pornography, especially, is enlightening for not only does it smack of a kind of sexual egalitarianism but, Darnton argues, was a thinly veiled philosophical discourse that would've been apparent to readers of the time but not to us who can't look past the ass-slapping. His main focus is on the libelous writings that attack the regime and its stalwarts and their morals and how this might have been received, perceived, and used to lower public views of the regime long before the Revolution, in fact.
Great for those interested in a history of reading and porn. It's even illustrated!
His basic argument is that historians have badly and overly interpeted the roots and causes of the French Revolution mostly by backwards projecting stupid theories and ideas onto a time and place that we cannot experience (his disdain for phrases like "public space" are welcome). The main issue with historical study of any event, he posits, is that we don't take great enough pains to understand what contemporaries are thinking and how and why.
This book is a kind of an introduction to a method that might sort of be a way to do this: studying readership, specifically, clandestine and illicit literature, its movements and its popularity. Is pornography and libelous, tabloid pamphleteering a window into the time? Why not? It's better than retreating into abstruse post-modernity and fauxcaultism.
Throughout we get treated to a wonderful insight into the smut and anti-regime invective of the time. The chapter on pornography, especially, is enlightening for not only does it smack of a kind of sexual egalitarianism but, Darnton argues, was a thinly veiled philosophical discourse that would've been apparent to readers of the time but not to us who can't look past the ass-slapping. His main focus is on the libelous writings that attack the regime and its stalwarts and their morals and how this might have been received, perceived, and used to lower public views of the regime long before the Revolution, in fact.
Great for those interested in a history of reading and porn. It's even illustrated!
December 31, 2020
As you can kind of tell by the title, this is an academic book, recommended to me to a friend because one of the things going on in my current ms is, yes, the manufacture and sale of pornography. (I don't know how I got there, either.) This is a very good academic book, less about pornography per se than about how books on the forbidden list (which includes pornography, philosophy, and libelous (and frequently pornographic) biographies of Louis XV and his mistresses and ministers) circulated in France in the 1780s. One of the things that I found most fascinating was the way that pornography, philosophy, and libel/biography all swirled together into almost the same genre (the code for them was livres philosophiques), and I loved reading about the book publishers and booksellers colluding to get around the state censorship, not in any We are striking a blow for freedom! way, but just in that simple There is a market for these books! way.
Darnton shies away from coming to any conclusions about the relationship of these forbidden books to the Revolution, and while partly I agree with him that we cannot reconstruct the experience of reading in the 1780s well enough to know, I also feel that it left the book flapping feebly a bit at the end, which is a pity, because the earlier parts were so good.
Darnton shies away from coming to any conclusions about the relationship of these forbidden books to the Revolution, and while partly I agree with him that we cannot reconstruct the experience of reading in the 1780s well enough to know, I also feel that it left the book flapping feebly a bit at the end, which is a pity, because the earlier parts were so good.
September 22, 2022
Partendo dal presupposto che un saggio, per quanto ben leggibile e scorrevole, resta sempre un saggio, questo di Darnton è uno dei saggi che ho letto più volentieri.
Immerso fino ai gomiti nelle carte della STN, ripercorrendo, insieme, la storia del libro e quella della Rivoluzione Francese e analizzando tre testi (a mio parere troppo spesso tralasciati dai libri di letteratura francese) Darnton ci apre una finestra sul ruolo che i libri hanno avuto nel far scoppiare la Rivoluzione.
Che un libro, ma neanche tre, sia l'unica causa di una rivoluzione è chiaro, ma le idee che porta con sé potrebbero avere un peso diverso.
Partendo dal ricostruire gli ordini e i percorsi che dalla Société Typographique de Neuchatel arrivavano nella Francia della censura, passando da Thérèse Philosophe a L'an 2440 e infine agli Anecdotes sur madame la comtesse du Barry, l'autore cerca di far comprendere come questi libri abbiano potuto influenzare la coscienza dei lettori dell'epoca (pre-1789).
Le letture scelte, a sfondo erotico-filosofico la prima, utopico la seconda, di satira (anche piuttosto pungente) la terza, sono divertenti e benché ce ne vengano presentati soltanto degli estratti riescono nel loro intento.
Immerso fino ai gomiti nelle carte della STN, ripercorrendo, insieme, la storia del libro e quella della Rivoluzione Francese e analizzando tre testi (a mio parere troppo spesso tralasciati dai libri di letteratura francese) Darnton ci apre una finestra sul ruolo che i libri hanno avuto nel far scoppiare la Rivoluzione.
Che un libro, ma neanche tre, sia l'unica causa di una rivoluzione è chiaro, ma le idee che porta con sé potrebbero avere un peso diverso.
Partendo dal ricostruire gli ordini e i percorsi che dalla Société Typographique de Neuchatel arrivavano nella Francia della censura, passando da Thérèse Philosophe a L'an 2440 e infine agli Anecdotes sur madame la comtesse du Barry, l'autore cerca di far comprendere come questi libri abbiano potuto influenzare la coscienza dei lettori dell'epoca (pre-1789).
Le letture scelte, a sfondo erotico-filosofico la prima, utopico la seconda, di satira (anche piuttosto pungente) la terza, sono divertenti e benché ce ne vengano presentati soltanto degli estratti riescono nel loro intento.
July 11, 2022
This is one of the dullest books ever written. It's all about the book trade. Hardly any discussion of the forbidden books (mostly pornography) except for Thérèse Philosophe.
May 29, 2022
Robert Darnton, por lo general nunca falla en sus libros, en verdad que son muy buenos más que todo por los temas que estudia, esta vez el libro está relacionado con aquellos textos que fueron prohibidos en Francia en los albores de la revolución francesa, preguntadose si estos tiene relación causal con el estallido. La lectura en varios momentos se vuelve bastante densa, algo obvio en un libro académico como este.
En el introducción el historiador frances nos señala las preguntas que va a resolver a lo largo del libro, así como también muestra la importancia del libro en el estudio de la historia. En el primer capítulo tenemos un acercamiento al como se consiguen estos libros prohibidos, los cuales eran llamados libros filosóficos, muchas veces las prohibiciones estaban en relación a que no contaba con los permisos adecuados, eran piratas o atacaban a la corona o la iglesia, aunque muchas veces resulta difícil catalogar que es y que no es un libro prohibido.
La forma en que se conseguían estos era por medio de intercambios, los costos de los mismos eran del doble o el triple que un libro normal puesto que su obtención era mucho más difícil, el cómo se pedían estos libros era todo un arte, puesto que en la lista de libros lícitos que se pedían había que ingeniarse la forma de resaltar los libros prohibidos demandados, una vez eran enviados se debían ocultar y dejar claro por medio de señales claras cuales eran los libros prohibidos.
El segundo capítulo se centra en los lectores y libreros que se relacionan con este mundo de los libros prohibidos, aquí de hace una lista de esos textos que más de pedían por parte de los lectores, es esta demanda la que atienden los libreros que surten su oferta en las fronteras de Francia como en Holanda, había que sobornar a varios funcionarios de las fronteras para dejar pasar estos libros, incluso habían espías para saber los libros que recién se impriman, estos libros se pedían al por mayor para reducir los costos de transporte. En este negocio se combina la legalidad y la ilegalidad.
Mucho de los textos que se pedían eran ateos, masónicos y pornográficos, la gente muy poco leía filosofía pura, es aquí donde hay una tesis del Darnton, en la que señala que los libros de los ilustrados no eran tan leídos como se creía, su momento de auge ya había pasado, se leí mucho libros políticos y de actualidad, como si fueran periódicos contemporáneos. También hay que decir que los libros prohibidos no tenían la intención de acabar con el establecimiento, solo respondían al demanda de un público lector que quería leer otras cosas.
En la segunda parte, se centra en tres obras prohibidas que tiene mucha resonancia, el primer libro es uno meramente pornográfico, donde se describen orgías, actos de copulación y la masturbación misma, era un ataque contra la moral de la época pese a todo, este texto combinaba el sexo y la filosofía, hablaba sobre la búsqueda del placer y la libertad, atacaba también a la religión católica, además de ser un recorrido apabullante sobre la prostitución.
El segundo libro es uno utópico lleno de metáforas y es mucho más complejo nos habla del París del 2240, este texto es muy descriptivo, además que usa las notas de pie de página para dar lecciones sobre la moral, por último, es mucha la influencia de Rousseau, está utopía no se centra tanto en la tecnología y en las cosas físicas sino más bien en la moral, se nos habla de la erradicación de la pobreza, pero donde hay un monarca déspota en el poder, se ataca a la religión y a la libertad, también es un tema central al señalar la imprenta como parte importante de eso.
El tercer libro, es uno de una lectura mucho más fácil y que es para todo el público nos lleva a las alcobas y burdeles, suple la demanda del chisme y la curiosidad de saber qué pasa en la vida de la corte francesa, el rey es atacado en su vida sexual, con ello pierde legitimidad y poder, tambi��n se señala como un déspota rey que dejo en bancarrota el país, algo que estaba ocurriendo en Francia debido a sus crisis económicas.
En la tercera parte, surge la pregunta sobre si estos libros influyeron como tal en la revolución francesa, en el primer capítulo de esta parte nos menciona los discursos que habían durante la revolución, además de citar a Chartier para señalar los orígenes culturales de dicha revolución.
En el segundo capítulo son las redes de comunicación que hay en los libros prohibidos, el autor señala al principio que es difícil ubicar a los libros como una causa de la revolución la cosa es mucho más compleja, en el estudio de esas redes hay que tener en cuenta que nos son verticales sino que se ramifican y además que hay que tener en cuenta muchos actores a parte del autor y el lector.
Los aristocrátas leían los libros en los que se les atacaban, eso supone un problema ya que estos mismo perciben como pierden legitimidad, cosa que se erosiona lentamente. Los libros eran importantes al fijar marcos de realidad, la palabra quedaba plasmada en estos dando legitimidad a los mismos.
En el tercer capítulo de esta parte tenemos a los libelos políticos que son libros donde hay sedición y ataques al poder real, siglos antes de la revolución ya los había, en forma de panfletos; atacando al rey desde la religión, atacando a la misma persona del rey, o criticarlo al ser este un niño y que una mujer fuese la que gobernarse, pese a los intentos de prohibirlos siempre hubo críticas a la corona, aunque esté en público mostraban una gran legitimidad y distinción.
Esto último cambiaría en años previos a la revolución francesa, ya que estos textos ya no eran más panfletos sino que se convirtieron en libros mucho más largos y complejos, que tenían una gran difusión y con toda una gran industria por detrás, atacaban despiadadamente al rey por su mala gestión económica y le criticaban su vida sexual debido a su fimosis y que su esposa le era infiel, también critican el mismo despotismo, aunque tampoco es que incitaran como tal a la revolución.
En el siguiente capítulo del público lector Darnton menciona que muchos lectores sentían emociones vívidas por lo que leían, se tomaban muy encerio los libros prohibidos, aunque los temas de lectura cambiaron en esa época la forma en que se leía no, también hay que mencionar que había una gran diversidad de público lector de estos textos.
En el último capítulo de esta parte, es sobre la opinión pública y es que ya desde años había un cierto rechazo hacia el rey como tal, su ausencia en el espacio público para darle legitimidad género una demanda para saber qué pasaba en el palacio de Versalles, los libros suplieron está demanda al ser más fáciles de leer y actuar como si fueran periódicos que informan de la actualidad. Con todo ello el rey había perdido importancia y poder ante la opinión del pueblo francés, ocasionado poca empatía con éste con la llegada de la revolución.
La cuarta parte son fragmentos traducidos de los tres libros ya antes mencionados, algo que hace Darnton para futuros estudios, no son fáciles de leer, se entiende la idea del historiador frances, pero a mí opinión le resta valor al libro.
En el introducción el historiador frances nos señala las preguntas que va a resolver a lo largo del libro, así como también muestra la importancia del libro en el estudio de la historia. En el primer capítulo tenemos un acercamiento al como se consiguen estos libros prohibidos, los cuales eran llamados libros filosóficos, muchas veces las prohibiciones estaban en relación a que no contaba con los permisos adecuados, eran piratas o atacaban a la corona o la iglesia, aunque muchas veces resulta difícil catalogar que es y que no es un libro prohibido.
La forma en que se conseguían estos era por medio de intercambios, los costos de los mismos eran del doble o el triple que un libro normal puesto que su obtención era mucho más difícil, el cómo se pedían estos libros era todo un arte, puesto que en la lista de libros lícitos que se pedían había que ingeniarse la forma de resaltar los libros prohibidos demandados, una vez eran enviados se debían ocultar y dejar claro por medio de señales claras cuales eran los libros prohibidos.
El segundo capítulo se centra en los lectores y libreros que se relacionan con este mundo de los libros prohibidos, aquí de hace una lista de esos textos que más de pedían por parte de los lectores, es esta demanda la que atienden los libreros que surten su oferta en las fronteras de Francia como en Holanda, había que sobornar a varios funcionarios de las fronteras para dejar pasar estos libros, incluso habían espías para saber los libros que recién se impriman, estos libros se pedían al por mayor para reducir los costos de transporte. En este negocio se combina la legalidad y la ilegalidad.
Mucho de los textos que se pedían eran ateos, masónicos y pornográficos, la gente muy poco leía filosofía pura, es aquí donde hay una tesis del Darnton, en la que señala que los libros de los ilustrados no eran tan leídos como se creía, su momento de auge ya había pasado, se leí mucho libros políticos y de actualidad, como si fueran periódicos contemporáneos. También hay que decir que los libros prohibidos no tenían la intención de acabar con el establecimiento, solo respondían al demanda de un público lector que quería leer otras cosas.
En la segunda parte, se centra en tres obras prohibidas que tiene mucha resonancia, el primer libro es uno meramente pornográfico, donde se describen orgías, actos de copulación y la masturbación misma, era un ataque contra la moral de la época pese a todo, este texto combinaba el sexo y la filosofía, hablaba sobre la búsqueda del placer y la libertad, atacaba también a la religión católica, además de ser un recorrido apabullante sobre la prostitución.
El segundo libro es uno utópico lleno de metáforas y es mucho más complejo nos habla del París del 2240, este texto es muy descriptivo, además que usa las notas de pie de página para dar lecciones sobre la moral, por último, es mucha la influencia de Rousseau, está utopía no se centra tanto en la tecnología y en las cosas físicas sino más bien en la moral, se nos habla de la erradicación de la pobreza, pero donde hay un monarca déspota en el poder, se ataca a la religión y a la libertad, también es un tema central al señalar la imprenta como parte importante de eso.
El tercer libro, es uno de una lectura mucho más fácil y que es para todo el público nos lleva a las alcobas y burdeles, suple la demanda del chisme y la curiosidad de saber qué pasa en la vida de la corte francesa, el rey es atacado en su vida sexual, con ello pierde legitimidad y poder, tambi��n se señala como un déspota rey que dejo en bancarrota el país, algo que estaba ocurriendo en Francia debido a sus crisis económicas.
En la tercera parte, surge la pregunta sobre si estos libros influyeron como tal en la revolución francesa, en el primer capítulo de esta parte nos menciona los discursos que habían durante la revolución, además de citar a Chartier para señalar los orígenes culturales de dicha revolución.
En el segundo capítulo son las redes de comunicación que hay en los libros prohibidos, el autor señala al principio que es difícil ubicar a los libros como una causa de la revolución la cosa es mucho más compleja, en el estudio de esas redes hay que tener en cuenta que nos son verticales sino que se ramifican y además que hay que tener en cuenta muchos actores a parte del autor y el lector.
Los aristocrátas leían los libros en los que se les atacaban, eso supone un problema ya que estos mismo perciben como pierden legitimidad, cosa que se erosiona lentamente. Los libros eran importantes al fijar marcos de realidad, la palabra quedaba plasmada en estos dando legitimidad a los mismos.
En el tercer capítulo de esta parte tenemos a los libelos políticos que son libros donde hay sedición y ataques al poder real, siglos antes de la revolución ya los había, en forma de panfletos; atacando al rey desde la religión, atacando a la misma persona del rey, o criticarlo al ser este un niño y que una mujer fuese la que gobernarse, pese a los intentos de prohibirlos siempre hubo críticas a la corona, aunque esté en público mostraban una gran legitimidad y distinción.
Esto último cambiaría en años previos a la revolución francesa, ya que estos textos ya no eran más panfletos sino que se convirtieron en libros mucho más largos y complejos, que tenían una gran difusión y con toda una gran industria por detrás, atacaban despiadadamente al rey por su mala gestión económica y le criticaban su vida sexual debido a su fimosis y que su esposa le era infiel, también critican el mismo despotismo, aunque tampoco es que incitaran como tal a la revolución.
En el siguiente capítulo del público lector Darnton menciona que muchos lectores sentían emociones vívidas por lo que leían, se tomaban muy encerio los libros prohibidos, aunque los temas de lectura cambiaron en esa época la forma en que se leía no, también hay que mencionar que había una gran diversidad de público lector de estos textos.
En el último capítulo de esta parte, es sobre la opinión pública y es que ya desde años había un cierto rechazo hacia el rey como tal, su ausencia en el espacio público para darle legitimidad género una demanda para saber qué pasaba en el palacio de Versalles, los libros suplieron está demanda al ser más fáciles de leer y actuar como si fueran periódicos que informan de la actualidad. Con todo ello el rey había perdido importancia y poder ante la opinión del pueblo francés, ocasionado poca empatía con éste con la llegada de la revolución.
La cuarta parte son fragmentos traducidos de los tres libros ya antes mencionados, algo que hace Darnton para futuros estudios, no son fáciles de leer, se entiende la idea del historiador frances, pero a mí opinión le resta valor al libro.
September 9, 2014
I read this book for a class on the French Enlightenment and it was a nice break from reading Voltaire and Rousseau to actually read works even more popular than the great philosophers! This book provides a more diverse picture of French society before the revolution and really digs into the underlying problems of French society and culture. Fascinating!
August 8, 2017
Interesting (a bit dry perhaps, in some sections - but still quite a rewarding text).
(And I think that perhaps Susan Darnton deserves a bigger and more enthusiastic thank you, for her translation of the French texts - since they make up quite a large chunk of the book.)
(And I think that perhaps Susan Darnton deserves a bigger and more enthusiastic thank you, for her translation of the French texts - since they make up quite a large chunk of the book.)
July 17, 2015
Way, waaaaaay more wonkish than a book about pornography has any right to be. Interesting, though.
September 30, 2025
Me gustó hace un buen análisis de como se comercializaban estos libros así también los actores principales en la circulación de ellos. En este se puede encontrar esos libros que dieron forma a la revolución francesa es sorprenden que no fueron los libros más eruditos sino los que atentaban contra las buenas costumbres, religión y mostraban un mundo utópico más haya del poder autoritario del rey. así también el autor intenta responder a la frase si los libros crean revoluciones, es un buen análisis de esos años caóticos en la Francia de Luis XV1
December 16, 2025
Bob Darnton’s The Forbidden Bestsellers of Pre-Revolutionary France is a titanic work of cultural and intellectual history. Darnton was very much in the vanguard of scholars who wanted to make book history and the history of communication part of larger cultural and intellectual history. He does just that, and brilliantly, while also explaining his methodology clearly and with great care. A wonderful work of history.
May 8, 2020
Found it quite dull for non-literature/history major readers.
March 21, 2023
Nowhere near as fun as its title suggests. Quite academic, really. No doubt indispensable to students of the era, but not very enjoyable to read.
June 12, 2024
meh, non accessibile se non si sa tanto di letteratura francese
(lettura x uni)
(lettura x uni)
April 16, 2012
Fascinating and highly readable, as his other books have been. This is the second of his books on the book industry of pre-Revolutionary France; the other covered more conventional works of philosophy such as Rousseau while this one focuses more on pornography, anti-church books, and seditious material.
This becomes even more interesting when you realize philosophical books were the illegal drugs of the 17th and 18th centuries, with book smugglers sneaking unbound books into cities hidden in wine barrels, disguised as other books, or under the false floors of hay wagons. The penalties were harsh as well; getting caught could mean the confiscation of your stock and/or entire business, a term in the Bastille, or even sentencing to state-owned slave galleys (essentially a death penalty).
As appendices Darnton also includes portions of several of the forbidden books, including one pornographic one (rather tame by 21st century standards), one utopian fantasy, and one quasi-political one attacking the corruption of the royal court.
This becomes even more interesting when you realize philosophical books were the illegal drugs of the 17th and 18th centuries, with book smugglers sneaking unbound books into cities hidden in wine barrels, disguised as other books, or under the false floors of hay wagons. The penalties were harsh as well; getting caught could mean the confiscation of your stock and/or entire business, a term in the Bastille, or even sentencing to state-owned slave galleys (essentially a death penalty).
As appendices Darnton also includes portions of several of the forbidden books, including one pornographic one (rather tame by 21st century standards), one utopian fantasy, and one quasi-political one attacking the corruption of the royal court.
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December 24, 2010Darnton does what he sets out to do: give an overview of forbidden books in France during the later 1600s and through the 1700s. He also talks about the forbidden presses, as well as lists what the popular books were. (The reader will be amazed to discover that one of the top sellers was not just porn, as one would think, but a science fiction story supposedly set in Paris in the year 2000, whose author amended it right on through the Revolution, claiming that he'd predicted it.)
August 23, 2007
books,nonfiction,enlightenment,history
August 29, 2008
it's not a page-turner per se, but definitly interesting to learn about how they got their kicks before beheading royalty.
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