Dramatic Battles in Eighteenth-Century France: Philosophes, Anti-philosophes, and Polemical Theatre

Abstract

Traditionally, the essay contest has occupied a relatively minor place in histories of the Enlightenment public sphere, discussion of its contribution to the intellectual and literary life of eighteenth-century France being largely limited to passing references in descriptions of the parent Academies. Jeremy Caradonna aims to rehabilitate the role of the essay contest, elucidating its distinctive contribution to Enlightenment practice and arguing that it provides an important new outlook on the contemporary public sphere.