Search

Samuel Johnson [ Art and Literature ]

… Johnson was one of the foremost and most controversial literary men of his age, and a leading figure of intellectual and conversational life in London. He loved the activities of intelligent society, and was instrumental in forming clubs for … of intelligent women and had several long-standing and loyal female friends. People > Art and Literature Keywords Conversation Clubs Intellect Fame London Gender Depression Unkempt, ungainly, uncouth, with appallingly gluttonous table manners, aggressively loud, rude and argumentative, a conversational bully, perpetually racked by bodily tics and compulsions, blind in one eye, hard of hearing, and his face …

Tea-table [ Furniture & Interior decoration / Rituals & Ceremonies / Eating & Drinking ]

… encounter, including both men and women, occasioned by the consumption of tea, and typically characterized as focused on conversation and gossip. Objects > Furniture & Interior decoration Practices > Rituals & Ceremonies Practices > Eating & Drinking Keywords Tea Tea-table Polite sociability Public sphere Domesticity Conversation Gossip The tea-table is an object, an event, and an idea: that is to say, it is at once an item of … tea-table’ increasingly referred not only to the piece of furniture, but also the company assembled at tea, the kind of conversation established there, and the social gathering in general.   Tea-table as idea The tea-table as an idea is …

Notebook writing (and Romanticism) [ Diaries & Letters / Reading & Writing ]

… Romantic sociable practices. Objects > Diaries & Letters Practices > Reading & Writing Keywords Notebook Journal Mapping Conversation Conflictual sociability It may seem paradoxical to associate the notebook, as an object and as a form of … of sociability, this is not the case for the notebook. The letter always has an addressee and as such presupposes a conversational act; the identity of the notebook addressee is far more ambiguous and ‘ever-changing’. However, the … formal level but as a practice; it then reflects the way this object becomes central in social interactions and friendly conversations. As Kevin Gilmartin remarks, romantic theory and criticism have taken little interest in sociability as …

Musical evenings (Dr Burney's) [ Dance, Music & Songs / Sports & Leisure ]

… There was ample room, figuratively at least, for sociability, since music-making was only part of the entertainment, and conversation also took up a fair amount of time. As in the Bluestocking salons, members of the aristocracy freely mixed … participated on an equal footing with the men. Practices > Dance, Music & Songs Places > Sports & Leisure Keywords Conversation Music Salon Artist Dr. Burney Among those who visited the Sunday evening musical parties at the Burneys’ on … was generally two-fold: first, musical performances were enjoyed by at least some parts of the audience and afterwards conversation followed, facilitating sociability ( The Early Journals and Letters of Fanny Burney,  I, xxi-xxii). In his …

Conviviality [ Eating & Drinking / Rituals & Ceremonies / Character / Social interaction ]

… practices were related to, but distinctive from, Addison and Steele’s ideal of sociability as informed but free-flowing conversation. Sociability and conviviality both idealized the importance of wit, spontaneity, and adapting words and … lending discussion an organized shape, often with a particular agenda in mind. Where the ideal of coffee-house conversation (however accurate) was that distinctions of rank and class could be suspended and the best argument would … 42/23/128 fo. 292. Structured convivial meetings can be helpfully contrasted with notions of sociability that emphasized conversation as competition, such as Samuel Johnson’s notion of conversation as a battle, or Godwin’s ‘ collision of mind …