Enemies and false friends [ Antagonism & Resistance ]
… enemy can enhance political power, for societies and groups, which Barker argues are held together not by their values, cultures, or institutions, but ‘by an enemy who is common to all and threatens all’. 5 The ultimate source and root of … a close relationship with a man could often be less dangerous than friendship with another woman. 14 The rise of polite culture may even have enhanced the anxiety surrounding false friendship. This was a time when manners, language, … intense concern that surrounded the masquerade-like superficiality that dominated displays of eighteenth-century polite culture. Politeness was ‘implicitly dishonest’ because it demanded dissimulation. This involved not only the suppression …
Antagonism | Civility | Enmity | Falsehood | Friendship | Gender | Politeness | Women
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