Changing Perceptions of the Public Sphere

Christian J. Emden

ISBN 10: 0857455001 / ISBN 13: 9780857455000

Published by Berghahn Books, GB, 2012

About this Item

Initially propounded by the philosopher Jürgen Habermas in 1962 in order to describe the realm of social discourse between the state on one hand, and the private sphere of the market and the family on the other, the concept of a bourgeois public sphere quickly became a central point of reference in the humanities and social sciences. This volume reassesses the validity and reach of Habermas's concept beyond political theory by exploring concrete literary and cultural manifestations in early modern and modern Europe. The contributors ask whether, and in what forms, a social formation that rightfully can be called the "public sphere" really existed at particular historical junctures, and consider the senses in which the "public sphere" should rather be replaced by a multitude of interacting cultural and social "publics." This volume offers insights into the current status of the "public sphere" within the disciplinary formation of the humanities and social sciences at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780857455000

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Changing Perceptions of the Public Sphere
• Publisher: Berghahn Books, GB
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0857455001
• ISBN 13: 9780857455000
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 435 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Initially propounded by the philosopher Jürgen Habermas in 1962 in order to describe the realm of social discourse between the state on one hand, and the private sphere of the market and the family on the other, the concept of a bourgeois public sphere quickly became a central point of reference in the humanities and social sciences. This volume reassesses the validity and reach of Habermas’s concept beyond political theory by exploring concrete literary and cultural manifestations in early modern and modern Europe. The contributors ask whether, and in what forms, a social formation that rightfully can be called the “public sphere” really existed at particular historical junctures, and consider the senses in which the “public sphere” should rather be replaced by a multitude of interacting cultural and social “publics.” This volume offers insights into the current status of the “public sphere” within the disciplinary formation of the humanities and social sciences at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

About the Authors

Christian J. Emden is Associate Professor of German Intellectual History and Political Thought at Rice University.

David Midgley is Reader in German Literature and Culture at the University of Cambridge, England, and a Fellow of St. John’s College.