Writing Cities - Exploring Early Modern Urban Discourse

Only one out of ten early modern Europeans lived in cities. Yet cities were crucial nodes, joining together producers and consumers, rulers and ruled, and believers in diverse faiths and futures. They also generated an enormous amount of writing, much of which focused on civic life itself. But despite its obvious importance, historians have paid surprisingly little attention to urban discourse; its forms, themes, emphases and silences all invite further study.

This book explores three dimensions of early modern citizens' writing about their cities: the diverse social backgrounds of the men and women who contributed to urban discourse; their notions of what made for a beautiful city; and their use of dialogue as a literary vehicle particularly apt for expressing city life and culture.

Amelang concludes that early modern urban discourse increasingly moves from oral discussion to take the form of writing. And while the dominant tone of those who wrote about cities continued to be one of celebration and glorification, over time a more detached and less judgmental mode developed. More and more they came to see their fundamental task as presenting a description that was objective.

List of contents

Prologue, Chapter 1. Authors: Assembling an Ensemble Chapter 2. Facades: Defining Urban Beauty Chapter 3. Dialogues: Talking the Town, A Personal Epilogue, Notes, Bibliography, Acknowledgments, Index

About the author

James Amelang is Professor of Early Modern History at Universidad Autónoma, Madrid, Spain.

Product details

• Authors: James Amelang, James S Amelang, James S. Amelang
• Publisher: Central european university pr
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.05.2018
• EAN: 9789637326530
• ISBN: 978-963-7326-53-0
• No. of pages: 280
• Dimensions: 135 mm x 200 mm x 20 mm
• Series: Natalie Zemon Davis Annual Lecture Series; Print on Demand; Natalie Zemon Davis Annual Lecture Series; Natalie Zemon Davis Annual Lec
• Subjects: Non-fiction book; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories; Gesellschaft und Kultur, allgemein, 1500 bis heute