18세기 파리 어느 살로니에르의 초상

Suzanne Necker : a portrait of a parisian salonnière in the eighteenth century

This article reveals that the literary salon of Suzanne Necker didn t form the public sphere in the same way as Habermas defined it. First of all, the opposition to the royal court, to the religion and to the social order did not dominate the eighteenth century parisian salon. Moreover, this salon wasn t open to all the merits. The merit without fame wasn t invited to this salon. Finally, the dialogue in the salon was carefully controlled by the salonnieres. They controlled the subject of the discussion in order not to defy social convention and imposed their own strict rules on their guests. Therefore, salon didn t deserve the name of bourgeois republic . But that does not mean that the salon of Suzanne Necker didn t play any public role. In the eighteenth century when the established moral and religious principles were doubted and threatened, she tried to keep the discussion about the coming society from going too far. She made, consciously or not, every effort to achieve this goal. The salon is more likely to control the ongoing change rather than to cause it. In effect, it preferred literature to pending issues, payed attention to the selection of the guests and emphasized the politeness and discipline. Nevertheless, Suzanne Necker did not assert the public status of women and did not struggle to overcome the prevalent idea of the sex. On the contrary, she recognized the gender distinction and agreed to confine the role of woman within domestic life. For her, the salon must remain the private sphere. Therefore, the life as a salonniere and as a supporter of the charity hospital did not conflict with the fact that she refused firmly the title of author.