Book

Germaine de Staèel : a political portrait

Fontana, Biancamaria, author

Overview

\"Germaine de Staèel (1766-1817) is perhaps best known today as a novelist, literary critic, and outspoken and independent thinker. Yet she was also a prominent figure in politics during the French Revolution. Biancamaria Fontana sheds new light on this often overlooked aspect of Staèel's life and work, bringing vividly to life her unique experience as a political actor in a world where women had no place. The banker's daughter who became one of Europe's best-connected intellectuals, Staèel was an exceptionally talented woman who achieved a degree of public influence to which not even her wealth and privilege would normally have entitled her. During the Revolution, when the lives of so many around her were destroyed, she succeeded in carving out a unique path for herself and making her views heard, first by the powerful men around her, later by the European public at large. Fontana provides the first in-depth look at her substantial output of writings on the theory and practice of the exercise of power, setting in sharp relief the dimension of Staèel's life that she cared most about--politics. She was fascinated by the nature of public opinion, and believed that viable political regimes were founded on public trust and popular consensus. Fontana shows how Staèel's ideas were shaped by the remarkable times in which she lived, and argues that it is only through a consideration of her political insights that we can fully understand Staèel's legacy and its enduring relevance for us today\"-- Provided by publisher.

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Subject: Staèel, Madame de 1766-1817. / Staèel, Madame de 1766-1817 Political and social views. / Women intellectuals France Biography. / Intellectuals France Biography. / Women political scientists France Biography. / Women authors, French 18th century Biography. / Authors, French 18th century Biography. / HISTORY / Europe / France. / POLITICAL SCIENCE / History & Theory. / PHILOSOPHY / Political. / France History Revolution, 1789-1799. / France Politics and government 1789-1815.
• ISBN: 9780691169040, 0691169047

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Holdings :

Call Number	Copies	Material	Location
DC146.S7 F58 2016	1	BOOK	AUTOSTORE