7 Toasting and the diffusion of radical ideas, 1780–1832
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Rémy Duthille
Abstract
The 1780s saw the institutionalisation of radical dinners and the regular publication of toast lists in the press. Drawing upon archival evidence, in particular the minute books of the Society for Constitutional Information, Rémy Duthille analyses toasts as speech acts and as rituals of interaction, for toasting performed an integrative function in radical societies, fostering solidarity and mobilisation. He identifies the nature of these toasts, which were often used as rituals of remembrance that helped to build a sense of historical continuity with seventeenth-century England. Duthille uses examples of toast lists given in the contemporary press, including toasts drunk in France and in the United States. He analyses the linguistic structure of toasts and investigates the social values associated with toasts, in terms of what was regarded as acceptable or unacceptable social behaviour.
Abstract
The 1780s saw the institutionalisation of radical dinners and the regular publication of toast lists in the press. Drawing upon archival evidence, in particular the minute books of the Society for Constitutional Information, Rémy Duthille analyses toasts as speech acts and as rituals of interaction, for toasting performed an integrative function in radical societies, fostering solidarity and mobilisation. He identifies the nature of these toasts, which were often used as rituals of remembrance that helped to build a sense of historical continuity with seventeenth-century England. Duthille uses examples of toast lists given in the contemporary press, including toasts drunk in France and in the United States. He analyses the linguistic structure of toasts and investigates the social values associated with toasts, in terms of what was regarded as acceptable or unacceptable social behaviour.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Introduction 1
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PART I Radical language and themes
- 1 Community of goods 41
- 2 Thomas Paine’s democratic linguistic radicalism 60
- 3 English radicalism in the 1650s 80
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PART II Radical exchanges and networks
- 4 Secular millenarianism as a radical utopian project in Shaftesbury 103
- 5 The diffusion and impact of Baron d’Holbach’s texts in Great Britain, 1765–1800 125
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PART III Radical media and practices
- 6 The parliamentary context of political radicalism in the English revolution 151
- 7 Toasting and the diffusion of radical ideas, 1780–1832 170
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PART IV Radical fiction and representation
- 8 Contesting the press-oppressors of the age 193
- 9 Ways of thinking, ways of writing 211
- 10 ‘The insane enthusiasm of the time’ 229
- Select bibliography 251
- Index 270
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Introduction 1
-
PART I Radical language and themes
- 1 Community of goods 41
- 2 Thomas Paine’s democratic linguistic radicalism 60
- 3 English radicalism in the 1650s 80
-
PART II Radical exchanges and networks
- 4 Secular millenarianism as a radical utopian project in Shaftesbury 103
- 5 The diffusion and impact of Baron d’Holbach’s texts in Great Britain, 1765–1800 125
-
PART III Radical media and practices
- 6 The parliamentary context of political radicalism in the English revolution 151
- 7 Toasting and the diffusion of radical ideas, 1780–1832 170
-
PART IV Radical fiction and representation
- 8 Contesting the press-oppressors of the age 193
- 9 Ways of thinking, ways of writing 211
- 10 ‘The insane enthusiasm of the time’ 229
- Select bibliography 251
- Index 270