A Published Tête-à-tête

A group chat among a few of our favorite (and unexpected) salonnières spanning five centuries.

 
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A preview of the conversation: scroll down to read in more detail. For optimal enjoyment, consider viewing on a desktop computer.


In our research we identified that a flourishing salon includes:

  • SUBJECT MATTER in the form of literature, art, philosophy, politics, current events
  • LIVE ENERTAINMENT in the form of dance, theater, music, lecture
  • SUSTENANCE in the form of food and drink
  • GATHERING in the form of guests to discuss said subject matter, watch said entertainment, and consume said sustenance
  • HOSTING AND MEDIATION in the form of a capable woman; a salonnière

  • Despite the salon’s etymological origin and association with French society of the 17th and 18th centuries, versions of salonnières can be found all over the world, throughout history. Salonnières bond over hybridities of public and private spheres.

  • Societal Role → CAREER public RECREATION private
  • Bodies of Knowledge → WORLDLY public SPIRITUAL private
  • Place → WORK public HOME private
  • Distribution of Thoughts and Writing → PUBLICATION public DIARY private
  • Salonnières reach across spectrums to hold public spheres in the left hand and private spheres in the right. To pull at both ends is to question binary opposition. To pull at both ends is to evoke both admiration and disrespect. These women are united in their missions, across time and space, as salonnières.


    THE WRITTEN WORD

    For many significant female authors throughout history, writing in a diary was encouraged as an appropriate feminine pastime, but publishing was scandalous, as it brought a recreational pursuit from the private to the public sphere. It allowed women to earn monetary and cultural value from their thoughts, feelings and ideas, but any positive popularity gained from this endeavor was often coupled with criticism.

    Here, we read the direct words of nine women, whose births span five centuries, in homes across the world. Stitched together in dialogue, forming a group chat of adjacencies, they speak of frustrations and delights.



     
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    READ MORE ABOUT SALONNIÈRES  →

     
     

    SOURCES

     
     

    On the Margins of History: Outrageous Writing Sylvia Sagona
    Liberty Lucy Moore
    Daily Rituals: Women at Work Mason Currey
    The Enlightenment Salon: The Convergence of Female and Philosophic Ambition Dena Goodman
    Public Sphere and Private Life Dena Goodman
    Dena Goodman University of Michigan
    The Legacy of the Japanese Bluestocking Society Hiroko Tomida
    The Banned 1910s Magazine that Started a Feminist Movement in Japan Atlas Obscura
    The Bluestockings of Japan Jan Bardsley
    First Dream Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
    The Answer Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
    Sor Juana: The First Feminist Lectures Gregorio Lukez
    Oral History Interview with Ray Eames Smithsonian Archives of American Art
    Ray Eames and the Art of Entertaining Curbed
    Letters and Correspondences Elizabeth Montagu
    Letters by Elizabeth Montagu Bluestocking Corpus
    Adventures of the Mind Natalie Clifford Barney
    The Forgotten LGBT Queen of Paris and Her Secret Masonic Temple Messy Nessy
    Temple de l'Amitié La Rue Visconti
    The Sun and Her Flowers Rupi Kaur
    The Instagram Poet Outselling Homer Ten to One The Cut
    May Ziade: The Life of an Arab Feminist Writer Lecture Al Jazeera World
    Egypt Awakening in the Early Twentieth Century Boutheina Khaldi

     
     

     PHOTO CREDITS

     
     
     

    Portrait of Germaine de Staël Tretyakov Gallery
    Portrait of Dena Goodman University of Michigan
    Enlightenment Salons PDF Bodega Ltd.
    Seitō Magazine Cover Atlas Obscura
    Portrait of Raichō Hiratsuka Atlas Obscura
    Seitō Magazine Editors Atlas Obscura
    Portrait of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Museum of the Americas
    Ray Eames with Flowers Archilovers
    Ray and Charles in the Eames House Eames Foundation
    Portrait of Elizabeth Montagu National Portrait Gallery, London
    Portrait of Natalie Clifford Barney Messy Nessy
    Temple of Friendship Photograph Messy Nessy
    Temple of Friendship Drawing La Rue Visconti
    Portrait of Rupi Kaur Rupikaur.com
    The Sun and Her Flowers The Story Bookstore
    Portrait of May Ziade Inside Arabia
    Al Bahithat el-Badiya Cover Amazon