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.

Author: James S. Amelang
Publisher: Central European University Press
Published: 12/15/2018
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 7.80h x 5.10w x 0.90d
ISBN13: 9789637326530
ISBN10: 9637326537
BISAC Categories:
- Social Science | Sociology | Urban
- Literary Collections | European | General
- History | Historical Geography

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