In his book, Damiano Bardelli examines the Société littéraire of Lausanne, a literary society from the late 18th century which brought together a thriving community of foreigners with members of the local elite liked to mingle. Among Lausanne's societies and clubs, the Société littéraire stood out for its cosmopolitanism and its involvement with the main debates of the European Enlightenment. This book reconstructs the composition, practices and intellectual activity of the Société littéraire on the basis of its rich manuscript collection, hitherto largely unexploited. Through an analysis of its debates on sensibility, prejudice, criminal law, luxury and depopulation, it offers a glimpse into the intellectual dynamics of the Enlightenment in Lausanne and invites us to question current interpretations of the Enlightenment by highlighting the dialectical relationship between its continental and local dimensions.
In his review, Maximilian C. Spitz (Oxford) discusses the book, ending with reflections on the practices of dialogue that characterise Bardelli’s conclusion, a dialog, as Spitz writes, “not only among individuals, but also between a general, global Enlightenment and a regional variant thereof”. He suggests exploring the extent to which Bardelli's dialectical definition can be used to describe the Enlightenment more generally.
The review can be accessed for free on both infoclio.ch and HSozKult.
Spitz, Maximilian Carlo: Review: Bardelli, Damiano: La Société littéraire de Lausanne. Sociabilité et débats de réforme, Liverpool 2025, in: infoclio.ch, 08.07.2026, <https://www.infoclio.ch/de/rez?rid=156450>.
