'Cris nouveaux': The Soundscape of Paris in Mercier's Tableau de Paris and Le Nouveau Paris. Issue 1 (2nd January 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Darlow, Mark
• Is Part Of: Early modern French studies. Volume 41:Issue 1(2019)
• Page Start: 88
• Page End: 103
• Publication Date: 2019-01-02
• Subjects: French Revolution -- listening -- Mercier -- Louis-Sébastien -- noise -- Paris -- sound -- topography; French literature -- 16th century -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; French literature -- 17th century -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; French literature -- 18th century -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; Civilization; French literature; France -- Civilization -- 1328-1600 -- Periodicals; France -- Civilization -- 17th century -- Periodicals; France -- Civilization -- 18th century -- Periodicals; France; Criticism, interpretation, etc; Periodicals; 944.03
• DOI: 10.1080/20563035.2019.1612567
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2056-3035

Abstract

Abstract : Although Louis-Sébastien Mercier's Tableau de Paris and Le Nouveau Paris are framed in visual terms, the attention to types of sound in these works is sustained and detailed. Tracing Mercier's descriptions of different types of sound, for instance noise, human voices, or music, I argue that Mercier offers us a soundscape of pre-Revolutionary and Revolutionary Paris. Sound is used by Mercier as a means of mapping the various topographies of Paris, whether social, cultural, or moral. Through its soundscape, Le Nouveau Paris insists on how much Paris had changed by 1798, and Mercier's depictions of chaos and cacophony suggest a world out of tune; they also allow us to trace his nostalgia for the Paris which had been swept away by the Revolutionary events.