Anne-Thérèse Marguenat de Courcelles, Mme De Lambert – o «gosto» de uma Salonnière protofeminista

Abstract

Anne-Thérèse Marguenat de Courcelles, Marquise or Madame de Lambert was the author of a significant published work, dealing with pregnant themes and concepts that are consistent with philosophical thought and literary culture in France in the 18th century. Ideas and sources that characterize her writing were mapped – namely the concept of taste; studies dedicated to it in the 19th and early 20th centuries, compared to most recent ones. Highlights are arguments in favor of a critical and “aware” education of women, reflections on moral philosophy and aesthetic considerations based on a plethora of authors from Greece to their contemporaries. She addressed the societal / intellectual phenomenon of the Salon and the Salonières that directed them in the 18th century, inquiring about: common denominators and / or deviations; mutual dependencies; conceptual nuances and repercussions, weighted in the context of feminist studies. Therefore, exclusive characteristics are listed in terms of posture, status and performance. In her Bureau d’ Esprit (1710-1732) “new” ideas of philosophical, literary, moral impact and under the aegis of poetic mediations fermented. Attention was paid to the singularities of her aesthetics and writing of an “epistolary” typology that was intended for her own children. It is finally thought-how much, how and if-her particularities and circumstances had repercussions / contributed to the understanding and evaluation of her work in an academic context and, also, to a French proto-feminist culture.