 | The Bad Taste of Others: Judging Literary Value in Eighteenth-Century France Subjects: French literature -- 18th century -- History and criticism; Aesthetics French -- 18th century; Culture in literature; Civilization in literature; Faced with the potential chaos of an expanding literary market Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot, and other Enlightenment writers used the damning label of "bad taste" in order to claim the authority to shape the French literary heritage in their image. Jennifer Tsien is Associate Professor of French at the University of Virginia. |
