La Socit littraire de Lausanne

Sise au croisement des principaux axes routiers du continent, dans le dernier tiers du XVIIIe sicle Lausanne accueille une florissante communaut dtrangers plus ou moins titrs, plus ou moins brillants avec lesquels les membres de llite locale aiment se mler. La vie sociale de la ville, en phase avec les dernires tendances europennes, mais rgie par des logiques familires propres un centre urbain de petite taille, attire les loges de figures telles que Voltaire et Edward Gibbon, qui y sjournent plusieurs reprises. Parmi les diffrents foyers de sociabilit lausannois, la Socit littraire se distingue par son cosmopolitisme et son engagement avec les principaux dbats de lEurope des Lumires. Cet ouvrage reconstruit la composition, les pratiques et lactivit intellectuelle de la Socit littraire de Lausanne sur la base de sa riche collection manuscrite, jusquici largement inexploite. En la mettant en perspective avec les pratiques de sociabilit et les dbats de rforme de lpoque, il brosse le portrait dune institution organise pour accueillir des profils varis issus de lEurope nord-occidentale, centrale et orientale et voue aux grands thmes du moment. Par lanalyse de ses dbats autour de la sensibilit, des prjugs, du droit pnal, du luxe et de la dpopulation, il offre un aperu des dynamiques intellectuelles des Lumires Lausanne et invite interroger les interprtations courantes des Lumires par la mise en vidence du rapport dialectique entre leur dimension continentale et locale. Sitting in the heart of Europe, in the last third of the 18th century Lausanne was home to a thriving community of foreigners - some titled, some brilliant - with whom members of the local elite liked to mingle. The city's social life, in tune with the latest European trends but governed by familiar logics specific to a small urban center, attracted the praise of figures such as Voltaire and Edward Gibbon, who stayed there on several occasions. Among Lausanne's societies and clubs, the Literary Society 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 Lausanne Literary Society on the basis of its rich manuscript collection, hitherto largely unexploited. By placing it in perspective with the sociability practices and reform debates of the time, it paints the portrait of an institution organized to welcome a variety of profiles from North-Western, Central and Eastern Europe and dedicated to the major themes of the day. 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.