Changing Perceptions of the Public Sphere

Christian J. Emden is Associate Professor of German Intellectual History and Political Thought at Rice University.

• Introduction: Changing Perceptions of the Public SphereChristian J. Emden and David MidgleyPart I: Publics Before the Public SphereChapter 1. A Public Sphere before Kant? Habermas and the Historians of Early Modern GermanyJoachim WhaleyChapter 2. Kunigunde of Bavaria and the “Conquest of Regensburg”: Politics, Gender, and the Public Sphere in 1489Sarah WestphalChapter 3. Publishing the Private in Early Modern Europe: The Rise of Secret HistoryPeter BurkePart II: Thinking about Enlightenment PublicsChapter 4. Private, Public, and Structural Change: The German ProblemNicholas BoyleChapter 5. The Second Life of the “Public Sphere”: On Charisma and Routinization in the History of a ConceptJohn H. ZammitoPart III: Cultural Politics and Literary PublicsChapter 6. Probing the Limits: The Contribution of Literary Writing to Defining the Public SphereDavid MidgleyChapter 7. Habermas Anticipated: The Eighteenth-Century Public Sphere as “Theatre of the World” in Edward Lytton Bulwer’s Devereux (1829) and Karl Gutzkow’s Richard Savage (1839)Martina LausterChapter 8. Karl Kraus and the Transformation of the Public Sphere in Early Twentieth-Century ViennaEdward TimmsNotes on ContributorsBibliographyIndex

“The eight well-edited essays selected by Christian J. Emden and David Midgley create a good balance between critical and consenting perspectives on Juergen Habermas’ idea of the public sphere… this anthology is not only complementary to Habermas’ model (by taking, for instance, earlier developments into consideration, as Habermas did) but also expands on it, by discussing his work in the light of the critiques that have been levied against it. As a result, this very interesting volume pays respect to the merits of his model, but also to the need to remodel it.”  ·  European Review of History/Revue Europèenne d'Histoire"An impressive collection of essays with contributions from a stellar cast, including leading authorities from a variety of disciplines, notably cultural, intellectual and literary history... nicely balanced, [the volume] does justice to the richness and complexity of Habermas’s ideas and offers fresh perspectives on its heuristic uses.”  ·  Martin A. Ruehl, Cambridge University