The long and spectacular reign of Louis XIV of France is typically described in overwhelmingly visual terms. In this book, Nicholas Hammond takes a sonic approach to this remarkable age, opening our ears to the myriad ways in which sound revealed the complex acoustic dimensions of class, politics, and sexuality in seventeenth-century Paris.
The discovery in the French archives of a four-line song from 1661 launched Hammond’s research into the lives of the two men referenced therein—Jacques Chausson and Guillaume de Guitaut. In retracing the lives of these two men (one ended in death by burning and the other was appointed to the Ordre du Saint-Esprit), Hammond makes astonishing discoveries about each man and the ways in which their lives intersected, all in the context of the sounds and songs heard in the court of Louis XIV and on the streets and bridges of Paris. Hammond’s study shows how members of the elite and lower classes in Paris crossed paths in unexpected ways and, moreover, how noise in the ancien régime was central to questions of crime and punishment: street singing was considered a crime in itself, and yet street singers flourished, circulating information about crimes that others may have committed, while political and religious authorities wielded the powerful sounds of sermons and public executions to control crime and to inflict punishment.
This innovative study explores the theoretical social, cultural, and historical contexts of the early modern Parisian soundscape. It will appeal to scholars interested in sound studies and the history of sexuality, as well as those who study the culture, literature, and history of early modern France.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Author’s Note
Introduction
Part I: The Power of Sound
1. The Sounds of Paris
2. Singers and Listeners
3. Informé de tout: Sound and Power, 1661–1662
Part II: Chausson’s Song
4. The Death and Afterlife of Jacques Chausson
5. Guitaut, Condé, and the Cordon bleu
6. Different Worlds
Conclusion
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index
“An important, absorbing, and astonishingly original book. While scholars have long focused on the visual aspects of French absolutism, Hammond offers an entirely new interpretation by turning his attention to the auditory worlds of early modern Paris. Examining a wide range of acoustic experiences and representations, from songs to remonstrations, the book shows that sound played a crucial role in shaping identities at all social levels. As Hammond traces these acoustic echoes of the past, he creates a gripping narrative that deepens our understanding of class, politics, sexuality, and punishment in seventeenth-century Parisian culture.”
