Diciottesimo Secolo (Nov 2022)
«Be sure to enter, Sir, into the style: you will become savage by reading this». News periodicals, short historical time, and shaping the Other
Abstract
The February 1706 issue of the «Mercure galant» offered its readers the account of an agreement made between the Iroquois and the Ottawa in 1705. Given the context in which this negotiation was received, the «Mercure»’s journalist decides to render each party’s remarks, as he writes, in «savage style». This style’s characterization and the function it plays within the article’s overarching narrative invite us to question received notions on the colonial imaginary of Ancien Régime news periodicals. Moreover, this article rethinks the essential role played by mondain fashions’ short historical time and the present moment in the construction of the figure of the Other.
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