I’ll admit it.
Although, in my biased opinion, this project is filled with out-of-the-box, exciting, and interesting to just about anyone who loves the history of how people had a good time and used it to their benefit, I am still unsure on how to make a project proposal sound un-academic and enjoyable to you, my reader.
So read it, or don’t – but here is my project proposal for the event, blog and the rest of the series. Hopefully you enjoy my proposal as much as the cartoon!
This proposal is structured as follows: supervisors, title, summary, research questions, methodology and sources, outputs, audience, and problems and solutions.
Supervisors:
My academic supervisor for this project is the lovely Professor Annie Tindley. My external supervisor, and parter, is Ruth Sheldon, the Project Coordinator of Public Engagement at the Great North Museum.
TITLE(s):
The project title – Hedonistic Histories: a comparative analysis of the hedonistic reproductions between life in seventeenth-century French court and nineteenth-century English country homes
The pilot event title – Taxidermy and Tipples
The blog title – Hooked on Hedonism
summary
This is a public history project which will take place as a series of events; the pilot event will be held at the Great North Museum. It focusses on hedonism in the social aspects of seventeenth-century French court life and nineteenth-century English elite culture. The proposed series of creative events will enable people to discover core elements of hedonistic cultures and the role pleasure played in society. For the purpose of this master’s project, the pilot event will be the main output for submission, but the brochure will evidence, through a variety of formats, the scope of this project as a series. The events created for this project will be activity focused, and maintain the narrative created within the research process, to determine the relationship between power dynamics and hedonistic cultural reproductions.
The research which has been conducted so far, is primarily drawn from the museum’s taxidermy collection, visual materials and literary novels. This methodology has been chosen as it provides a cultural lens through which the two comparatives can be analysed. To assist in creating a specific understanding of hedonistic tendencies in both societies, broader sources will be consulted to create a general understanding of pleasure-seeking tendencies. This will then be narrowed down, so that the two local histories can be compared, to evidence the cultural reproduction of hedonistic tendencies within the elite classes. These sources will be used in conjunction with cultural theories, which will evidence the hedonistic cultural reproductions.
This project’s interpretation of the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries are different from previous interpretations, as a new methodological approach is used to re-interpret pleasure-seeking themes under the all-encompassing term of hedonism. Existing historiography relating to pleasure-seeking has been studied in an isolated manner, using sub-tropes of hedonism, such as “elitism”, “etiquette” and “power”. Combining these themes, whilst investigating secondary literature on “politeness”, “sensibility”, “intemperance”, “high-living”, “profligacy” and “luxury” will assist an overall understanding of hedonism within both centuries, to prove this projects assertion: that hedonism is a culture of the elite, replicated through different time periods.
research Questions:
- Was hedonism performed as a symbol of power?
- How is hedonism defined? (use a present-day definition relating to pleasure-seeking, then assess in accordance to religion, culture and class of the respective periods, to understand the change in culture)
- To what extent were the hedonistic activities practiced in seventeenth-century France replicated in nineteenth-century England? (make reference to the limitations in a two-part comparison, and explain that future work would expand on this to include other elite cultures, demonstrating more evidence of hedonistic cultural reproductions)
- Was hedonism an activity exclusive to the aristocratic/elite class?
- Did hedonism exist beyond debauched activities? (this invites an exploration of architecture, theatre and dress)
Methodology and sources:
The aesthetics and philosophy of pleasure and indulgence will be investigated, to better understand the extent to which hedonism was practiced across elite societies. This will establish whether hedonism was the result, or aim, of extravagant aristocrat lifestyles, and their perusals of power. Once this cultural contextual narrative has been constructed, a diverse variety of sources will be evaluated, including: architecture, letters, chronicles, art work, literature and clothing. The purpose of this portfolio of sources is to uncover all references to luxury, pleasure and excess, and begin the creation of a hedonistic catalogue of resources. This will then be used to understand the cultural assimilations of power positions between elite cultures across time periods.
My overarching argument in this project is that hedonism needs to be considered within historical theory as its own trope, as there is a link between different forms of power through hedonism. Historian’s explore hedonistic themes in isolation from each other, which omits a detailed exploration of pleasure-seeking cultures. To analyse them in comparison with each other (luxury, excess, pleasure) would invite new interpretations of past historiography. The two comparatives in this project had very different expressions of power, yet they both performed hedonism to assert power through displays of wealth and leisure time. To successfully demonstrate this notion, I will establish the broad historical context, as it will provide me with contemporary vocabulary and a working knowledge of the cultural preoccupations of the age. This will help in reconciling and comparing these hedonistic expressions of power.
This project depends on a comparative approach to evince the assertion that hedonism is a culture of the elite, which is used to demonstrate power and position. This approach is valuable for this research project as it develops cross-cultural studies to identify and explain parallels or differences. Two comparatives could be a limiting factor to prove my argument, but due to the nature of this project, working within these parameters will ensure a more detailed analysis of both societies. It will also permit me to explain that further research is needed, and that this project has a legacy involving tangible outputs and future research potential.
The sources used in this project are multifaceted, ranging from objects, novels, films, and memoirs. Objects and visual sources will include taxidermy from the nineteenth-century, visual images of Versailles (both contemporary and historical), floorplans of Versailles and a portfolio of nineteenth-century country homes. Other sources include literature of the period, including Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) and William Thackeray’s Vanity Fair (1847). Translated French novels will also be consulted, but the memoirs of Duc Saint Simon (1675-1755), the Versailles chronicler and courtier, will provide most of the literary basis for this point of comparison. The film rendition of Wilde’s novel will also be used for the film screening, as literature and film provide a narrative insight into a period’s morality and culture.
The theories used will be interdisciplinary, to encompass the sociological and cultural spectrum of this research. The primary theoretical influences used are Pierre Bourdieu on ‘distinction’ and Michel Foucault on ‘power-knowledge’. Their theories will be used symbiotically to elucidate on hedonistic habits and how they are performed and replicated across both societies. Bourdieu looks at the sociology and psychology of accumulating and posturing wealth.[1] His theory investigated the instrumental nature of reproductions and assimilations within cultural forms, values and practices, between cultures and generations.[2] This theory will be applied to my project, to determine that hedonistic activities were maintained between elite societies, ultimately proving that there is an elite hedonistic culture, which exists across nations and time periods. Foucault’s ‘power-knowledge’ theory invokes a cyclical relationship between authority and power.[3] His theory is applied to this project as it offers perspectives on authority and where power is ultimately held. The novels used in this project challenge the traditional notion that the leisure class held power, instead offering the nebulous title to performative rituals, etiquette, and hedonistic behaviours. Hence, Foucault’s theory is paramount in assessing these arguments. Other theorists will be referenced to reassert this argument, including Norbert Elias on civilisation, Thornstien Veblen on conspicuous consumption of the leisure class, and Antonio Gramsci on hegemony. The authority of the theories in this methodology lies in the reputation of these scholars and combining their theories to assess the assertion of this project. Bourdieu’s cultural reproduction theory frames this project, and is used to structure the theories and sources that are required to demonstrate hedonistic patterns within seventeenth-century France and nineteenth-century England.
As my ideas have been refined, I have developed a clearer sense of the types of primary sources that I would like to use. However, there are access issues with the sources, as well as issues which arise from the collaborative nature of this project, specifically with the objects. A repository of taxidermy objects has been selected by myself, then the museum staff will finalise which they will allow me to use. This is difficult as it delays the selection process, but forms part of the collaborative process. I have also encountered difficulty with the search terms I have used, such as “hedonism in Versailles”, as it is fairly specific. This has been overcome by broadening the search to a more general cultural context. There is primary and secondary literature on “luxury”, “politeness” and “sensibility”. In particular, there is a lot of scholarship on pleasure and luxury during the long eighteenth century, which has been useful in providing additional context between the two periods I am focussing on. My research has been conducted primarily through digital archives, as I am yet to visit physical archives. To date, I am using Historical Abstracts, as it covers over 2,300 history journals, alongside JSTOR and Google Scholar. I will also make use of the Bibliography of British and Irish History, as it includes book chapters. I have already consulted the Jisc Library Hub Discover, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the British Library, but intend to do further research.
[1] Pierre Bourdieu, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste, [New ed.]. (London: London: Routledge, 1986), 10.
[2] Ibid., 11.
[3] Barbara Townley, ‘Foucault, Power/Knowledge, and Its Relevance for Human Resource Management’, The Academy of Management Review 18, no. 3 (1993): 529.
OUTPUTS:
The outputs will be comprised of a pilot event, a project plan for five more events, a blog with project updates and an extended list of resources, and an article published in The Historical Associations magazine, The Historian.
The pilot event will be developed by myself, with support from Annie Tindley and the Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums. It will be held at the Great North Museum, entitled ‘Taxidermy and Tipples’. This will be an evening event which encompasses learning about taxidermy, through a lecture and object handling, whilst sampling some wines on the market today. We will use the museum handling collection and have staff expertise on John Hancock (1808-1890) and taxidermies. Reference will be made to decolonisation, ethics and repatriation of remains, plus the ethics of hunting for sport and the impact of British colonial hunting. Although taxidermy has an important role in scientific anatomical study, it also has a strong association with social power and status. Animals were preserved for the purpose of decoration in lavish and luxurious interiors and displayed as either a trophy of conquest, or source of whimsical amusement. Taxidermy’s initial purpose was educational but its cultural shift made them a hedonistic addition to country homes. This notion invites the comparison with seventeenth-century French court. Although they did not have taxidermies, they had other gaudy decorative elements which evidence a continuance in hedonistic cultures. This salient link will be presented at the pilot event through digital screens, presenting images and source materials of Versailles from the Versailles Digital Archives. A difficulty will be incorporating two historical periods in one exhibition, hence narrowing the hedonistic focus to architecture and interior design, as it allows for coherence within the exhibition. The project plan for future events will incorporate other themes, to create one overarching comparative hedonistic series, with events that are feasible in scale.
The project plan will evaluate the series of public events, looking at pleasure. In this series we will be exploring the sumptuous world of elite hedonistic cultures. Discovering how historic elites enjoyed themselves: from sex, to alcohol consumption, sport, and high arts. It covers a diverse range of rambunctious activities and principles. The brochure will outline the other events, who they are partnered with, what they will cost and how they will be funded. It includes: a lecture at the Literature and Philosophy Society to introduce the series and research findings, two film screenings at the Tyneside Cinema (The Picture of Dorian Gray, and A Little Chaos), an evening at the Laing Art Gallery (using their Rocco art), an evening wine tasting at Blackfriars restaurant, and a closing event at Seaton Deleval Hall, with the Time Bandits performing a historical re-enactment of significant period art pieces. The brochure will break down each event in detail.
The blog will be kept regularly up-to-date, to monitor the progress of this project. Any anniversaries or significant findings will be shared, to create engaging copy, and provide the project with a legacy. The brochure will be published to this blog, alongside all promotional materials created for the pilot event, educational resources, and a short video-graphic of the pilot event. The article will also be published on the blog, once it has been submitted and approved by The Historian’s editorial team.
audience:
The audience for this project will be varied, dependent on each of the events and the collaborators intended target audience. Each event will draw in a different public, which fits the aim of reaching a wide-ranging audience. Specifically, the museum typically draws in a 35+ audience, but they aim to reach a younger demographic with their evening events, so this pilot event will be targeted towards an 18-29 age group. Meanwhile, the article is written for an interested public, who are likely already subscribed to the magazine. This limits the reach to those who are already a part of the Historical Association, so it is likely focussed on academics. The other events, including the film screenings and historical re-enactments, are less academically driven, and will encourage a younger audience too, so this is also tailored to an interested public, of 18+.
problems and solutions:
The main problems encountered so far are maintaining the academic ambition behind this project, when it is being translated into an event for public engagement instead of a dissertation. This problem has been overcome by imagining it as a series, which provides a variety of outputs that assist in maintaining an overarching narrative, which can be interpreted by a wide audience as intended. ‘Taxidermy and Tipples’ has been structured as the pilot event, with an accompanying brochure of future events, as it demonstrates that there is a larger vision for this series than can be accomplished with the £200 budget, and short time frame.
Within the ‘Taxidermy and Tipples’ event, problems to consider involve drink handling around the objects. The solution to this issue is to hold the evening in two parts, so that the taxidermies on display are not at risk of damage. There are also costing issues: we need a wine supplier and relevant documentation to lead the session (food hygiene certificates, PLI insurance, allergies listed, and licensing issues with the catering team and Newcastle Council). This will all be applied for and obtained ahead of time. There is also a £200 charge for keeping the museums open after hours, which can be overcome by holding the event during the day to save the budget. There are also costs towards promotion for posters, but other promotional material is included by the museum in house communications team, who can upload material to the website and email their database. We also need to consider who will lead the wine sampling and supply the wine. Local businesses such as The French Quarter and Cavavin will be consulted for pricing, otherwise, wine can be bought from Aldi or Majestics, led by myself with information from my undergraduate dissertation on wine consumption in the nineteenth-century.
The article currently has no obvious problems, other than being published after the completion of this master’s project. This will be overcome with evidence of the article being written through the blog, alongside email correspondence and confirmation that it will be published. The limitation of this article arises from its ‘coffee table’ style, which limits the amount of references that I am able to use to six. This will be a challenge as my work is heavily evidenced by sources and theories, so it is likely to turn into an opinion piece, rather than an academic article.