The Philosophes and Popular Ritual: Turgot, Voltaire, Rousseau

T h e P h ilo s o p h e s a n d P o p u la r R it u a l:ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA T u r g o t , V o lt a ir e , R o u s s e a u PONMLKJIHGFEDCBA H A R R Y P A Y N E T h e q u estion of th e n atu re an d fu tu re of p op u lar ritu al cam e u p on ly in p assin g am on g th e eigh teen th -cen tu ry p h ilosop h es. T h ou gh th e h istory of p op u lar cu ltu re an d ritu al is of cen tral con cern to tw en­ tieth -cen tu ry h istorian s, it w as bu t on e of scores of su bjects w h ich p h ilosop h es, as social observers, h ap p en ed to n ote an d w orry abou t. T h at in itself is a h istorical p roblem — h ow p op u lar cu ltu re cam e to be recogn ized an d ap p reciated as a con cern . A n d it is a story in w h ich th e E n lig h ten m en t of p h ilosop h es p layed a p art, albeit a som ew h at u n graciou s on e. T h ey recogn ized th e sep araten ess of p op u lar atti­ tu d es from th e elite cu ltu re th ey w ere tryin g to reform w ith ou t, h ow ­ ever, often su sp en d in g elite scorn in th e n am e of broad er u n d er­ stan d in g. Su ch sep aration u ltim ately bore m u ltip le fru its— cu riosity, hostility, in tru sion , an d n ostalg ia.1 T h e qu estion of p op u lar ritu al, th en , can be seen as a brief footn ote in th e story of E n ligh ten m en t social th ou g h t, as th e basis of som e larger reflection s on th e n atu re of th e E n ligh ten m en t's con fron tation w ith le p e u p le , an d as a "fo re­ cast" of th e w ay th e eig h teen th cen tu ry op en ed u p su ch qu estion s for su bseq u en t eras. T h ree texts can serve as th e basis of th is com m en tary. T h e first is a letter from th e in ten d an t A n n -R obert-Jacqu es T u rgot in 1762 to h is con troller-gen eral. H avin g d ealt w ith som e issu es su rrou n d in g th e Societe d 'agricu ltu re in th e region of L im ou sin , h e brou gh t u p , al­ m ost as an afterth ou g h t, an oth er sm all bu t vexin g p roblem related to th e fate of agricu ltu re. H e n oted th at for five years th e B ish op of A n 307 308 / P A Y N E gou lem e h ad su sp en d ed several ch u rch fetes in th e in terest of p u blic ord er and efficiency— since th e m iscellaneou s local fetes of the C hu rch h ad b een associated w ith m an d atory stop p age of w ork QPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA ( c h o m a g e ) an d p op u lar licen se. T h is su sp en sion h ad th e su...