The making of the modern self : identity and culture in eighteenth-century England

Toward the end of the eighteenth century, a radical change occurred in notions of self and personal identity. This was a sudden transformation, says Dror Wahrman, and nothing short of a revolution in the understanding of selfhood and of identity categories including race, gender, and class. In this pathbreaking book, he offers a fundamentally new interpretation of this critical turning point in Western history. Wahrman demonstrates this transformation with a fascinating variety of cultural evidence from eighteenth-century England, from theater to beekeeping, fashion to philosophy, art to travel and translations of the classics. He discusses notions of self in the earlier 1700s -- what he terms the ancien régime of identity -- that seem bizarre, even incomprehensible, to present-day readers. He then examines how this peculiar world came to an abrupt end, and the far-reaching consequences of that change. This unrecognized cultural revolution, the author argues, set the scene for the array of new departures that signaled the onset of Western modernity. Dror Wahrman is associate professor of history at Indiana University (Bloomington). Toward the end of the eighteenth century, a radical change occurred in notions of self and personal identity. This was a sudden transformation, says Dror Wahrman, and nothing short of a revolution in the understanding of selfhood and of identity categories including race, gender, and class. In this pathbreaking book, he offers a fundamentally new interpretation of this critical turning point in Western history. Wahrman demonstrates this transformation with a fascinating variety of cultural evidence from eighteenth-century England, from theater to beekeeping, fashion to philosophy, art to travel and translations of the classics. He discusses notions of self in the earlier 1700s -- what he terms the ancien régime of identity -- that seem bizarre, even incomprehensible, to present-day readers. He then examines how this peculiar world came to an abrupt end, and the far-reaching consequences of that change. This unrecognized cultural revolution, the author argues, set the scene for the array of new departures that signaled the onset of Western modernity. Dror Wahrman is associate professor of history at Indiana University (Bloomington). Contents 5 List of Illustrations 6 Acknowledgments 9 Preface: Before the Self: The Ancien Régime of Identity and the Revolution 11 PART I 21 Snapshot: On Queen Bees and Being Queens 21 Chapter 1. Varieties of Gender in Eighteenth-Century England 25 Chapter 2. Gender Identities and the Limits of Cultural History 63 Chapter 3. Climate, Civilization, and Complexion: Varieties of Race 101 Wide-Angle Lens: Gender, Race, Class, and Other Animals 145 PART I I 175 Bird’s-Eye View: The Eighteenth-Century Masquerade 175 Chapter 4. The Ancien Régime of Identity 184 Chapter 5. Religion, Commerce, and Empire: Enabling Contexts of Identity’s Ancien Régime 216 Chapter 6. The Ancien Régime and the Revolution 236 Chapter 7. The Modern Regime of Selfhood 283 The Panoramic View: Making an Example of the French 330 Notes 340 Index 421