The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, April 28, 1989 Page: 8 of 16
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The Power To
Be Your Best.
Joe M. Amador
1981 Rice Graduate, B.S.M.E.
Arco Oil & Gas Co.
"On The Job Apple User"
The list of companies that are major Macintosh users reads like a
Who's Who in Business and Industry. Arco Oil & Gas Co. is one of
many successful companies which use Apple Computers extensively.
More and more Rice graduates such as Joe Amador are finding "The
Power to be Their Best."
Apple Computers are available at discount prices to full-time Rice students, faculty, and
staff through the Campus Store.
8 FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 1989 THE RICE THRESHER
Darnton gives sixth speech
to conclude lecture series
By Sue-Sun Yom
Princeton University's Professor
of History Robert Darnton delivered
the sixth and concluding lecture of
the President's Lecture Series Tues-
day, April 25. His lecture was entitled
The French Revolution and the
Republic of Letters."
Both President George Rupp and
Lecturer of History Steven Zdatny,
who specializes in the history of
France, introduced Darnton.
Rupp said the lecture was particu-
larly timely because this year cele-
brates the bicentennial of the French
Revolution.
"In the field of French culture,
Professor Darnton has opened up
obscure aspects of the Enlighten-
ment. I think it is not too strong to call
his work the measure of cultural
history," Zdatny said.
Darnton said he categorized the
relationship between the Enlighten-
ment and the Revolution in two
ways—sociology and heresy.
The heresy was that "One of the
most important tasks of the French
Revolution was to rewrite Moliere."
La France litteraire was an alma-
nac issued periodically through the
late 1800's. "It became a fixture of
literary life—a who's who of litera-
ture. . . .it is possible to sketch the
outline of a literary demography."
The definition of a writer posed a
problem, since "professionalism
wasn't possible. . . few lived by the
pen."
Darnton posited that geographic
and class distinctions could be re-
constructed from the data.
"Nobility and clergy make upone-
third of all the writers in France on
the eve of the revolution, but they
make up less than five percent of the
population... .The writers belonged
to the traditional elite of the old re-
gime."
Le Petit Almanac de Nos Grands
Hommes , what Darnton called "sa-
tirical sociology," was a "send-up of
literary life.. .a stupendous roll call of
mediocrity.
"The world's first trivia contest...
turned into a research project"
Darnton detailed the effect on
post-revolutionary writers: "The
demographic tensions of the old
regime had become transformed
into the politics of the Revolution...
Literature is a world of patronage
and protection.
"Voltaire argues that all history is
literary history—kings, queens, and
generals don't matter in the long
run—civilization does.
"[Rousseau] subscribed to
Voltaire's vision of history, but he
saw it negatively, not positively... He
had been corrupted by.. .internaliz-
ing the code of polite society.
"Rousseau took apart Moliere's
misanthrope.. .the power embedded
in language, social codes, and pat-
terns of daily life. In short, he in-
vented anthropology.
"Voltaire provided it [the Acad-
emy] with weapons against the
church, Rousseau with weapons
against aristocracy," Darnton con-
cluded.
Darnton received his under-
graduate education at Harvard Col-
lege and his doctorate from Oxford
University.
He is currently the Shelby
Cullom Davis Professor of European
History at Princeton.
His latest book, Revolution in
Print: The Press in France 1775-
1800, was published in February.
CASH
for your
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Bring them to:
RICE CAMPUS STORE
6 Days
Wed.-Fri. & Mon.-Wed.
May 3-5 & 8-10
Hours: 9:00-4:00
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McGarrity, Patrick & Sendek, Joel. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, April 28, 1989, newspaper, April 28, 1989; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245722/m1/8/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.