18th century salons

Conversation is an art which is linked with creative literature, art and politics in the society, and develops and refines with the process of civilisation. It indicates the richness of the language with its humour and through the use of appropriate words as well as the expression of a person that appeals to the audience.

Miller Stephen in his book Conversation: a History of a Declining Art, presents an interesting history from the earliest time to the present day. According to him, during the period of hunting and gathering when language was not fully developed, signs and symbols were used to convey messages. As settlements came about and people gathered together, the vocabulary of the language increased and epic poems and stories were composed.

The earliest form of writing was in the form of a dialogue. We have a specimen from the Sumerian period (5000 BC), which is a dialogue between a servant and a master. The servant demands that he should be treated on the basis of equality and the master responds by saying that he was inferior and owned by the master, therefore he had a right even to kill him. The servant’s reply was that as the master was dependent on the servant for getting his work done and would not survive for more than three days without the servant.

We find the dialogue form in the classical Indian as well as Greek literature. Socrates (d.399 BC) popularised it in Athens, when he questioned people on serious philosophical ideas in simple words, urging them to respond. This type of dialogue involved both Socrates and his audience to think and investigate the moral values of the day. It was a Greek tradition that in the symposium the guests debated, discussed and delivered speeches on various topics. Plato (c. 348BCE) also adopted the dialogue form in The Republic, which was written around 380 BC.

What has been celebrated from the salons of 18th-century Paris to the present day chat over coffee is increasingly being stifled, distorted or replaced by superficial digital blabber

The Romans inherited the Greek tradition of conversation in their cultural life. Cicero (d.44BC) in one of his letters written to his son advised him on the art of conversation and how to express his views.

In the medieval age when religion dominated the daily life of people, they were not given space to speak on different subjects openly. This confined the art of conversation only to propagate religious teachings and consequently reduced philosophical expressions and literary creativity. During the Renaissance when the domination of the church diminished and gave way to freedom of speech, the art of conversation began to flourish in Europe.

A number of books were published on the etiquettes of conversation, and in Paris the institution of the salons emerged. Generally patronised by influential women, the salons were gatherings of leading writers, artists, politicians, intellectuals and musicians.

Rouseau (d.1778), Denis Diderot (d.1784), Montesquieu (d.1755) and other famous intellectuals conversed with each other on art, literature, philosophy and politics. The English writers such as Edward Gibbon (d.1794) and Adam Smith (d.1790) also visited the Salons of Paris, contributing largely to the cultural life of the city. On the other hand, in England, coffee houses became the centre of intellectual activities. The first coffee house was established in 1650 at Oxford and soon became popular so that a 100 coffee houses mushroomed in London. They were favourite places for writers, artists, and scientists, especially Dr Samuel Johnson (d.1784) and James Boswell (d.1795) who were regular visitors at different coffee houses in London. After paying a penny for a cup of coffee, the customer could read newspapers and converse with his friends for hours in a cosy environment.

Another institution which was also a meeting place for friends or people of similar interests was the club. There were different types of clubs for different groups of people and women were not always allowed to become members and hence came to be known as gentlemen’s clubs. These clubs provided space for its members to meet, drink, dine and converse on the topics of interest.

In the modern period, the art of conversation declined because of technological inventions. When radio became a part of life, people preferred to stay at home and listen to the broadcast which consisted of news, music, drama and political speeches. With the invention of TV, social life changed completely. It became customary to watch TV along with family members and not to go out to meet with friends and relatives. Recently, mobile phones and the internet captivate people within a room. With lesser opportunities to sit together and converse, vocabulary and expression have been affected.

The art of conversation was also affected in countries dominated by dictators and ideological parties. In Stalin’s Russia and Hitler’s Germany people were very careful not to speak anything that would be reported by the secret police and held against them. In an atmosphere of fear and terror, peoples’ conversations become dull and barren.

Presently, we are experiencing the same rigidity in our society because of religious extremism where peoples’ emotions are charged on the slightest misunderstanding. We experience the decline of conversation in talk shows on TV, where participants instead of debate and discussion, fight against each other about their differing views. There is a distortion of language by mixing English words and sentences which completely transform the structure of Urdu language and make it incomprehensible to common people. Generally, the motive of the conversation is to defeat the opponent by speaking loudly and not allowing him to speak.

Therefore instead of dialogue it becomes a noisy monologue. The lack of tolerance and refinement spoils the beauty of language and the art of conversation.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, June 14th, 2015

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