Rhetoric and Writing in the Public Sphere: An Introduction/The Evolution of the Public Sphere
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[edit] Evolution of Public Sphere in Europe
With the rise of mercantilism and the emergence of a new bourgeois merchant class, there was a redefined relationship between those who ruled and those who were being ruled. These changes contributed to the transition of a feudal system into a state. As a result, the public sphere began to emerge in society; it acted as the connecting link between the intimate sphere of the family and the depersonalized state authorities.
In the beginning, the feudal system was a system that placed great emphasis on the Lord. The Lord not only represented the public, but he was the public. Under his control, there were no negotiations or any form of public discussions. However, this began to change when the new economic system was introduced. This new economic system gave rise to small and specialized trade which promoted a group of people called merchants. Forming trades and new businesses, the merchants became less dependent on the feudal lord and the aristocrats. Eventually, the new economic system supported a new class called the bourgeois. The bourgeois created a private realm for economic discussions, which was the basis of the public sphere. At these private discussions, the bourgeois could publicly voice and protect their rights and interests.
[edit] The Stages of Public Sphere
In the process of developing the public sphere, there are three stages: the mercantile stage, administrative stage, and the public stage. The mercantile stage deals with more internal and specific information. It is a narrow and exclusive public sphere that is limited to only a few elites. Its technical nature emphasizes analysis before action. As for the administrative stage, it is still held by a private realm that seeks for protections among its members and from the public authority. Compared to the mercantile stage, it is more inclusive and less narrow. It has a practical purpose and encourages social interactions. However, the public stage is the most inclusive and broad public sphere. It provides both general and specific information to all people. This stage recognizes societal problems and uses the public sphere as a source for connection, information, opinion, and decision for all people. This is the most ideal public sphere because it is open to discourses among all people.
[edit] Private vs. Public spheres
As Craig Calhoun has emphasized, the public sphere is greatly dependent upon the quality of discourse and the quantity of participation. Unlike the private sphere, the public sphere consists of a wide range of participants within a society that can engage in critical and rational discourses. It is a mode for societal integration; it sets oppositions and issues between the state and society. Also, the public sphere does not have the tendency to be uniform and promote only one particular interest or idea like the private sphere. Instead, the public sphere is open to all opinions and interest groups. It is not static and is, therefore, often accepting of changes. Hence, the differences and the inequalities within a society become the basis for discussion and action. This open communication among people is the initial stage of a public sphere.
The press, in print and other mediums like electronic sources, developed in three stages.
- The first stage deals primarily with a small group of people. Mostly, the merchants and big traders were the target. The elite are really the only ones who participate in the public domain.
- The second stage becomes more political. The press is trying to educate/unite the public on policy, etc. The press is more of a puppet to the public leaders and is used to inform the public of laws and policies that the pubic is to support and follow.
- The third stage is where the public sphere comes into play. The press must serve the society that is in a state of discourse and debate. This is the stage where the public is finally allowed to communicate its worries and opinions to the state authority, using the press as the means to complete that action.
[edit] Newspaper transformations (based on observations)
[edit] 1730s-1790s (Early)
- no visual aids
- news got around by word of mouth, not by print source
- there was a limited circulation of printed material
- it was more of an alert and message system
- white male/wealthy landowners were the target and the target group
- the print was incredibly small to fit as much information
- hand-type setting, meaning very labor intensive to produce
- shared by subscribers with neighbors, etc.
[edit] 1790s-1890s (19th Century Newspapers)
- improved circulation
- emergence of local news
- still trying to fit a lot of info onto one page
- introduction to foreign affairs
- ranged in price from 1 cent to 2 cents
- not divided into headline sections
- uniformity and format begins to emerge
- illustration in woodcuts
- the beginning of stock quotes
- advertising developing
[edit] 1890s-1950s (Early 20th Century)
- still not completely uniform—the text is still somewhat scrunched
- WWII made huge headlines with tons of pictures
- no clear division of sections, although categorization of topics emerges
- no uniform text sizes (spaced between characters and lines varied)
- starts to print the weather forecast
- stock quotes and advertising become a norm
[edit] 1950s-present
- tons of visual aids, communications, and clues
- text/stories are broken up into many sections
- more focus on human interest stories (and births/obituaries)
- the stories are opinions/not all based on the facts
- ads and coupons
- eye-catching headlines
- lots of political focus
- space-filling photos
- text fragmented with ‘continued on page…’
- accommodating different readers (ie the economy, lifestyle, political section)
[edit] Transitions to the press also include
- Coffeehouses in England
- Salons in France
- Tischgesellschaften in Germany
[edit] Today, the public sphere consists of a quite broad range of media
- Gossip magazines (US Weekl,y, Star, People)
- Fashion magazines (Glamour, Marie Claire)
- Fitness magazines (Self, Men’s Fitness)
- Specialized-ie automotive, etc
- Academic Journals
- Informative/Political undertone magazines (TIME, Newsweek)
- Shopping magazines
- Blogs
- News shows
- Talk Shows
- 24-Hour News Programs
- Online News Programs
- Film
- Speculative nonfiction (Ex. James Frey)
- Access to anything at your fingertips (the internet)
The political functions of the emerging public sphere, in Europe first started from the ruling aristocracy. However, the ruling aristocracy also blurs with the idea of divine authority and therefore, public religion influenced private life. Europe definitely had a hierarchy as the idea of press and public sphere begins to develop. In literature, art, and culture, politics were generally avoided. The intellectual/educated/those who would read made the foundation of the public sphere.
The US had no ruling aristocracy- which was obviously rejected by the Revolution/Declaration of Independence. There was no belief in divine authority and religion was and is considered a private matter. There was n existential foundation of public sphere with farmer, doctor, scholar, and laborer being the basis. There was little attention to class.
However, in both Europe and the US you could only participate if you were a free laborer. This would exclude women, slaves, and indentured servants.
The United States developed its public sphere quite differently than Habermas describes of Europe. No ruling aristocracy existed in the United States. We decided to make a democracy. In order to have that democracy many voices were needed to speak and run the nation. So we had the founding fathers who spoke and debated with each other over the best path. In England as previously mentioned, only the ruling class spoke.
World religions have many times founded the governments of countries. The United States first un native inhabitants were protestant. Protestants do not have a religious hierarchy. Most of the other Christian religions do have hierarchies- the Pope, Bishop, Cardinal. The Protestants founded the United States and therefore did not have a hierarchy system.
The United States also had a different motto than Europe. We were founded by the people for the people. The US was not created to protect anyone or make money; it was founded to be a haven for people, where they could be free. For people to enjoy freedom the citizens had to talk. What did they want out of their freedom? What types of laws should everyone follow? The founding fathers wanted to make sure that no one felt belittled or unheard in their requests.
This goal of universal happiness needed the average citizen’s opinions in order to work. The average citizen spoke up and said what they felt. They talked amongst each other and developed a government that would allow that speech later on.
People also need to talk more because they needed to establish systems in the US. Here unlike England, no roads existed. No towns or methods of transportation were in place. The environment was completely wild. So people had to discuss how to get around and how they should develop the land. People needed to communicate effectively to be able to survive.
Also in the US you didn’t have to be educated to participate in discussion. Illiterate people could be a part of the public sphere. The only people who could not participate in the public sphere were women, blacks, and indentured servants. That did not really change until the mid 1900’s.
From the beginning of the US until the mid 1900’s, the focus of public discussion was on the survival system, transportation, politics, trade, war. During the fifties and sixties, discussion focused on letting everyone into the public sphere. The civil rights movement and women’s liberation occurred. Also Vietnam happened. But after these tumultuous decades, the US began to calm down. People began to become more focused on entertainment. These days, people discuss their favorite TV shows and celebrities with each other.
Another view of the development of the US public sphere comes from Burton Bledstein. He wrote a book called “The Culture of Professionalism”. He writes about America having a professional culture. The US culture developed “rigid barriers” that did not exist in Europe.
In America, your future was not planned out. People that were peasants in Europe could be business tycoons in the US. That meant that young men could determine what they wanted to do in life. It gave them choices. The US began to develop universities to train people to be successful. The University’s taught students the discipline to achieve their goals. However, Bernstein notes that this also led to a decrease in the amount of creativity people had. Universities led to people trusting an authority and lowering their own notions of themselves. Students are taught that they are not correct. The teacher is correct. Because of this, America developed at a quick pace. People began to work for a majority of the day so that they could accomplish more. Life in America moved at a very fast pace. But people were also reaping the benefits. Some were striking it rich. And that became the American Dream. Every worker in America strives for the American Dream. Wealth became the ultimate goal of the Victorians. The middle class soon came to dominate the American culture.
The pace that America set for itself led to psychological issues. People began to be nervous and frustrated. They would get tired and violent. By trying so diligently to be free, people realized their own limitations. They began to fin that they could not accomplish everything. This was especially true for women. They were confined t being housewives and caring for the children.
Victorians also developed the difference between public and private places. They developed what should be considered private and what could occur in public spaces. Before this time, private was a negative word. Now it is main stream. Locks and alarms became normal; as did personal space.
Victorians not only divided up private and personal space, they categorized almost everything and everyone. Every space came to have a purpose; a breakfast nook, dining room, dressing room. People also began to associate certain meals with certain times of the day. People in America began to only eat cereal, eggs, and other “breakfast” foods at breakfast time. Before, there was no distinction between foods. You could eat mashed potatoes anytime of the day. Breakfast also began to be associated with being clean and getting a fresh start to the day.
In the Victorian society everyone had to follow these new rules of culture- to be “in”. As a result of the desire to fit in, magazines and other cultural instruction manuals began to be published. These taught the reader how to fit in just as today’s magazines do the same.
Another cultural aspect that began to appear was the use of space to determine power. The more space you took up the more power you had. Houses began to sprawl bigger and bigger. Railroad cars were built so that people had more personal space, if they could afford to ay for it. At this time, the rich, poor, and middle class became separated. And we are left where we are today.
