The Sounds of Madame Geoffrin’s Salon

Salons were core institutions of the eighteenth-century European social calendar, especially in Paris. Literary performances and philosophical conversation were the core activities of many of these gatherings. What did conversation and literary readings actually sound like at these events? To what extent were voices audible to everyone in the room, or too muffled or far away to be heard? What was the impact of the ambiance or of ephemeral sound on the reading or reception of the hearing? Using textual descriptions, paintings, and architectural information, I reconstruct two legendary readings of eighteenth-century texts, Voltaire’s L’Orphélin de la Chine and Marmontel's Contes Moraux at one of the better documented Enlightenment-era salons (Madame Geoffrin’s) to re-create the impact of sound and acoustics on a literary reading. These fictional recreations, while inherently speculative, hold promise in enriching the realms of sound and performance studies, offering valuable glimpses into the spatial dynamics and acoustic qualities inherent to informal and smaller performance venues for literary readings.