This book seeks to recontextualize the quarrel, embedding it in the cultural politics of the 1770s, and thereby to offer a richer account of the disputes which would account for some of the wider issues at stake.

Eighteenth-century French cultural life was often characterised by quarrels, and the arrival of Viennese composer Christoph Wilibald Gluck in Paris in 1774 was no exception, sparking a five-year pamphlet and press controversy which featured a rival Neapolitan composer, Niccolo Piccinni. However, as this study shows, the Glick-Piccinni controversy was about far more than which composer was better suited to lead French operatic reform.

These studies reveal the complex contemporary interlinking of many areas of politics (the government of others) and morality (the government of the self). The result of this complex and deep intertwining is that many of the problems facing social and governmental institutions cannot be solved without also addressing basic moral issues as well. For example, Christian morality, as laid out in the Rule of St. Benedict and Pastoral Care by Gregory the Great, emphasizes man's sinful nature through a focus on the Fall and the crucifixion. These texts conclude that, as a result of man's indelibly sinful and limited nature, man requires guidance by God or one of his lieutenants (priests, bishops, saints, etc.) in order to properly carry out a moral life. The effect of this insight on moral life is that self-governance becomes focused on obedience and submission to moral superiors as central values. In the dissertation, I draw on Foucault to show that many of the basic social institutions of the West inherit this understanding that people are generally incapable of their own self-governance without expert guidance.

Janvier 1793: Alors que se dechaine le conflit entre les radicaux et les moderes, une piece de theatre fait scandale, provoquant une vive querelle qui divise les plus hautes instances du gouvernement, l'armee nationale et des dizaines de milliers de Parisiens, et qui prend vite une telle importance qu'elle interrompt le proces de Louis XVI, entraine un retablissement de la censure dramatique, et motive, neuf mois plus tard, la fermeture de la Comedie-Francaise et l'emprisonnement de sa troupe Cette piece, c'est "l'Ami des lois" de Jean-Louis Laya. A elle seule, elle souleve de nombreuses questions parmi les plus debattues pendant la periode revolutionnaire, dont notamment la necessite et les limites d'une politique culturelle etatiste, la legitimite de la censure, la forme que devrait adopter la justice, et la fonction du theatre dans un pays libre (forum politique, tribunal national, ou instrument d'education morale et civique ?). La presente edition retrace soigneusement l'histoire de ces debats, ainsi que celle du texte de Laya et de ses representations. L'inclusion en annexe d'un grand nombre de documents d'archives jusqu'alors inedits enrichit cette edition et en fait un ouvrage essentiel pour toute personne s'interessant a la culture revolutionnaire.