'All the common rules of social life' : the reconstruction of social and political identities by the Dorset Gentry, c.1790-c.1834
This case-history explores the governing purposes of the Dorset gentry from the early 1790's until the mid 1830's. It is not a conventional political and administrative history. It seeks rather to reveal the gentry's governing purposes through the processes and contexts of their construction of social and political identities. It takes as its starting point the idea of the materiality of language itself The idea that language does not reflect or refer to a pre-existing anterior reality but creates meaning by distinguishing explicitly or implicitly what something is from what it is not. This case-history explores the gentry's construction of the terms of an overarching discourse I have called the 'common rules of social life'. In particular the evolving narrative terms of patriarchal oeconomy, political economy and paternalism. It does so to answer the question: 'By what means and for what purposes did this form of discourse and its narrative traditions become established by the gentry to prevail at this time in the past? ' The answers are found in the ways and the contexts in which the gentry used this discourse. First, how did the gentry exercise their power so that this discourse might come into being. Here
Flame, Michael John
DA Great Britain
'All the common rules of social life' : the reconstruction of social and political identities by the Dorset Gentry, c.1790-c.1834. This case-history explores the governing purposes of the Dorset gentry from the early 1790's until the mid 1830's. It is not a conventional political and administrative history. It seeks rather to reveal the gentry's governing purposes through the processes and contexts of their construction of social and political identities. It takes as its starting point the idea of the materiality of language itself The idea that language does not reflect or refer to a pre-existing anterior reality but creates meaning by distinguishing explicitly or implicitly what something is from what it is not. This case-history explores the gentry's construction of the terms of an overarching discourse I have called the 'common rules of social life'. In particular the evolving narrative terms of patriarchal oeconomy, political economy and paternalism. It does so to answer the question: 'By what means and for what purposes did this form of discourse and its narrative traditions become established by the gentry to prevail at this time in the past? ' The answers are found in the ways and the contexts in which the gentry used this discourse. First, how did the gentry exercise their power so that this discourse might come into being. Here
all common rule social_life reconstruction social_political identity dorset gentry case history explores govern purpose dorset gentry conventional political_administrative history seek rather reveal gentry governing purpose process contexts construction social_political identity take_start_point idea materiality language idea language reflect refer pre_existing anterior reality create mean distinguish explicitly_implicitly something not case history explores gentry construction term overarch discourse call common rule social_life particular evolve narrative term patriarchal political_economy paternalism answer_question mean purpose form discourse narrative tradition become_establish gentry prevail time past answer find way contexts gentry use discourse first gentry exercise_power discourse might come