Research On The Spectator, The Core Of The British Public Sphere In The 18th Century

In 1990,the publishing of the English version of Habermas's "Structural transformation of the public sphere" Set off a wave of research into the concept of public sphere in English-speaking countries.Habermas pointed out in his book that the formation of the public sphere began in Britain and France in the 17th and 18th centuries.In this process,brochures,books,newspapers and other media promoted the formation of the literary public sphere then turned to the political public sphere.Among them,the journals founded by Addison and Steele have been mentioned many times in Habermas's book.Later a scholar called Eagleton also pointed out in his study:"the public sphere of capitalist class of England in the early 18th century was indeed dominated by Steele's The Talter and Addison's The Spectator." Therefore,this paper takes The Spectator as the research object,learns the original text of it,and discusses its role in the process of establishing the British the public sphere of capitalist class.In view of the complexity of the contents of The Spectator,the author first combs the concept of the public sphere,outlines its three elements,then selects the contents of the journal,The Spectator,and divides it into different modules to discuss,trying to combine the various parts to form a macro discussion of the journal.It is unavoidable to think of one thing and leave out another,which needs further discussion.The first chapter is the introduction.This chapter describes the research background,research value,research review and research methods.The second chapter mainly introduces the journal The Spectator and the rise of the British public sphere.This chapter mainly discusses the establishment of The Spectator at that time,such as circulation,etc.,and defines The Spectator as a "literary journal" by Combining the history of news and Literature,and defines the type of writing as periodical essay.Then it discusses the historical conditions of the rise of the spectator,including the relaxation of the publication examination system in politics,the development of the book market in economy and the awakening of the public consciousness in thinking and culture.At last,the author summarized the evolution process and characteristics of the public sphere,and briefly summarized the rise of the British public sphere.The third chapter discusses the role of the journal in the formation of the public sphere based on the three elements of Habermas's public sphere.On the public side,the club members introduced in The Spectator and audience of The Spectator are the embodiment of the "public" in the public sphere.In the aspect of public space,cafe,as the Physical Space of the public sphere,and the public media,The Spectator,the virtual space of the public sphere constitute the public space elements of the public sphere.In terms of public opinion,the author divides the contents of the journal into four parts:social life,moral education,literary comments and political views.The content of social life transforms private topics into public topics,endowing them with openness;the content of moral education cultivates public attainment,making the public rational;literary criticism on the one hand introduces the critical consciousness into the field of literature to a certain extent,on the other hand,it provides a topic for the public field of literature.Finally,it adds the political topic into it,which promotes the transition from the public field of literature to the public field of politics,and thus constructs a truly complete public field.The fourth chapter discusses the advantages and disadvantages of The Spectator which is the core position of the capitalist class public sphere.There are three advantages:first,it promotes the diversity of views in the public sphere;second,as a moral weekly,it plays an educational role in the public domain;the third is the originality of periodical essays and literary reviews in the history of literature.There are also three disadvantages:one is the limited representativeness of club members and the false construction of women's public participation;the other is that the political neutrality claimed by the journal is not representative;the third is the lack of criticism of the literary comments in The Spectator.The fifth chapter is conclusion and reflection.After combing and summarizing the above content,the paper thinks about the role of contemporary media in the construction of public sphere.