The World's First Full Press Freedom
Description
The book charts an extraordinary period in Danish history: the "Press Freedom Period" of 1770-73, in which King Christian 7's physician J.F. Struensee introduced a series of radical enlightenment reforms beginning with the total abolishment of censorship.
The book investigates the sudden avalanche of pamphlets and debates, initiating the modern public sphere of Denmark-Norway. Publications show a surprising variety, from serious political, economic, and philosophical treatises over criticism, polemics, ridicule, entertainment, and to spin campaigns, obscenities, libel, threats.
A successful coup against Struensee led to his subsequent public execution in Copenhagen, and the latter half of the period saw the gradual smothering of the new public sphere as well as an international pamphlet storm over what was happening in Denmark.
Readers all over Europe proved curious to learn about the radical experiment with enlightened absolutism in Denmark; interest was heightened by the involvement of the Danish Queen, the English princess Caroline Matilda to whom Struensee had an intimate relation.
The book is a detailed portrayal of a seminal event in the development of the public sphere in Europe.
Reviews / Votes
"'Denmark-Norway', a single kingdom in early modern times, was the first Western society to decree full freedom of the press without restriction or censorship. Being far ahead of Britain, France and North America in this respect, the press freedom brought in the Danish realms in 1770-73 created a huge drama and international furore. This excellent book provides the first comprehensive account in English of one of the great landmark events of world history in the Enlightenment era." - Jonathan Israel , Professor Emeritus, Princeton Institute for Advanced Study
"This is the first exhaustive study of the astonishing Press Freedom experiment that took place at the fringes of European Enlightenment. The book offers a rich and entertaining account of the eruption of new voices, topics, tones and self-reflective communication practices that came with the sudden liberty. Historians have formerly dismissed the Press Freedom writings as "a mud bath of trash literature" and "a Walpurgis Night of rudeness, stupidity and meanness". In today's fast-changing and challenging media landscape, the remarkable years of Press Freedom gain new relevance. Ulrik Langen and Frederik Stjernfelt's study is a compelling demonstration of the importance of this moment, in the history of Denmark-Norway as well as in the general history of freedom of expression." - Ellen Krefting , Professor of Intellectual History, University of Oslo, Norway.
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Persons
Ulrik Langen , University of Copenhagen, Denmark; Frederik Stjernfelt , Aalborg University Copenhagen, Denmark.