La civilisation des moeurs

Description

How did people sit at table in the Middle Ages? How did people blow their nose during the Renaissance? From what period do the modesty associated with sexual behaviour date? Norbert Elias analyses the mores of Western civilisation and studies their transformation from the late Middle Ages to the present day.

This delightful book is peppered with amusing and unexpected examples and little-known texts full of surprises. From a naughty song to a manual of manners, from a moralist's tirade to a collection of proverbs, each brilliantly commented on, Norbert Elias gives the word 'civilisation' a new and original meaning, based on the concrete study of customs. This pioneering book has become a classic of sociological thought.