Beyond moralism: Madame de Genlis and hospitality

Abstract

Few political philosophers have taken an interest in the oeuvre of Genlis, partly because it is often reduced to an insipid religious moralism. While Alice Laborde concludes her biography by emphasizing that Genlis “is above all a moralist”, Mary Trouille’s recent work equally stresses the fact that the countess is “moralist to the core”. The aim of the present article is to nuance this reading, not by denying Genlis’ moralism, but by showing that it didn’t prevent her from publishing texts of a political nature that merit our attention today – particularly that of scholars conceptualizing hospitality and care for the Other. Through an analysis of Genlis’ Discours sur la suppression des convens and her Discours sur le luxe et l’hospitalité, I demonstrate not only the present-day relevance, but also the surprising radicalness of the texts Genlis published during the revolutionary period.