Between Logos and Eros: New Orleans' Confrontation with Modernity Page: 44
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governance of the town was somewhat stricter, but rapid growth and the city's location as
an important port and market destination abetted the generally permissive character of the
city. New Orleans was celebrated for an atmosphere that was both languorous (due in no
small part to the relentless heat that gripped the city 10 months out of the year) and gay.
Masquerades and fancy dress balls were so popular that they were held almost nightly
during the winter months. Even more popular were the charivaris accompanying
weddings of notable citizens - noisy mock serenades put on by mobs in masks and other
disguises, banging pots and kettles, shovels and tongs; the word is derived from the Latin
caribaria, meaning 'headache.' These rowdy assemblies often lasted for days, joined in by
the entire population, regardless of racial or class distinction.
Vulgarity does not just refer to the ribald- it also denotes that which is common,
popular, shared by all. The vulgate is the language of the masses; a vulgate translation
allows the "common" people - people of the commons, people who share a common
understanding- to participate in conversations about literature, science, salvation. Thus
the project of this chapter is to approach policy in New Orleans with a vulgar eye - not
for the sake of novelty or whim, but because the vulgar is the experience, the language,
and the history shared in common by the people of the city -the very people who were so
markedly disconnected from the planning process.
The New Orleans vulgate is a common history of the sensual, emotional life of
the city that defies -- even ridicules -- rational distinctions. The raunchy underbelly of the
city is an active subversion of established norms; it is a declaration of identity and power
by those in the city who are faceless and powerless. The fact that New Orleans is44
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Moore, Erin Christine. Between Logos and Eros: New Orleans' Confrontation with Modernity, thesis, May 2008; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc6073/m1/49/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .