One may look at antiquity and say that public art or art in public places existed in ancient Greece where the busts of political figures in the squares and the games, in the circuses were powerful carriers of political meanings. Comments about social, political, and economic matters; the traditional pillars of the public sphere have always been publicly debated in ancient times. One may question whether there was any place for women in ancient times in matters of social, political, and cultural discourse. Did women participate in public debates? There seems to be at least one example of an enlightened woman – Aspasia of Miletus who was an active participant in social and political matters, but that could be an exception. When Renaissance painter Plautilla Nelli (a nun) got her first solo art exhibition in Florence’s Uffizi Gallery in 2017, some art historians asked: Plautilla who? Georgio Vasari, the first Art Historian (mainly the famous biographer of Renaissance artists), notes that she could have been one of the greatest painters in the world if only she could have studied mathematics and anatomy as male artists did, but that was something forbidden to women, especially for a nun. Vasari included Nelli as one of the only four women among 100 in his Lives of the Artists. Feminists cite gender imbalance as the reason why women were not considered as artists of merit, Vasari cites deprivation of education for women as the probable cause for such a void in our art history. Really speaking, women’s participation in public life actually started in eighteenth-century Europe with the rise of the new bourgeois class after the Enlightenment.

In theory – Jurgen Habermas and the question of Public Sphere

Jurgen Habermas conceived the bourgeois’ public sphere as a place of private people coming together as a public to share, interact, and exchange their ideas on a broader social, cultural, and political domain. In the new urban set-up in Europe, coffee houses, literary meetings, lecture halls, theatre, cinema, houses, marketplaces, libraries, schools, and colleges, journals, newspapers, and a host of other cultural institutions played a major role in heralding the public sphere operative in the wider social and cultural life of man. The rise of the public sphere is directly related to the inspirational notion of ‘Freedom of Association’ which began in eighteenth-century Europe.

“Closely connected with the growth of education and enlightenment…. Is the creation of Literary and philosophical Societies in the leading mercantile towns…. Societies of this type became centers of reforming zeal….

…. The world had not known until the eighteenth century any society organized for collective thinking and discussion. There had been religious seats, guilds of merchants and artisans, colleges of doctors, and Parliament of lawyers; but there had never been …. Anything like societies for the avowed purpose of collective thinking and talking.” (Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences, vol. 6, 1951; Free Thinker by Robert Eisler.)

Habermas extends the idea of collective thinking and discussing more complex issues where scientific temper coupled with middle-class reasoning in matters of the social and cultural life of man reverberated in the public sphere.

Habermas analyses the public and the private sphere by drawing a parallel between the ‘system’ and ‘life-world’. Here we will only deal with the life-world situation. ‘Life-world’ includes both the private and the public and the debates, participation, and opinion formation take place in the public sphere which constitute the institutional orders of the modern world. The life world (the private and the public sphere) is constituted by socially defined means and ends. Enlightenment era or The Age of Reason as it is known challenged the fundamental values of the life of man; this includes family life, gender relations, and all societal, political, and cultural systems. The traditional family which was apparently related to the ‘permanent intimacy’ ran into the contradictory phenomenon of ‘playful intimacy’ born out of urban mobility of the new bourgeois life-world. The image of the traditional family was in serious conflict with changing social reality. The ideas of freedom and cultivation of cultural aspirations of the female members of the private sphere were socially and economically dependent upon the male head as well as institutions that were heavily patronised by men.

What is the Third Sphere?

It is in this context Habermas proposes the idea of the ‘third sphere’, in addition to the public and private sphere. In a positive vein, Habermas refers to the letter diaries, and other artistic and literary activities of women of the eighteenth century and places it as ‘audience oriented’. With the rise of the new middle class, reading clubs, libraries, women’s journals, and coffee houses a liberal public sphere emerged and developed into a radical social and cultural formation. The significance of Habermasian placing of such activities, the “transfer of experience from the private to the public sphere”, probably bridges the gap between the two and creates a dialectical “third sphere.” Is the idea of the Third Sphere then a mere synthesis, a formula for forgetting the collective memory of differences, inequalities, and exploitation of the past or does it really usher in the possibilities of another new awakening in the conflict-riddenworld? Habermas claims that the bourgeois “humanity’s genuine site” could be the Third sphere which has the potential to make the public sphere more purposeful. One may ask, has the bourgeois life systems remained unchanged over the centuries? The so-called bourgeois humanity seems to be melting into the Black Sea now. It seems the world is divided between the Globalists and the Nationalists, both seem to take aggressive posturing: Who dominates over the other, who wins?

The question is does humanity share acollective memory, a shared history today? With the emphasis on synthesis onthe question of shared community values, the claims of compositecultures may look a little suspect. Changes in the interpretation of historybegan a long time ago.

The shared myth of the global world order may be risking too much in not taking into consideration the Conflict and violence that divides more than unites and is perhaps trapped into a potential yet impossible theoretical positioning of Habermas when he argues for a Third Sphere. Today, urban space or the public sphere is not just exposed to globalization and neo-liberal economy, it has undergone radical changes, changes brought about by multinationals which demand the unmaking of community life and colonizing the life-world (i.e., the Private Place). On one hand, the globalization process demands that public places be cleared of any disturbance, a conflict-free zone of relaxed consumer behaviour on the other hand, the unleashing of an aggressive advertising campaign through the electronic media, further depoliticizing the family, turning them into a self-absorbed, self-satisfied small family living in one’s little world. I am afraid these factors have already erased the memory of the public sphere to a large extent which arose during the nineteenth century and peaked in the mid-thirties.

We are talking about the Third Sphere, it is a vision, it is not something given but has to be made through a collective or individual effort. This freedom to choose and make something meaningful and new does not come only from external compulsions but it is a freedom to live one’s life in a particular way. What is important is to explore alternative possibilities or to construct a network of value-based relationships that makes living in this world a little less painful.

Women during the Classical Age

What role did women play in the public sphere during the Classical Age? Ancient thinkers laid the foundation for over two thousand years of progress in the fields of art and sciences, philosophy, literature, and theatre. However, the question is are there women who could be associated with such development and progress? Deprived of education, and the right to vote or to participate in public discourses, women were relegated to become a wife and bearer of children. Under such a stifling situation, we can certainly say that very few notable women figure in the classical timeline. One of the women who catch our imagination is the remarkable Aspasia of Miletus. She possessed a remarkable knack for rhetoric and a taste for philosophy. Aspasia was denigrated by ancient writers. Some viewed her as a shrewd political player, while others as nothing more than a harlot, lover of Pericles. She is also credited to be the real author of ‘Funeral Oration’, she was even considered to have taught Socrates, a few lessons in philosophical argumentation. All that is said about her may not be true or may just not be reliable, yet the controversies surrounding her make Aspasia the prime candidate of our speculation that she was perhaps the first woman of the antiquities to engage publicly in matters of civic life.

It is unfortunate that some scholars assumed that since Aspasia was in Athens, she became hetaerae and probably ran a brothel. Hetaeria (plural of hetaerae), were not common prostitutes. Rather, they were highly educated, highly sophisticated courtesans who were skilled in dance, song, and conversations and were often seen in the inner circles of rich and powerful people. Hetaira were probably the only liberated women of

the time. They were allowed to pursue education, engage in civic debate, and even pay taxes! Aspasia is best known to be the lover of the famous Athenian General Pericles. Scholars have also discovered the connection of Aspasia with Socrates and they claim that she was one of the first philosophers to teach Socrates the art of rhetoric. It is also claimed that Aspasia was the actual author of the ‘funeral oration’, found in the pages of

Thucydides’s History Of The Peloponnesian War:

“I heard Aspasia composing a funeral oration about these very dead. For she had been told, as you were saying, that the Athenians were going to choose a speaker, and she repeated to me the sort of speech which he should deliver, partly improvising, partly from previous thought, putting together fragments of the ‘funeral oration’, which Pericles spoke, but which, as I believe, she composed.”

-Socrates (Plato’s Menexenus)

Cicero argues that Aspasia might have taught Socrates the rhetorical tool,Induction; a method of Socratic dialogue that helps in winning anargument.

Women in France: ‘From Salone to the Streets.’

While the French Revolution began in 1789, French women were largely confined to the private sphere, their lives were largely confined to domestic duties and family obligations. Public life belonged to men. However, the French Revolution which was born out of Enlightenment, introduced the values of equality and freedom from obscure traditional values. Enlightenment thinkers, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Diderot, and Voltaire challenged the thinking of the conservative French society. New ideas were being discussed at evening gatherings in Paris and other public forums where aristocratic women (known as Salons often hosted discussions about various aspects of public life. These women yielded considerable influence in public matters, including, literature, arts, and politics. But despite the newfound freedom to express opinions on a broad spectrum of life, women never operated as one group. The working-class women differed on a variety of matters from those women of upper-class women and even within the working-class women there were differences, like Pauline Leon differing with the moderate group.

French women’s brochures, manuscripts, and its editions of writings by Claire Demar, Suzanne Voilquin, and other women writers and artists of the day were inspired by the revolutions of 1830-1848 in France. A collection of women’s writings contains Demar’s Appeal of a Woman and her posthumous publication The Law of the Future. There is also the first collective of the feminist periodical: ‘La Tribune des Femmes’ (edited by Suzanne Voilquin). Also, under the titles are La Femme Libre, La Femme Novavelle, and Apstolat des Femmes. Run by women, this socialist publication appealed to support legal reforms for women including divorce and property rights. They are notable in their ideas of solidarity between workers, women, and men and felt strongly that universal education and child care were vital in achieving female independence and equality.

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)

British writer, Mary Wollstonecraft was a passionate advocate of education and social equality for women; she outlined her thoughts in the book A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792). She agreed with equality and a common civil contract. She argued that women were equally rational beings as men and suffered because of the outdated social outlook rooted in hierarchical and monarchic systems. Mary went to France in 1792 to observe the French Revolution. Her experience in working as a Governess and a school teacher inspired her to write “thoughts on the education of daughters”. She also worked as a translator for London publisher James Johnson.

Wollstonecraft wrote in defence of ‘Mother Eve’, attacking the great Milton for the image that he presented in the Paradise Lost (1667) of our first frail mother, and at the same time, of all our daughters: “when he tells us that women are formed for softness and sweet attractive grace, I cannot comprehend the meaning, unless…he meant to deprive us of souls…”

Sophie von Roche

“Women lived for a long time without Writing;

Then they began to write……With their lives and for their lives.”

Karoline von Günderrode (1780- 1806)

The historical time of the eighteenth Century between 1720 to 1785 is known as the Enlightenment period in literature, science, and philosophy. It is during this time that people question and reject the traditional ideas of society. Philosophers like Rousseau, Voltaire, Kant, and Locke accepted the new ideas as truths. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) believed in the emancipated and enlightened life, the most important intellectual movement of the time was the focus on Reason and Individualism.

It was in this situation that Sophie von Roche was walking a fine line between abiding by the conventions/rules of an ideal woman and attempting to break free to become an emancipated woman. Sophie’s novel Lady Sternheim promotes a very conservative image of a woman yet tries to educate young women to break out. German feminists trace the beginning of women’s literature in the 18th century. These women were focused on letter writing and felt the need to identify with the new ways of thinking. Women like La Roche rebelled in various ways laying the foundation for the future generation. La Roche along with other women tried to change the status of women, even if it was just a nominal change. Attaining autonomy and moving closer to self-reliance was of utmost importance to Sophie. One woman novelist in Germany who was also financially independent was Sophie von Roche.

The Dutch women writers

There was no Mary Wollstonecraft here but Elisabeth Bekker, better known as Betje Wolff (1738-1804) though firmly rooted in the Enlightenment, did not seem to tire of sympathizing with men who were married to women who preferred to spend studying Rousseau rather than taking care of the husband and children.

Women writers from the second half of the 18th century have been deemed worthy of any mention. Lucretia Wilhelmina van Merken (1721-1789) was well known because of her biblical epic David (1769) and her widely read didactic poem “The Usefulness of Adversity” (1762). Juliana Cornelia de Lannoy was known as a witty writer of tragedies, didactic poems, and lyrical verse.

Elisabeth Maria Post (1753-1812)

She was also known for her sensitive poems and novels. Her novel True Heart: or Nature and Religion is about the life of Surinam Planter which still has some interest today.

The last known women writers in Dutch literary history are Betje Wolff and Agatha Deken. Their collaborative novel was History of Miss Sara Burgher Heart, 1782. It was for the first time; that the everyday life of a citizen was worth writing about. Wolff and Deken did this with great insight into human behaviour, with the desire to educate. Betje Wolff preferred the ideas of the Enlightenment and believed that the practice of literature was a full-time affair.

Wolff and Deken lived together and wrote for each other and for other female friends. Apparently, women’s emotional and spiritual worlds developed and flourished in a culture shaped by women. In the 18th century, patriarchal values finally lost its in (Text missing)

I have primarily talked about the history of the public sphere, and its rise in Europe, and my focus has been on the contribution of women writers/artists in making the public sphere a more meaningful proposition under difficult life situations. I am proposing to bring in another remarkable woman artist of the last century who made all the difference in her art practice, responding, aligning, provoking, and creating new substances of life systems bordering on the potential of ‘The Third Sphere’. Who does not know Kathe Kollwitz? Internationally and to be specific in Germany, Kollwitz made a huge impact in public life. The work of Kathe Kollwitz which reflects the ordeal and the pain of the humble and simple, is the greatest German poem of the Age.

“This woman of virile heart

Has looked on thin, has taken them into

Her motherly arms,

With a solemn and tender compassion.

She is the voice of the sacrificed.”

Romain Rolland

I am randomly quoting from Kathe Kollwitz’s diary, just to give an idea of how she thought of her time in Germany, about her concerns about war, of her son, Peter who died very young during the 1st world War, what she thought of her works, etc.

In 1919, Kollwitz drew ‘Mothers’, and she wrote: “I am working on Mother…I drew the mother who embraces her two children, it’s me, with the children born from me, my Hans and Peter…”In October 1914, Kathe Kollwitz’s son, Peter was killed in the 1st World War at the age of 18. She wrote to her friend: “There is in our lives a wound which will never heal, nor should it be.”

Kathe returned to Goethe’s phrase for her last lithograph in 1942, entitled; ‘Seed corn must not be Ground’……at the height of Nazi power and in the midst of the second world war, she wrote; “Everyone already carries within it the war that will answer it… Everyone is answered by a new war…. That is why I am wholeheartedly for a radical end to the madness and why my only hope is in world socialism.”Then again, she writes:

“It is my duty to voice the

sufferings of humankind, the

never-ending sufferings

heaped mountain high.”

It is well said in a review, “Kollwitz’s diary and letters …. provide a dramatic record of German history during the turbulent time that encompassed World War 1, the November Revolution, the Weimer Republic, and the appearance of Nazism. To these, Kollwitz paints a compassionate, critical, and insightful vision, recording her own witnessing of historical events, her own experience of the everyday is a testimony that is generally recognized as one of the greatest autobiographical German texts of the century…. As human documents, they have few equals, as historical documents they are fundamental.”

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