Resumen
Durante la segunda mitad del siglo xvii las coffee houses proliferaron en Inglaterra y, lejos de ser un fenómeno excepcional, estaban totalmente integradas en la vida cotidiana del país. Eran establecimientos públicos a los que podía acceder cualquier hombre, siempre que tuviera dinero para permitirse una taza de café. Se convirtieron en lugares de interacción social alejados de la esfera privada —el hogar— y de la esfera de autoridad —la corte—, que alcanzaron reconocimiento gracias a sus ideales de sociabilidad, debate e igualitarismo. Las coffee houses se convirtieron en el reflejo de la vida cotidiana de una nueva clase media emergente, en la que el empirismo y el refinamiento comenzaban a aflorar. Quedaron vinculadas al incipiente mercantilismo de la época, pero igualmente tuvieron especial incidencia en la política y la cultura inglesas. También recibieron críticas, especialmente desde el ámbito femenino, aunque debemos considerarlas como una oposición frente a la exclusión que las mujeres sufrían para poder acceder a determinados ámbitos públicos. En definitiva, la aparición de las coffee houses supuso la creación de un nuevo espacio de sociabilidad donde no se trata de excluir a ningún sector social y donde las opiniones comenzaron a convertirse en opinión pública.
Palabras clave: coffee house, sociabilidad, espacio público, siglo xvii, Inglaterra
Abstract
During the second half of the 17th Century, coffee houses proliferated in England and, far from being an exceptional phenomenon, they were fully integrated into the daily life of the country. They were public establishments that could be accessed by any man, provided he had the money to afford a cup of coffee. They became places of social interaction far from the private sphere (the home) and the sphere of authority (the court), which achieved recognition thanks to their ideals of sociability, debate and egalitarianism. The coffee houses became the reflection of the daily life of a new emerging middle class, in which empiricism and refinement began to surface. They were linked to the incipient mercantilism of the time, but also had a special impact on English politics and culture. They also received criticism, especially from the female environment, although we must consider them as an opposition to the exclusion that women suffered in order to gain access to certain public spheres. In short, the emergence of coffee houses was the creation of a new space of sociability where it is not a question of excluding any social sector and where opinions began to become public opinion.
Key words: coffee house, sociability, public space, 17th Century, England
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