Der bon sens des versammelten Volks: Revolution – Theater – Gemeinwille, 1789.

Starting from the famous night session of the Assemblée nationale on August 4/5, 1789, my article examines the intertwining of political representation, theatrical representation and bon sens or sens commun , as it becomes apparent in journalistic texts from the first phase of the French Revolution. The following questions will be discussed: 1) To what extent does the theater audience function as a paradigm of the public sphere in revolutionary society? How and by what means can the audience gallery of the assembly hall be extended into the media public sphere? 2) If the public sphere of the revolutionary society is to be conceived according to the model of the theater audience, what contribution can it make to the formation of national will and the activation of the public spirit? Is there perhaps a latent sensus non-communis hidden behind the ostensibly propagated sensus communis ? And finally: 3) Does the introduction of the theater paradigm for the public sphere have anything to do with a new time economy of political and communicative action, i.e. with the strong acceleration of political decision-making processes on the one hand, and mass media communication on the other? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]