A History of Rest

Rest occupies a space outside of sleep and alertness: it is a form of recuperation but also of preparation for what is to come, and is a need felt by human and animal alike. Through the centuries, different and conflicting definitions and forms of rest have blossomed, ranging from heavenly repose to what is prescribed for the modern affliction of burn-out. What has remained constant is its importance: long the subject of art and literature, everyone understands the need not to disturb the aimless, languishing, daydreaming Lotus-eater.

Not viewed simply as an antidote for fatigue, for a long time rest was seen as the prelude to eternal life, until everything changed in the nineteenth century and society entered the great 'age of rest'. At this point, the renowned French historian Alain Corbin explains, rest took on new therapeutic and leisurely qualities, embodied by the new types of human that emerged. The modern epicurean frolicked on beaches and soaked up the rays, while melancholics were rejuvenated in pristine sanatoria, the new temples of rest. Paid holidays and a widespread acceptance of the need to build up the strength sapped during work followed, while the 1950s became the decade of 'sea, sex and sun'.

This new book, as original as Corbin's other histories of neglected aspects of human life, pans the long evolution of rest in a highly readable and engaging style.

休息是一種介於睡眠和警覺之外的狀態：它既是恢復的形式，也是為即將到來的事物做準備的一種需求，人類和動物都有這種需求。多個世紀以來，休息的定義和形式各不相同且相互衝突，從天堂般的安寧到現代疲勞症的處方都有。但它的重要性始終保持不變：長期以來一直是藝術和文學的主題，每個人都明白不要打擾那些無目的、懶散、白日夢的蓮花食人者的需求。

休息長期以來並不僅僅被視為疲勞的解藥，它被認為是永生的前奏，直到19世紀一切都改變了，社會進入了偉大的「休息時代」。著名法國歷史學家阿蘭·科爾班解釋說，休息在這一時期獲得了新的治療和休閒品質，體現在新興的人類類型中。現代的享樂主義者在海灘上嬉戲並沐浴陽光，而憂鬱症患者則在純淨的療養院中恢復活力，這些是休息的新殿堂。有薪假期和廣泛接受在工作期間消耗的力量需要累積的觀念隨之而來，而20世紀50年代成為了「海洋、性愛和陽光」的十年。

這本新書與科爾班關於人類生活中被忽視的方面的其他歷史一樣獨特，以一種極易閱讀且引人入勝的風格概述了休息的漫長演變。

Alain Corbin is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Paris I, Pantheon-Sorbonne.

Alain Corbin是巴黎第一大學巴黎索邦分校的名譽歷史學教授。