Nouveau riche (French for 'new rich';French:[nuvoʁiʃ]),new rich, ornew money (in contrast toold money; French:vieux riche[vjøʁiʃ])[1] is asocial class describing rich individuals whose wealth was acquired within their own lifetime, rather than by familialinheritance. These individuals had previously belonged to a lower social class or economicstratum (rank) within that class, but the acquisition of new money enabled upwardsocial mobility and themeans forconspicuous consumption, the buying of goods and services thatsignal membership in anupper class. As a pejorative term,nouveau riche describes thevulgarity and ostentation of the newly rich individual who lacks the worldly experience and value system ofold money, or inherited wealth, such as thepatriciate, thenobility and thegentry. However, those who came from lower social classes are beginning to seenouveau riche as a compliment rather than an insult, viewing it as recognition that they built their own wealth and status.
The idea ofnouveau riche dates at least as far back asancient Greece (c. 8th century BCE).[2] In the 6th century BCE, the poet andaristocratTheognis of Megara wrote how "in former days, there was a tribe who knew no laws nor manners ... These men arenobles, now, the gentlemen of old are now the trash".[3] In theRoman Republic, the termnovus homo ('new man') carried similar connotations.[citation needed]
One can definesocial status in relation to wealth and to thepower granted by the wealth. It has been argued that theupperruling classes have legitimized "... their rule with claims ofstatus andhonor andmoral superiority".[4] These ruling classes claim that wealth inherited through "blood ... and the concept ofproper breeding" is superior. The juxtaposition of thenouveau riche to the old-money social class highlights the cultural,value system and societal differences between the two social groups.
Old family ties, as traditional claims of status, are not found in thenouveaux riches, which challenges and ultimately redefines social traditions and values. As seen through the rise in the number ofdebutantes, the social value of the debut has since shifted from the "family's elite social standing and long family traditions" to "a symbolic value as an element of upper-class life style".[5] This transition allows for high social standing to be established by thenouveau riche through the institution of the debut.[6]
Social integration of these elite sects is extremely slow and sluggish, which makes it more likely that thenouveaux riches will "retain identification with the traditional ... group of origin; this is the basis for division between the groups." Furthermore, the isolation that minoritynouveaux riches experience within their own class leads them "to prioritize issues of radical justice, civil liberties, and religious tolerance over pure economic self-interest".[4]
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Often referred to asparvenu, members of thenouveau riche are often discriminated against by the old-money sects of society because they "lack the proper pedigree".[4] Their lack of historical prestige has inspired criticism that they are "uncouth" and "uncultured". The behavior of thenouveau riche is often satirized by American society by "implying that stereotyped, rather than real, behavior patterns are copied".[7]
Many individuals have made claims that those with new money are inferior to those with old money, such as saying thatnouveaux riches "lack political and cultural sophistication" and that the old rich are "more sophisticated than the less cosmopolitan nouveau riche".[8][9] In 1929, Mrs.Jerome Napoleon Charles Bonaparte, who herself married into a family that had once been consideredparvenu and lacking in pedigree, protested that "thenouveau riche... is making places likePalm Beach no more exclusive thanConey Island. Newport, the last stronghold of the elite, has the moneyed intruder at the gates.... Undesirables are penetrating everywhere".[10]
In 18th-century Europe, old-money families attempted to raise themselves above thenouveaux riches by sensitively renovating their ancestral residences to allude to their antiquity. Their evident ties to the families' history could not be rivaled by the new, self-made class.[citation needed] In theDutch Republic, the nobility sought this as an advantage over the merchantburghers of Amsterdam, and a similar trend arose in the French court.[11] The same is true of the fashionablelairds of 17th-century Scotland who re-worked buildings likeThirlestane Castle,Glamis Castle andDrumlanrig Castle to celebrate the lineage of their families.[11]
The termnouveau pauvre (French for 'new poor') was coined to refer to an individual who had once owned wealth but has now lost all or most of it. This term generally emphasizes that the individual was previously part of a higher socioeconomic rank, but the wealth that provided the means for the acquisition of goods or luxuries is currently unobtainable. These individuals may or may not actually be poor, but compared to their previous rank, it seems as if they are.[12] Nicholas Monson (grandson of the 9thBaron Monson) and Debra Scott were authors ofThe Nouveaux Pauvres: A Guide to Downward Nobility (1984), "a lifestyle manual for poverty-stricken aristocrats"[13] "running an aristocratic lifestyle on a tradesman's budget".[14][15]
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