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This volume explores the concept of magnificence as a social construction in seventeenth-century Europe. Although this period is often described as the ‘Age of Magnificence’, thus far no attempts have been made to investigate how the term and the concept of magnificence functioned. The authors focus on the way crucial ethical, religious, political, aesthetic, and cultural developments interacted with thought on magnificence in Catholic and Protestant contexts, analysing spectacular civic and courtly festivities and theatre, impressive displays of painting and sculpture in rich architectural settings, splendid gardens, exclusive etiquette, grand households, and learned treatises of moral philosophy. Contributors: Lindsay Alberts, Stijn Bussels, Jorge Fernández-Santos, Anne-Madeleine Goulet, Elizabeth den Hartog, Michèle-Caroline Heck, Miguel Hermoso Cuesta, José Eloy Hortal Muñoz, Félix Labrador Arroyo, Victoire Malenfer, Alessandro Metlica, Alessandra Mignatti, Anne-Françoise Morel, Matthias Roick, Kathrin Stocker, Klaas Tindemans, and Gijs Versteegen.
This volume of essays explores influences from Antiquity onwards that shaped the literary and cultural output of the French seventeenth century and the developments to which this period - the so-called 'classical' period - gave rise in later centuries. The thirteen essays in English and French cover three major areas: the continuation in French seventeenth-century literature and cultural events of themes found in previous centuries; internal changes within the body of writings by French seventeenth-century playwrights; the influence of seventeenth-century French writers on later centuries. The collection celebrates the life and scholarly achievements of the eminent dix-septiémiste Christopher J. Gossip, Emeritus Professor of French, University of New England, Australia.
The Turkish ceremony in Le Bourgeois gentilhomme has been popular with audiences for almost 350 years and remains one of the bestknown scenes of early modern French theatre. This newly researched volume spotlights the Turkish ceremony in its original technicolor, presenting numerous important discoveries that have never before been published. It shows that even in a field as thoroughly investigated as the collaboration between Molière and Lully at the court of Louis XIV, there is still much new source material to be discovered, and many new connections to be made. As the multidisciplinary essays examine the burlesque Turkish scene from a social, political, textual and iconographic view point they unearth, time and again, flaws, omissions and errors transmitted in earlier scholarship. Ritual Design is a must-have volume that sets the record straight.
This long-awaited bibliography of recent books about theatre architecture, scenography and costume, published with the support of Belgian Ministry of Culture and the «Théâtre & Publics» Association, has been prepared in collaboration with experts in five languages: English, French, German, Italian and Russian. This extensive bibliography, which meets the demands of the International Theatre Institute organizations and the International Organization of Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians, will prove useful to theatre practitioners as well as to confirmed or young theatre scholars. Cette bibliographie rassemble un choix d'ouvrages sur le théâtre et l'architecture, la scénographie, le costume. Elle a bénéficié de la collaboration d'experts internationaux (anglais, français, allemands, italiens et russes). Répondant à la demande de l'IIT (Institut international du théâtre) et de l'OISTAT (Organisation internationale des scénographes, techniciens et architectes de théâtre), cette bibliographie en cinq langues est un précieux outil pour tout praticien et théoricien du théâtre.
The idea that actors are hypocrites and fakes and therefore dangerous to society was widespread in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Fangs of Malice examines the equation between the vice of hypocrisy and the craft of acting as it appears in antitheatrical tracts, in popular and high culture, and especially in plays of the period. Rousseau and others argue that actors, expert at seeming other than they are, pose a threat to society; yet dissembling seems also to be an inevitable consequence of human social intercourse. The “antitheatrical prejudice” offers a unique perspective on the high value that modern western culture places on sincerity, on being true to one's own self. Taki...
Though much beloved and widely produced, Molière's satirical comedies pose a problem for those reading or staging his works today: how can a genre associated with biting caricature and castigation deliver engaging theater? Instead of simply dismissing social satire as a foundation for Molière's theater, as many have done, Larry F. Norman takes seriously Molière's claim that his satires are first and foremost effective theater. Pairing close readings of Molière's comedies with insightful accounts of French social history and aesthetics, Norman shows how Molière conceived of satire as a "public mirror" provoking dynamic exchange and conflict with audience members obsessed with their own images. Drawing on these tensions, Molière portrays characters satirizing one another on stage, with their reactions providing dramatic conflict and propelling comic dialogue. By laying bare his society's system of imagining itself, Molière's satires both enthralled and enraged his original audience and provide us with a crucial key to the classical culture of representation.
'Why does he write those ghastly plays that the whole of Paris flocks to see? And why does he paint such lifelike portraits that everyone recognizes themselves?' Moliere, The Impromptu at Versailles This volume brings together four of Moliere's greatest verse comedies covering the best years of his prolific writing career. Actor, director, and playwright, Moliere (1622-73) was one of the finest and most influential French dramatists, adept at portraying human foibles and puncturing pomposity. The School for Wives was his first great success; Tartuffe, condemned and banned for five years, his most controversial play. The Misanthrope is his acknowledged masterpiece, and The Clever Women his la...
A detailed introduction to Molière and his plays, this Companion evokes his own theatrical career, his theatres, patrons, the performers and theatre staff with whom he worked, and the various publics he and his troupes entertained with such success. It looks at his particular brands of comedy and satire. L'École des femmes, Le Tartuffe, Dom Juan, Le Misanthrope, L'Avare and Les Femmes savantes are examined from a variety of different viewpoints, and through the eyes of different ages and cultures. The comedies-ballets, a genre invented by Molière and his collaborators, are re-instated to the central position which they held in his œuvre in Molière's own lifetime; his two masterpieces in this genre, Le Bourgeois gentilhomme and Le Malade imaginaire, have chapters to themselves. Finally, the Companion looks at modern directors' theatre, exploring the central role played by productions of his work in successive 'revolutions' in the dramatic arts in France.
This handbook brings together genres, aesthetics, cultural practices and historical movements that provide insight into humanist concerns at the crossroads of dance and theatre, broadening the horizons of scholarship in the performing arts and moving the fields closer together.
The first book-length study devoted to this topic, Mendacity and the Figure of the Liar in Seventeenth-Century French Comedy offers an important contribution to scholarship on the theatre as well as on early modern attitudes in France, specifically on the subject of lying and deception. Unusually for a scholarly work on seventeenth-century theatre, it is particularly alert to plays as performed pieces and not simply printed texts. The study also distinguishes itself by offering original readings of Molière alongside innovative analyses of other playwrights. The chapters offer fresh insights on well-known plays by Molière and Pierre Corneille but also invite readers to discover lesser-known...