Live Performance as a Multiverse: : From the Present Moment to the Transverse Effect

What are the different interconnected spaces and times in the construction of the character in drama, and to what extent is acting ‘live’ performances consubstantial with the notion of the multifarious, and especially the multiverse

La diction du tragédien ridicule sous l’Ancien Régime

L’un des «procédés» comiques récurrents dans les pièces des forains et plus tard, de l’Opéra-Comique, est la parodie de la déclamation tragique. Une image s’est peu à peu figée dans le théâtre du xviiie siècle, à la fois intense et ambiguë: intense parce qu’elle dénonçait avec une certaine violence, les défauts des tragédiens de la Comédie-Française en les transformant en de simples bouffons (les tragédiens étaient ainsi rabaissés et devenaient semblables à ceux qu’ils honnissaient le plus: l..

La construction de la masculinité au xviie siècle. Le rôle de l’irrévérence et de l’offense verbale chez Molière et Regnard

This article shows how the use of offensive and improper words reveals codes relating to gender in seventeenth-century society and theatre. Disrespect and rudeness were not only markers of masculinity but also attempts to display hard masculinity, characters trying to show leadership and manliness. Common characteristics expressing masculine identities which go beyond social divides (that is status and social class), can be found on stage. Examining comedies by Molière and Jean-François Regnard gives for instance insight into the way masculinity is constructed both socially and theatrically during the period. Crude language, swearing and insults reflect hegemony and masculine domination, as well as a way to gain self-confidence in public. Displaying aggressive manhood proved to be pivotal in the plays I look at, even though gentlemanly behaviour, which symbolized soft masculinity, was promoted through the ideal of the ‘honnête homme’ in bourgeois and aristocratic spheres at the turn of the seventeenth century. However, playwrights ridiculed male characters’ excessive manliness. They developed new forms of comic by distancing themselves from the classical rules and the notions of etiquette and accepted behaviour

Formes du théâtral diderotien

Comment Denis Diderot a-t-il mis en scène, dans son oeuvre, l’univers du spectacle ? Le Paradoxe sur le comédien, inspiré par un véritable essai paru pour la première fois dans la Correspondance, intitulé Les Observations sur une brochure intitulée Garrick ou les Acteurs anglais (1769), fut le résultat d’additions et de corrections, mais surtout d’une réécriture et d’une recomposition complète de ce dernier. Diderot opta dans les années 1770 pour une forme dialoguée – qui rappelait elle-même la nature du théâtre –, elle-même théâtralisée. Quelle signification peut-on donc donner au Paradoxe sur le comédien et quel sens de lecture privilégier ? La thèse de Diderot ne devient-elle qu’un jeu d’esprit et/ou de mots qui a pour but de choquer, de divertir, c’est-à-dire une forme de spectacle en elle-même où domine un goût prononcé pour la mise en scène et l’effet ? Cet article montre en quoi le Paradoxe peut être interprété comme une tentative pour pousser le paradoxe jusqu’à l’absurde de manière à définir en creux ce qu’est la notion de « théâtral »Staging the World of Theatre: Diderot’sTheatricality This article addresses the question of how Diderot staged the world of theatre. Le paradoxe sur le comédien, which was the result of additions and corrections to, but above all the complete rewriting of, an essay called Les Observations sur une brochure intitulée Garrick ou les Acteurs anglais (1769), which first appeared in the Correspondance. In the 1770s Diderot opted for a theatricalised dialogue form, recalling the theatre. We here address the question of the meaning of the Le paradoxe sur le comédien and how to interpret it: does Diderot’s thesis become mere wordplay aimed at shocking and amusing, in other words itself a form of theatre dominated by a preoccupation with staging and effect? This article shows how the Paradoxe can be interpreted as an attempt to push the paradox to its absurd limits in order to define, by contrast, the “theatrical

Young men at Oxford (1830-80) Routes into consumption and debt

Young men's consumption, especially that of students at Oxford, has not received much attention from scholars although they participated fully in the economic life of the University town by becoming customers, indeed often compulsive shoppers, as numerous Chancellor’s Court and bankruptcy court cases suggest. My thesis provides a window onto male students’ consumer culture and indebtedness, especially their link to the ‘credit system’. 'Conspicuous consumption' and overspending was a marker of undergraduate culture which had two dialectical dynamics: students tried to position themselves in their community by displaying the signs and habits of the elite; and, simultaneously they went through a process of individualization, expressing particular tastes and their own extravagance. These processes reflect how students learnt their future roles as rulers by managing their private interests and public image, but also by developing a consumer experience, a majority of them becoming prudent economic agents. This dissertation explores consumption from both an individual and collective perspective. In particular it examines juvenile agency, going beyond the clichés of the 'great masculine renunciation' and the idea of prominent female shopping, reconstructing the different paths undertaken by young men, from their first steps into consumption, to consumption routine. It builds on diverse disciplines including social and economic history, retailing and advertising, education, law and gender studies to tackle a gap in the history of consumption, capitalism and trade in Oxford. Between 1830 and 1880, student consumerism was intertwined with the university reforms and the rise of competition between tradesmen. This study assesses education costs and budget constraints; commercial practices such as 'touting freshmen'; students’ social background and insolvency; the use of long-term credit as a tool to drive consumption; and the formation of male identities through the purchase and display of different goods. </p

L’implantation des théâtres privilégiés à Paris

Cet article pose la question du lieu, notamment celle de l’implantation des théâtres dans la capitale au XVIIIe siècle. Il montre les différents enjeux économiques, les problèmes liés à la concurrence entre institutions et surtout la manière dont le lieu joua un rôle capital dans le développement des théâtres. Il examine les contraintes auxquelles durent faire face les troupes ainsi que les stratégies adoptées afin de trouver un emplacement à Paris qui soit le mieux adapté aux besoins de l’entreprise théâtrale. Enfin, il évalue la manière dont le développement de Paris eut lui-même un impact sur les rivalités entre troupes en modifiant les rapports de force entre institutions privilégiées, et analyse en quoi la présence des théâtres dans certains quartiers permit en contrepartie de stimuler le commerce et la consommation des Parisiens

Young men at Oxford (1830-80) Routes into consumption and debt

Young men's consumption, especially that of students at Oxford, has not received much attention from scholars although they participated fully in the economic life of the University town by becoming customers, indeed often compulsive shoppers, as numerous Chancellor’s Court and bankruptcy court cases suggest. My thesis provides a window onto male students’ consumer culture and indebtedness, especially their link to the ‘credit system’. 'Conspicuous consumption' and overspending was a marker of undergraduate culture which had two dialectical dynamics: students tried to position themselves in their community by displaying the signs and habits of the elite; and, simultaneously they went through a process of individualization, expressing particular tastes and their own extravagance. These processes reflect how students learnt their future roles as rulers by managing their private interests and public image, but also by developing a consumer experience, a majority of them becoming prudent economic agents. This dissertation explores consumption from both an individual and collective perspective. In particular it examines juvenile agency, going beyond the clichés of the 'great masculine renunciation' and the idea of prominent female shopping, reconstructing the different paths undertaken by young men, from their first steps into consumption, to consumption routine. It builds on diverse disciplines including social and economic history, retailing and advertising, education, law and gender studies to tackle a gap in the history of consumption, capitalism and trade in Oxford. Between 1830 and 1880, student consumerism was intertwined with the university reforms and the rise of competition between tradesmen. This study assesses education costs and budget constraints; commercial practices such as 'touting freshmen'; students’ social background and insolvency; the use of long-term credit as a tool to drive consumption; and the formation of male identities through the purchase and display of different goods