Del i serien Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment

Dramatic Battles in Eighteenth-Century France

Philosophes, Anti-Philosophes and Polemical Theatre

Häftad, Engelska, 2012

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The mid-eighteenth century witnessed a particularly intense conflict between the Enlightenment philosophes and their enemies, when intellectual and political confrontation became inseparable from a battle for public opinion. Logan J. Connors underscores the essential role that theatre played in these disputes.This is a fascinating and detailed study of the dramatic arm of France’s war of ideas in which the author examines how playwrights sought to win public support by controlling every aspect of theatrical production – from advertisements, to performances, to criticism. An expanding theatre-going public was recognised as both a force of influence and a force worth influencing.By analysing the most indicative examples of France’s polemical theatre of the period, Les Philosophes by Charles Palissot (1760) and Voltaire’s Le Café ou L’Ecossaise (1760), Connors explores the emergence of spectators as active agents in French society, and shows how theatre achieved an unrivalled status as a cultural weapon on the eve of the French Revolution. Adopting a holistic approach, Connors provides an original view of how theatre productions ‘worked’ under the ancien régime, and discusses how a specific polemical atmosphere in the eighteenth century gave rise to modern notions of reception and spectatorship.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2012-07-04
Mått156 x 234 x undefined mm
FormatHäftad
SpråkEngelska
SerieOxford University Studies in the Enlightenment
Antal sidor287
FörlagVoltaire Foundation
ISBN9780729410472

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Litteraturvetenskap inom Skönlitteratur
Teater inom Kultur
Filosofiska discipliner inom Filosofi och religion

AcknowledgementsList of illustrationsIntroduction: decision makers, doctes and theatre1. Culture wars: philosphes and anti-philosophes in eighteenth-century France2. The anatomy of a crime: polemics, pamphlets and preconditioning3. A critical performance: Les Philosophes hits the boards4. Parterre and balcony, spectator and reader: Palissot’s dramaturgical strategies5. Pamphlets on the stage: Voltaire’s riposte philosophique6. Spectators or readers? Voltaire’s ‘public’ concerns in L’Ecossaise7. The affair continues: critical uncertainty in eighteenth-century France8. (Re)Creating the event: performance criticism as intellectual war9. Following the event: new definitions of theatre and criticism10. Aftermath: theatre and polemics in pre-Revolutionary FranceConclusion: le cri publicBibliographyIndex

Eighteenth-century specialists are well acquainted with the controversies surrounding the premieres of Charles Palissot's Les Philosophes and Voltaire's Le Caffé; ou, L'Écossaise at the Comédie-Française in 1760. […] Connors offers new perspectives on the conflict by delving deeply into the pamphlet literature and periodical reviews of the affair. For example, there is an insightful analysis of the short pamphlet Les Philosophes manqués by André-Charles Cailleau, written in the form of a play but never intended for the stage, which demonstrates how participants in the controversy appealed to both readers and spectators.[…] [T]his book is a welcome addition to recent interdisciplinary approaches to the interplay of public theatre and political culture in Old Regime and Revolutionary France.- French Studies