Theatre, Politics, and Markets in Fin-de-Sicle Paris Staging Modernity [Hardcover]

Since the Enlightenment, French theatre has occupied a prominent place within French thought, society and culture, but as a subject of study it has remained a purview of theatre historians, literary scholars and aestheticians. They focus on the emergence of the modern theatre as change generated from within bourgeois literary drama but ignore theatre as a complex social practice. Theatre, Politics, and Markets in Fin-de-Si?cle Paris investigates the dynamic relationships among the avant-garde, official culture and the commercial sphere, arguing against the neat divide of 'high' and 'low' culture by showing how cultural forms of varying social origins influenced each other.Introduction PART I: ECONOMICS AND POLITICS OF THE NEW THEATRE French Society, Commercial Culture, and the Emergence of Modern Theatre: Andr? Antoine and the Th??tre Libre The Politics of Censorship PART II: AESTHETICS OF AVANT-GARDE THEATRE Modernist Expressions Foreign Playwrights, Avant-Garde Theatres, and French Critics PART III: MODERN THEATRE AND THE 'POPULAR' The Popular Theatre Movement Le Th??tre du Peuple: Modern Theatre, Regionalism, and the Search for the Authentic in Fin-de-Si?cle France Conclusion

Sally Debra Charnow s Theatre, Politics, and Markets in Fin-de-Sie`cle Paris aims to contribute not only to our histories of theater but also to our histories of modernism, modernity, and the complex creation of national and regional identity. Charnow is particularly good at describing individual avant-garde plays, explaining why modernist directors picked them to produce, and analyzing how French reviewers responded to the Paris premieres of both French and foreign works, especially the work of Henrik Ibsen....Charnow s work will probably be most interesting for historians of French theater and politics. It could also be useful, however, for scholars interested in pursuing the comparative study of modernism or further understanding how social, economic, and cultural developments ovlã3