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OverviewNapoleon’s biographers often note his fondness for theatre, but as we approach the bicentenary of the Emperor’s death, little remains known about the nature of theatre at the time. This is particularly the case for tragedy, the genre in which France considered itself to surpass its neighbours. Based on extensive archival research, this first sustained study of tragedy under Napoleon examines how a variety of agents used tragedy and its rewriting of history to make an impact on French politics, culture and society, and to help reconstruct the French nation after the Revolution. This volume covers not just Napoleon’s efforts, but also those of other individuals in government, the theatrical world, and the wider population. Similarly, it uncovers a public demand for tragedy, be it the return of Corneille, Racine, and Voltaire to the Comédie-Française, or new hits like Les Templiers (1805) and Hector (1809). This research also sheds new light on Napoleonic propaganda and censorship, exposing their incoherencies and illustrating how audiences reacted to these processes. In short, Tragedy and Nation in the Age of Napoleon argues that Napoleonic tragedy was not simply tired and derivative; it engaged its audiences, by chomping at the poetic bit, allowing for a retrial of the Revolution, and offering a vision of the new French nation. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Clare SiviterPublisher: Liverpool University Press Imprint: Voltaire Foundation Volume: 2020:05 ISBN: 9781789621051ISBN 10: 1789621054 Pages: 400 Publication Date: 11 May 2020 Audience: General/trade , General Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: In Print  This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us. Table of ContentsList of illustrations and tables Acknowledgements List of abbreviations Note on the text Introduction Reconstructing the nation Tracing tragedy Research aims and structure I. The reimposition of the tragic canon: introduction Chapter 1: The tragic inheritance The eighteenth century The Revolution Chapter 2: Rewriting the past Attempts at adaptation Institutional rewritings Tracing tragedy in performance The legacy of the afterlives Chapter 3: Heroic conquerors Censorship Propaganda II. New Napoleonic tragedies: introduction Tragédie Chapter 4: Composition, performance, reception: pulling back the curtain on censorship and propaganda To the Comédie-Française The bureaucratic censorship system Back at the theatre In print Chapter 5: The ambiguity of antiquity Ancient Greece: Pyrrhus, 1807, Polyxène, 1804, and Hector, 1809 Ancient Rome: Vitellie, 1809, Tibère, Bélisaire, Scipion, ou l’Africain and Camille, ou le Capitole sauvé Chapter 6: Heroes of the East Cyrus, 1804 Ninus II, 1813 Artaxerce, 1808 Omasis, ou Joseph en Egypte, 1806 Chapter 7: Fear of the foreign Staging foreign history: Mahomet II, 1811, Pierre le Grand, 1804, and Don Pèdre, ou le Roi et le laboureur, 1802 Foreign threats: Jeanne Gray, Marie Stuart, L’Orphelin polonois, Gênes sauvée and Wallstein Chapter 8: Meddling in the Middle Ages The Middle Ages on the stage: Brunehaut, 1810, and Les Templiers, 1805 Unperformed medieval tragédies nationales: Charlemagne, Clovis, Baudouin empereur, La Dèmence de Charles VI, La Régence de Charles VII and Arthur de Bretagne Chapter 9: Testing tragédies nationales Les Etats de Blois, 1810 and 1814 La Mort de Henri IV, 1806 Tippo-Saëb, 1813 Conclusion Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 Bibliography IndexReviews'The strengths of Siviter's book are numerous. The study is unambiguously comprehensive. She leaves no stone unturned in a quest to show how a variety of agents used tragedy and its rewriting of history to ultimately make an impact on French politics, culture and society in an attempt to reconstruct the French nation. [...] Siviter's book is a masterful achievement of erudition, a fine collection of close readings of tragedies, and a detailed reassessment of Napoleon's cultural politics.' Logan J. Connors, University of Miami "'The strengths of Siviter's book are numerous. The study is unambiguously comprehensive. She leaves no stone unturned in a quest to show how ""a variety of agents"" used ""tragedy and its rewriting of history"" to ultimately make ""an impact on French politics, culture and society in an attempt to reconstruct the French nation."" [...] Siviter's book is a masterful achievement of erudition, a fine collection of close readings of tragedies, and a detailed reassessment of Napoleon’s cultural politics.' Logan J. Connors, H-France Review Shortlisted for the Society for French Studies' R. Gapper Book Prize" Author InformationClare Siviter is lecturer in French theatre and performance at the University of Bristol. Her research focuses on the longer Revolutionary period from 1789 to 1815 in France and Francophone communities, and she is particularly interested in censorship, propaganda, and theatrical encounters between different cultures. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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