The melodramatic thread [electronic resource] : spectacle and political culture in modern France / James R. Lehning.

ISBN:

9780253117014

9780253349002

9780253219107

Title:

The melodramatic thread [electronic resource] : spectacle and political culture in modern France / James R. Lehning.

Author:

Lehning, James R., 1947-

Personal Author:

Lehning, James R., 1947-

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

1 online resource (180 pages).

Series:

Interdisciplinary studies in history

Contents:

Introduction -- Varieties of performance in nineteenth-century Paris -- Boulevard spectacles of the Third Republic -- Spectacles of light and darkness between the world wars -- Commercial spectacles in postwar Paris -- Conclusion.

Local Note:

eBooks on EBSCOhost

Subject Term:

Theater -- France -- History -- 19th century.

Theater -- France -- History -- 20th century.

Geographic Term:

France -- Politics and government -- 19th century.

France -- Politics and government -- 20th century.

France -- History -- Revolution, 1789-1799 -- Theater and the revolution.

France -- Politique et gouvernement -- 19e siècle.

France -- Politique et gouvernement -- 20e siècle.

France -- Histoire -- 1789-1799 (Révolution) -- Théâtre et révolution.

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

Click here to view

Publication Date:

2007

Publication Information:

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
792.0944 22	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ONLINE	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

"This ambitious undertaking is concerned with the melodramatic form in theatre and film and its impact on French political culture." -- H-France Review In France, both political culture and theatrical performances have drawn upon melodrama. This "melodramatic thread" helped weave the country's political life as it moved from monarchy to democracy. By examining the relationship between public ceremonies and theatrical performance, James R. Lehning sheds light on democratization in modern France. He explores the extent to which the dramatic forms were present in the public performance of political power. By concentrating on the Republic and the Revolution and on theatrical performance, Lehning affirms the importance of examining the performative aspects of French political culture for understanding the political differences that have marked France in the years since 1789. "In this thoroughly researched and persuasive book, Lehning provides a fascinating reading of public performances in modern France . . . This is an important contribution to the study of French culture and the democratization process . . . Essential." -- Choice "Lehning's application of the themes of melodrama to French political culture offers new insights into French history. His style is lively, clear, and highly readable." --Venita Datta, Wellesley College "The analyses in this book make a real contribution to debates about the ways in which art, particularly popular art, and politics interact; how politics itself is theatrical in the French case; and the role of ritual in politics and the function of politics as ritual and ceremony." --John Gaffney, Aston University

Author Notes

James R. Lehning is Professor of History at The University of Utah and author of To Be a Citizen: The Political Culture of the Early French Third Republic and Peasant and French: Cultural Contact in Rural France during the Nineteenth Century.

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

In this thoroughly researched and persuasive book, Lehning (history, Univ. of Utah) provides a fascinating reading of public performances in modern France. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach that builds on the work of Mona Ozouf (Festivals and the French Revolution, CH, Sep'88, 26-0469), Jurgen Habermas (The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere, CH, Mar'90, 27-4175), and Guy Debord (The Society of the Spectacle, 1994), the author examines specific ways in which civic ceremonies, theater, and film contributed to the democratization of France between the Revolution and the Fifth Republic. He argues that melodrama, with its Manichean dichotomy between good and evil, became the form where French culture performed its conflicts, desire for unity, and inability to find a satisfactory basis for postrevolutionary society. It helped political regimes communicate with citizens and legitimize themselves while limiting the stories French political culture could tell about the uses of power. By framing complicated issues in simplistic terms--threatened virtue, evil opponents, and rescued heroines (often the Republic)--melodrama damaged attempts to find a middle ground in French political discourse. Few contemporary questions are more vital than the development of democratic political systems. This is an important contribution to the study of French culture and the democratization process. Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates and above. C. B. Kerr Vassar College