Representation and Identity from Versailles to the Present

Transcription

1 Representation and Identity from Versailles to the Present

2 PALGRAVE STUDIES IN THEATRE AND PERFORMANCE HISTORY is a series devoted to the best of theatre/performance scholarship currently available, accessible and free of jargon. It strives to include a wide range of topics, from the more traditional to those performance forms that in recent years have helped broaden the understanding of what theatre as a category might include (from variety forms as diverse as the circus and burlesque to street buskers, stage magic, and musical theatre, among many others). Although historical, critical, or analytical studies are of special interest, more theoretical projects, if not the dominant thrust of a study, but utilized as important underpinning or as a historiographical or analytical method of exploration, are also of interest. Textual studies of drama or other types of less traditional performance texts are also germane to the series if placed in their cultural, historical, social, or political and economic context. There is no geographical focus for this series and works of excellence of a diverse and international nature, including comparative studies, are sought. The editor of the series is Don B. Wilmeth (EMERITUS, Brown University), Ph.D., University of Illinois, who brings to the series over a dozen years as editor of a book series on American theatre and drama, in addition to his own extensive experience as an editor of books and journals. He is the author of several award-winning books and has received numerous career achievement awards, including one for sustained excellence in editing from the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. Also in the series: Undressed for Success by Brenda Foley Theatre, Performance, and the Historical Avant-garde by Günter Berghaus Theatre, Politics, and Markets in Fin-de-Siècle Paris by Sally Charnow Ghosts of Theatre and Cinema in the Brain by Mark Pizzato Moscow Theatres for Young People by Manon van de Water Absence and Memory in Colonial American Theatre by Odai Johnson Vaudeville Wars: How the Keith-Albee and Orpheum Circuits Controlled the Big-Time and Its Performers by Arthur Frank Wertheim Performance and Femininity in Eighteenth-Century German Women s Writing by Wendy Arons Operatic China: Staging Chinese Identity across the Pacific by Daphne P. Lei Transatlantic Stage Stars in Vaudeville and Variety: Celebrity Turns by Leigh Woods Interrogating America through Theatre and Performance edited by William W. Demastes and Iris Smith Fischer Plays in American Periodicals, by Susan Harris Smith Representation and Identity from Versailles to the Present: The Performing Subject by Alan Sikes

3 Representation and Identity from Versailles to the Present The Performing Subject Alan Sikes

4 REPRESENTATION AND IDENTITY FROM VERSAILLES TO THE PRESENT Copyright Alan Sikes, All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2007 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: August

5 Contents x List of Illustrations Credits Acknowledgments vii ix xi 1. The Performing Subject: Identity and Representation in the Modern and the Postmodern Eras 1 2. Dancing with the Sun King: The Performance of Privilege in the Reign of Louis XIV Snip Snip Here, Snip Snip There, and a Couple of Tra-La-La s : The Rise and Fall of the Castrato Singer Liberty, Equality, Festivity: Citizen Action and the Libratory Legacy of the French Revolution Smoke and Mirrors: The Hysterical Woman from Zola to Freud Communism: Coming to a Screen Near You! Benjamin, Adorno, and the Politics of Mediatization 145 Conclusion: Queer Horizons Postmodern Performativity and Political Action 173 Notes 183 Index 209

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7 List of Illustrations x 2.1 Tabulation of the tordion, to be danced after the retour of the basse dance The five good beginning foot positions The five false beginning foot positions Variations upon the five basic steps The various signs placed upon the steps The various signs placed upon the steps Dance notations placed upon a chemin The dedication of the Temple of Reason during the Fête de la Raison The artificial mountain erected for the Fête de l Être Suprême The cinema as a locus of encounter The cinema as a locus of alienation 162

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9 Credits x The cover illustration, a schematic diagram for Dancing beyond Boundaries, appears courtesy of the Digital Worlds Institute. An earlier version of chapter 3 appeared in Studies in Eighteenth Century Culture. Vol. 34 (2004): The dance notation image from Arbeau, Orchésographie on pages appears courtesy of Dover Press. The dance notation images from Feuillet, Chorégraphie on pages appear courtesy of Arnoldo Forni, Editore. The images of the Festival of Reason and the Festival of the Supreme Being on pages 105 and 107 appear courtesy of The Bibliotheque Nationale. The still image from Man With a Movie Camera on page 156 appears courtesy of Kino Video. The still image from The Führer Gives a City to the Jews on page 162 appears courtesy of the National Center for Jewish Film.

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11 Acknowledgments x Alist of everyone who has contributed to this book would read longer than the book itself; nonetheless, I must mention several people who merit individual thanks. First I thank my family who have never wavered in their unconditional love and support for me and for my work. I am indebted to my parents, Elizabeth Turner Sikes and John Sikes; I owe them much more than my life, for they instilled in me the selfconfidence to attempt a project of this scope and magnitude. I also owe a debt of thanks to my other family members, all of whom have offered me unstinting emotional, moral, and even financial support over the years: my stepparents Sheila Infanti-Sikes and Bobby Parker; my aunts and uncles Al and Elizabeth Schwerck and Ann and Kenneth Tarlton; the only siblings I have ever known, my cousins Robin Long, Michelle Morgan, Scott Parker, Bryan Tarlton, and, requiescat in pace, Lee Ann Tarlton. I also wish to honor the memory of my grandparents, Erie and Gladys Sikes, and Evelyn and Lee Turner; their fortitude and integrity continue to inspire me to this day. Next I must thank Palgrave series editor Don Wilmeth, who from the outset expressed enthusiasm for my project, gave me rare insight into the publication process, and nurtured me through every step in its further development. My thanks also to assistant editor Julia Cohen, who responded promptly to my every query and saw me, a novice author, through the difficult path to publication. If my family provided the impetus for this book, and if my editors guided through its publication process, then many teachers and mentors offered me the intellectual tools to write it in the first place. I am grateful to my undergraduate professors at the University of North Carolina- Charlotte, especially Jack Beasley and Robert Croghan, who taught me to think critically not only about the world of theatre, but also about the world at large. I would also like to thank those at the University of Wisconsin- Madison who served on my Masters project committees: Edward Amor, Sally Banes, Mary Karen Dahl, Jill Dolan, and Linda Essig. Together they

12 xii Acknowledgments introduced me to a new level of intellectual engagement with theatrical production. And my thanks also to the Ph.D. faculty at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, whose efforts directly inspired the writing of this book. Professors Glen Gadberry and Tamara Underiner introduced me to the topics that figure centrally in the pages of this text. My doctoral dissertation committee read and responded to initial drafts of the text itself; my thanks, therefore to Sonja Kuftinec, Richard Leppert, Aleksandra Wolska, and especially my dissertation advisor Michal Kobialka, who challenged me to think otherwise about the dissertation, and, later, about every stage in its subsequent development. I also want to thank my fellow students at the University of Minnesota who shared their ideas and inspiration during our years of coursework together. They include, but are certainly not limited to Lisa Arnold, Natalya Baldyga, Jeffrey Bleam, Anja Klöck, Megan and Michael Lewis-Schurter, Scott Magellsen, Megan Sanborn-Jones, Eric Severson, and Matthew Wagner. Thanks also to my Minnesota colleague Lisa Peschel, whose insights on Terezín deeply shaped my thoughts on the subject. A number of colleagues have supported my efforts, and I owe them a debt of thanks as well. During my two years as visiting assistant professor at Florida State University my fellow faculty members Mary Karen Dahl, Laura Edmondson, Anita Gonzalez, and Carrie Sandahl did everything in their power to maximize my time to write this book, especially given my hectic teaching schedule. And my new colleagues on the graduate faculty at Hunter College-CUNY have generously accommodated my writing schedule, so I extend my thanks to Joel Bassin, Barbara Bosch, Ian Calderon, Mira Felner, Jean Graham-Jones, Claudia Orenstein, and, especially, department chair Jonathan Kalb for their guidance and support. Finally, and perhaps most crucially, I want to thank my partner John Fletcher and his loving, supportive family: parents Dan and Juanita Fletcher, sister Elizabeth Fletcher-Brown, and brother-in-law Adrian Brown. John has been both my intimate and my intellectual companion throughout the writing of this book; his influence stamps every page of the manuscript, and my debt to him is immeasurable.