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- Title
An Elusive Controversy: the Beginnings of Polemics Against the Stage in France.
- Authors
Lecercle, François
- Abstract
The stage controversy in France seems to start very late: the main texts date from the second half of the seventeenth century and the first antitheatrical pamphlet was published in 1639. But the debate began in fact as early as 1541: a debate in the Parliament of Paris shows that the conditions are already ripe for fully fledged polemics. This article looks into the beginnings of the controversy to explain why it is so elusive and so versatile. The transformation of theatrical representations into highly profitable enterprises and, later, the appearance of professional companies, provoked strong opposition from various parties. This led to a series of mostly oral conflicts and resulted in few written documents. The interests at stake changed from one dispute to the next but various reasons--socioeconomic, ideological, and political--converged to make the theater an ideal scapegoat: the source of all types of evil.
- Subjects
FRANCE; POLEMICS; THEATER; FRENCH literature; ENGLISH theater; RICHELIEU, Armand Jean du Plessis, duc de, 1585-1642
- Publication
Restoration & 18th Century Theatre Research, 2014, Vol 29, Issue 1, p17
- ISSN
0034-5822
- Publication type
Article