How do nationalized stereotypes inform the reception and content of the migrant comedian’s work? How do performers adapt? What gets lost (and found) in translation? Border-Crossing and Comedy at the Théâtre Italien, 1716-1723 explores these questions in an early modern context. When a troupe of commedia dell’arte actors were invited by the French crown to establish a theatre in Paris, they found their transition was anything but easy. They had to learn a new language and adjust to French expectations and demands. This study presents their story as a dynamic model of coping with the challenges of migration, whereby the actors made their transnational identity a central focus of their comedy. Relating their work to popular twenty-first century comedians, this book also discusses the tools and ideas that contextualize the border-crossing comedian’s work―including diplomacy, translation, improvisation, and parody―across time.
Author(s): Matthew J. McMahan
Series: Transnational Theatre Histories
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 279
City: Cham
Acknowledgments
Contents
List of Figures
1 Introduction
Approach
Border-Crossing Comedy
Organization
References
2 The Italian Brand on the French Stage
France in Transition
Migrant Troupes, National Legacies
Failures, at Home and Abroad
First Impressions
Excellent Actors, Miserable Plays
Conclusion
References
3 Prologues, Metacomedy, and Cross-Cultural Rapport
Foreign Identities
Rapport
The Two Arlequins
Malleability
Comedy as Mode of Discourse
Comedy About Comedy
Comédie-Italienne Vs Comédie-Française
Conclusion
References
4 Bilingualism and Translation in Comedy
Language Barriers
Translations
Macaronics
Dialect Play in Italian Comedy
Tempering Expectations
The First Francophone Play
Love, the Master of Tongues
Conclusion
References
5 Stereotypes, Self-Deprecation, and Refracted Satire
Italian Volatility
French Liberty
Self-Deprecation
L’Italien Marié à Paris
L’Italien Francisé
Le Jaloux
Conclusion
References
6 Improvisation, Emotion, and Nationalized Esthetics
Improvisation Versus Déclamation
The Italian Way
Je Ne Sais Quoi
Limitations of Improvisation
Emotion
Conclusion
References
7 Parody as Transcultural Critique
Transcultural Parody
Practice in Eighteenth-Century France
Œdipe Travesti
Agnès de Chaillot
Defense of Parody
Conclusion
References
8 Epilogue
Other Italians in France
Cultural Improvisations
References
Index
