The Melodramatic Thread
Interdisciplinary Studies in History
EDITOR
Harvey J. Graff
James R. Lehning
The Melodramatic Thread
Spectacle and
Political Culture
in Modern France
Indiana University Press
BLOOMINGTON & INDIANAPOLIS
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© 2007 by James R. Lehning
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
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Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lehning, James R., date.
The melodramatic thread : spectacle and political culture in modern France / James R. Lehning.
p. cm. — (Interdisciplinary studies in history)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-253-34900-2 (cl : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-253-21910-7 (pbk : alk. paper) 1. Theater—France—History—19th century. 2. Theater—France—History—20th century. 3. France—Politics and government—19th century. 4. France—Politics and government—20th century. 5. France—History—Revolution, 1789–1799—Theater and the revolution. I. Title.
PN2634.L44 2007
792.0944—dc22
2006100897
1 2 3 4 5 12 11 10 09 08 07
FOR AMANDA AND CHARLES
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Varieties of Performance in Nineteenth-Century Paris
3. Boulevard Spectacles of the Third Republic
4. Spectacles of Light and Darkness between the World Wars
5. Commercial Spectacles in Postwar Paris
6. Conclusion
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
The completion of this book owes much to people who have helped me along the way. Harvey Graff first suggested to me that I write a book that became this one, and offered a place for it in his series with Indiana University Press. Harvey and Bob Sloan of IUP have both been supportive as I have written the book, and I will always be grateful for their patience. The referees for the press, especially Venita Datta, made comments that greatly improved the book. I have also learned much from friends and colleagues with whom I have talked. As always, Joan Scott’s support has been crucial. At the University of Utah, Bob Goldberg, Ray Gunn, Ron Smelser, Esther Rashkin, and Bruce Dain helped with suggestions, references, and loans of books. Parts of chapter 3 were presented as a paper at the Society for French Historical Studies meeting in March 2005, and I am grateful to the commentator, Ray Jonas, and to the audience and other participants for their comments.
The Interlibrary Loan office of the Marriott Library at the University of Utah helped, as usual, to overcome the limitations of the library collection. I also thank the libraries of the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Washington, and Brigham Young University for allowing me to use their collections.
Financial support for this project came from the University of Utah Research Committee, which gave me a Faculty Research Grant for research in Paris and then extended it when my original plans did not work out. Robert Newman, Dean of Humanities at the University of Utah, has supported my work since his arrival in Salt Lake City, and I am particularly grateful for his permission to leave behind my administrative duties and head for Paris in February 2004. Liz Leckie, Assistant Dean of Humanities, also deserves thanks for taking over those duties during my absence from campus. Ray Gunn and Eric Hinderaker, chairs of the History Department during the life of this project, have also been supportive in every way possible. To all these people, and to those I may have neglected to mention, my deepest thanks.
Salt Lake City
October 19, 2006
The Melodramatic Thread
1. Introduction
On June 8, 1794, at the height of the Terror, the leaders of France and the people of Paris celebrated a Festival of the Supreme Being in central Paris. With Jacques-Louis David as impresario, the houses of Paris were decorated with tree branches, flowers, and tricolored flags to demonstrate the productivity of the soil of France and the glory of the Republic. The Tuileries Gardens, which would be the site of the first part of the festival, featured a statue representing atheism, with the inscription “only hope of the foreigner” on it. Across the Seine, the Champs de Mars, the site of previous revolutionary festivals, had been renamed the Champs de la Réunion. In the immense field rose a high mountain that would be the focal point for the second half of the celebration.
The Festival of the Supreme Being began with a cannon salvo summoning men and women from each section of the city to the Tuileries. Mothers carrying roses symbolizing mercy, young girls with baskets filled with flowers to symbolize youth, and men and boys with tree branches to represent the masculine virtues of strength and liberty all converged on the Tuileries Gardens. They were met by members of the Convention, with Maximilien Robespierre, in his role as president of the Convention, at their head. The Conventionnels also participated in the symbolism of the festival, holding shocks of wheat, flowers, and fruits.1
Robespierre welcomed the processions from around the city with a speech celebrating France’s devotion to the Supreme Being, the source of all that was good, including the Republic and the liberty written in men’s hearts. In spite of the ongoing war, the Terror, and the need for revolutionary vigilance, he urged his fellow citizens to give themselves over to joy on this day of festivities. This speech was followed by a performance by the Opera of Theodore Désorgues’s song “Father of the Universe, Supreme Intelligence,” set to music by François-Joseph Gossec. Robespierre then set fire to the statue of Atheism, which disappeared in flames to be replaced by a statue of Wisdom. Interpreting the