Goldoni in Paris: La Gloire et le Malentendu (Oxford Modern Languages and Literature Monographs)

The thirty years Carlo Goldoni spent in Paris hold an ambiguous place in his career. The preface to his autobiography explicitly draws attention to France as the site of his authorial glory, but elsewhere he dismisses his work for the Parisian Comedie-Italienne as a failure, and this view has come to dominate modern readings of his French experience. This study sets out to explore this apparent contradiction. By reading Goldoni's own contemporary and subsequent accounts through the lens of his context as a dramatic author in 1760s Paris, Jessica Goodman sheds new light on both his experience and critical reactions to that experience. A key part of this contextualisation is an examination of contemporary Comedie-Italienne archives, resulting in the most comprehensive existing account of this oft-neglected theatre and its authorial relations in the period. When material and artistic conditions at the Comedie-Italienne thwarted the self-fashioning strategies Goldoni had developed in Italy, he turned his attention to other areas of French life; notably the court and the Comedie-Francaise.0Yet despite relative success in this regard, his career as an eclectic homme de lettres was lost in translation to posterity. In his French Memoires, he constructed the claim of Parisian glory according to an out-dated understanding of what it meant to succeed in the French literary field, focusing predominantly on the power of Comedie-Francaise success. Ultimately, this construction was a failure: in modern France, Goldoni is remembered as a famous foreigner, not the consecrated French litterateur he believed he had become. Read more... Abstract: Jessica Goodman sheds new light on Carlo Goldoni's experience as a dramatic author in 1760s Paris, and on his critical reactions to that experience. She draws on contemporary Comedie-Italienne archives to offer the most comprehensive existing account of this oft-neglected theatre and its authorial relations. Read more... Content: Cover Goldoni in Paris: La Gloire et le Malentendu Copyright Dedication Acknowledgements Contents List of Abbreviations A. LIBRARY ABBREVIATIONS B. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ABBREVIATIONS I. Journals II. Multi-Volume Works and Special Editions Comédie-Italienne Timeline Goldoni Timeline Prologue Introduction A. An author, a theatre, a city B. LA GLOIRE C. MISUNDERSTANDING A MALENTENDU ? D. METHODS AND SOURCES 1: The Strange Case of Carlo Goldoni A. Goldoni, celebrated Venetian author I. Becoming an Author in Venice II. Authorship as `mestiere ́ III. A `poeta di teatró IV. The Author as Symbolic FigureB. The invitation to Paris I. A Historical Unknown II. Goldoniś Acceptance C. Disappointment and departure I. Frustration and Failure II. Writing Home 2: Mapping Theatrical Paris A. The Geography of Theatrical Paris B. Mapping theatrical hierarchies I. Administrative and Social Hierarchies II. Literary Hierarchy C. Commerce and competition I. Anatomy of a Theatre Audience II. Subventions, sociétés, Debts, and recettes III. Competition: a Day-to-Day Struggle D. Moving the goalposts I. New Genres, New Rules II. The Threat of the Boulevard 3: Being an Author in Eighteenth-Century TheatreA. The author and the cultural field I. Forms of Capital in the Cultural Field II. The Individual Trajectory B. Capital and the theatrical field I. The History of the Theatrical Field II. The Comédie-Française Standard III. The Comédie-Italienne: Towards a New Notion of Property C. Six authors in search of a career I. Six Theatrical Careers II. Time, Money, and Symbolic Capital 4: The Rules of the Game: Authorship at the Comédie-Italienne A. Comédie-Italienne authors: two early stars I. Luigi Riccoboni, capocomico II. Pierre MarivauxB. The official line: the author in the règlements I. Early Regulations on Authorship II. Repertoire Management: a Two-Pronged Attack III. Emulation or Repertoire Theft? IV. Respect and Value C. An authorś inconsistent lot I. The Commercial Comédie-Italienne? II. Grandees and Minor Scribblers III. A French Counterpoint D. Revisiting Goldoni: his role and his impact I. Goldoni, Comédie-Italienne Author II. `Un chef toûjours présent ́ III. Novelty and Posterity 5: Goldoniś Dilemma: Authorship and Authority A. Authorship and anonymity I. Improvisation as AuthorshipII. Whose Title Is It Anyway? III. The acteur-auteur IV. `Anon ́in Literature B. Text as authority (i): Don Robertoś will I. Power Games II. The Death of the Author III. The Birth of the Director? C. Text as authority (ii): the temporality of authorship I. The Model of the lazzo II. The Power of Print III. `Goldoni:́ Exploiting the Brand 6: Goldoniś Parisian Career A. Success at the Comédie-Italienne I. Pleasing the Public II. Critical Acclaim B. Beyond the Hôtel de Bourgogne I. Society II. Other Literary Activity C. Goldoniś malentendus The Thirty Years Carlo Goldoni Spent In Paris Hold An Ambiguous Place In His Career. The Preface To His Autobiography Explicitly Draws Attention To France As The Site Of His Authorial Glory, But Elsewhere He Dismisses His Work For The Parisian Comedie-italienne As A Failure, And This View Has Come To Dominate Modern Readings Of His French Experience. This Study Sets Out To Explore This Apparent Contradiction. By Reading Goldoni's Own Contemporary And Subsequent Accounts Through The Lens Of His Context As A Dramatic Author In 1760s Paris, Jessica Goodman Sheds New Light On Both His Experience And Critical Reactions To That Experience. A Key Part Of This Contextualisation Is An Examination Of Contemporary Comedie-italienne Archives, Resulting In The Most Comprehensive Existing Account Of This Oft-neglected Theatre And Its Authorial Relations In The Period. When Material And Artistic Conditions At The Comedie-italienne Thwarted The Self-fashioning Strategies Goldoni Had Developed In Italy, He Turned His Attention To Other Areas Of French Life; Notably The Court And The Comedie-francaise. Yet Despite Relative Success In This Regard, His Career As An Eclectic Homme De Lettres Was Lost In Translation To Posterity. In His French Memoires, He Constructed The Claim Of Parisian Glory According To An Out-dated Understanding Of What It Meant To Succeed In The French Literary Field, Focusing Predominantly On The Power Of Comedie-francaise Success. Ultimately, This Construction Was A Failure: In Modern France, Goldoni Is Remembered As A Famous Foreigner, Not The Consecrated French Litterateur He Believed He Had Become. Jessica Goodman. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 203-220) And Index. La 4e de couverture de la jaquette indique : "The thirty years Carlo Goldoni spent in Paris hold an ambiguous place in his career. The preface to his autobiography explicitly draws attention to France as the site of his authorial glory, but elsewhere he dismisses his work for the Parisian Comedie-Italienne as a failure, and this view has come to dominate modern readings of his French experience. This study sets out to explore this apparent contradiction. By reading Goldoni's own contemporary and subsequent accounts through the lens of his context as a dramatic author in 1760s Paris, Jessica Goodman sheds new light on both his experience and critical reactions to that experience. A key part of this contextualisation is an examination of contemporary Comedie-Italienne archives, resulting in the most comprehensive existing account of this oft-neglected theatre and its authorial relations in the period. When material and artistic conditions at the Comedie-Italienne thwarted the self-fashioning strategies Goldoni had developed in Italy, he turned his attention to other areas of French life; notably the court and the Comedie-Francaise. Yet despite relative success in this regard, his career as an eclectic homme de lettres was lost in translation to posterity. In his French Memoires, he constructed the claim of Parisian glory according to an out-dated understanding of what it meant to succeed in the French literary field, focusing predominantly on the power of Comedie-Francaise success. Ultimately, this construction was a failure: in modern France, Goldoni is remembered as a famous foreigner, not the consecrated French litterateur he believed he had become." "The thirty years Carlo Goldoni spent in Paris hold an ambiguous place in his career. The preface to his autobiography explicitly draws attention to France as the site of his authorial glory, but elsewhere he dismisses his work for the Parisian Comedie-Italienne as a failure, and this view has come to dominate modern readings of his French experience. This study sets out to explore this apparent contradiction. By reading Goldoni's own contemporary and subsequent accounts through the lens of his context as a dramatic author in 1760s Paris, Jessica Goodman sheds new light on both his experience and critical reactions to that experience. A key part of this contextualisation is an examination of contemporary Comedie-Italienne archives, resulting in the most comprehensive existing account of this oft-neglected theatre and its authorial relations in the period. When material and artistic conditions at the Comedie-Italienne thwarted the self-fashioning strategies Goldoni had developed in Italy, he turned his attention to other areas of French life; notably the court and the Comedie-Francaise. Yet despite relative success in this regard, his career as an eclectic homme de lettres was lost in translation to posterity. In his French Memoires, he constructed the claim of Parisian glory according to an out-dated understanding of what it meant to succeed in the French literary field, focusing predominantly on the power of Comedie-Francaise success. Ultimately, this construction was a failure: in modern France, Goldoni is remembered as a famous foreigner, not the consecrated French litterateur he believed he had become."-- Provided by publisher The thirty years Carlo Goldoni spent in Paris hold an ambiguous place in his career. The preface to his autobiography explicitly draws attention to France as the site of his authorial glory, but elsewhere he dismisses his work for the Parisian Comédie-Italienne as a failure, and this view has come to dominate modern readings of his French experience. This study sets out to explore this apparent contradiction. By reading Goldoni’s own contemporary and subsequent accounts through the lens of his context as a dramatic author in 1760s Paris, this book sheds new light on both his experience and critical reactions to that experience. A key part of this contextualization is an examination of contemporary Comédie-Italienne archives, resulting in the most comprehensive existing account of this oft-neglected theatre and its authorial relations in the period. When material and artistic conditions at the Comédie-Italienne thwarted the self-fashioning strategies Goldoni had developed in Italy, he turned his attention to other areas of French life; notably the court and the Comédie-Française. Yet despite relative success in this regard, his career as an eclectic __homme de lettres__ was lost in translation to posterity. In his French __Mémoires__, he constructed the claim of Parisian glory according to an outdated understanding of what it meant to succeed in the French literary field, focusing predominantly on the power of Comédie-Française success. Ultimately, this construction was a failure: in modern France, Goldoni is remembered as a famous foreigner, not the consecrated French __littérateur__ he believed he had become. The thirty years Carlo Goldoni spent in Paris hold an ambiguous place in his career. The preface to his autobiography explicitly draws attention to France as the site of his authorial glory, but elsewhere he dismisses his work for the Parisian Comédie-Italienne as a failure, and this view has come to dominate modern readings of his French experience. This study sets out to explore this apparent contradiction. By reading Goldoni's own contemporary and subsequent accounts through the lens of his context as a dramatic author in 1760s Paris, Jessica Goodman sheds new light on both his experience and critical reactions to that experience. A key part of this contextualisation is an examination of contemporary Comédie-Italienne archives, resulting in the most comprehensive existing account of this oft-neglected theatre and its authorial relations in the period. When material and artistic conditions at the Comédie-Italienne thwarted the self-fashioning strategies Goldoni had developed in Italy, he turned his attention to other areas of French life; notably the court and the Comédie-Française. Yet despite relative success in this regard, his career as an eclectic homme de lettres was lost in translation to posterity. In his French Mémoires, he constructed the claim of Parisian glory according to an out-dated understanding of what it meant to succeed in the French literary field, focusing predominantly on the power of Comédie-Française success. Ultimately, this construction was a failure: in modern France, Goldoni is remembered as a famous foreigner, not the consecrated French littérateur he believed he had become.