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Redistributed Bodiliness : The Reception of French Fable Comedies in Eighteenth-Century Scandinavia

Zillén, Erik LU orcid (2016) p.49-66
Abstract
The chapter traces the eighteenth-century reception in Scandinavia of Edme Boursault’s fable comedy Esope (1690). After some initial difficulties, Boursault’s play, innovatively combining the popular genres of fable and comedy, scored a success at the Comédie Française and was also staged abroad. The fable comedy in 1722 reached the playhouse in Copenhagen in a Danish translation, entitled Aesopus and based on the English adaptation. Aesopus was, however, performed only once. Moreover, the fables were subsequently broken loose from the comedy and published separately. The paper discusses the abortive Danish reaction to the fable comedy in terms of a redistribution of the double function of utile dulci. Since the fables in Boursault’s... (More)
The chapter traces the eighteenth-century reception in Scandinavia of Edme Boursault’s fable comedy Esope (1690). After some initial difficulties, Boursault’s play, innovatively combining the popular genres of fable and comedy, scored a success at the Comédie Française and was also staged abroad. The fable comedy in 1722 reached the playhouse in Copenhagen in a Danish translation, entitled Aesopus and based on the English adaptation. Aesopus was, however, performed only once. Moreover, the fables were subsequently broken loose from the comedy and published separately. The paper discusses the abortive Danish reaction to the fable comedy in terms of a redistribution of the double function of utile dulci. Since the fables in Boursault’s theatrical invention were assigned primarily the function of moral usefulness, they had – in order to regain their full pleasure value and their full corporeality – to be liberated from the dramatic whole. Thus interpreted, the Danish reception reflects the basic instability of the French genre fusion. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
fable, comedy, Edme Boursault, genre fusion, reception, Scandinavia
host publication
Kosmopolitismus und Körperlichkeit im europäischen Theater des 18. Jahrhunderts
editor
Müller, Katharina and Schröder, Stephan Michael
pages
49 - 66
publisher
Herbert Utz Verlag
ISBN
978-3-8316-4428-5
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
49ca671e-e5fc-477e-a057-ec8b12a3550c (old id 8863873)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 11:05:32
date last changed
2020-07-06 15:41:40
@inbook{49ca671e-e5fc-477e-a057-ec8b12a3550c,
  abstract     = {{The chapter traces the eighteenth-century reception in Scandinavia of Edme Boursault’s fable comedy Esope (1690). After some initial difficulties, Boursault’s play, innovatively combining the popular genres of fable and comedy, scored a success at the Comédie Française and was also staged abroad. The fable comedy in 1722 reached the playhouse in Copenhagen in a Danish translation, entitled Aesopus and based on the English adaptation. Aesopus was, however, performed only once. Moreover, the fables were subsequently broken loose from the comedy and published separately. The paper discusses the abortive Danish reaction to the fable comedy in terms of a redistribution of the double function of utile dulci. Since the fables in Boursault’s theatrical invention were assigned primarily the function of moral usefulness, they had – in order to regain their full pleasure value and their full corporeality – to be liberated from the dramatic whole. Thus interpreted, the Danish reception reflects the basic instability of the French genre fusion.}},
  author       = {{Zillén, Erik}},
  booktitle    = {{Kosmopolitismus und Körperlichkeit im europäischen Theater des 18. Jahrhunderts}},
  editor       = {{Müller, Katharina and Schröder, Stephan Michael}},
  isbn         = {{978-3-8316-4428-5}},
  keywords     = {{fable; comedy; Edme Boursault; genre fusion; reception; Scandinavia}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{49--66}},
  publisher    = {{Herbert Utz Verlag}},
  title        = {{Redistributed Bodiliness : The Reception of French Fable Comedies in Eighteenth-Century Scandinavia}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}