Overview

In Revolutionary Acts Susan Maslan shows how theater played a pivotal role in Revolutionary France, positioning the theatrical stage as a battleground on which Parisian audiences, actors and playwrights, and political authorities fought to shape the newly emerging democracy. Examining the production, performance, and reception of Parisian plays between 1789 and 1794, Maslan sheds new light on two issues central to the political cultures of Paris and France: the nature of political representation-specifically the problematic relationship between direct democracy and representative democracy-and the correlative problem of transparency and its relation to theatricality. While traditional scholarship emphasizes the influence of newspapers and books on the French Revolution, Maslan's erudite analysis reveals the rich and powerful impact of theater on France's fledgling democracy.

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9781421416946

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Reviews

In its bold and compelling arguments and its subtle textual analyses, Maslan's study is one of the most important and innovative books on revolutionary theater published in recent years. It makes an important contribution not only to the study of literature but also to the understanding of the history and political culture of the period. Brecht Yearbook Revolutionary Acts is most successful as a series of creative, highly historicized... readings of the performances and reception of a handful of plays from 1780 to 1795. -- Jeffrey Ravel Journal of Modern History Maslan's thought-provoking book makes a distinctive contribution to the understanding of the literary and cultural history of the French Revolution. Modern Language Review Original and thoughtful work... offers great originality, creativity, thoughtfulness and erudition. H-France Ambitious, insightful, and engaging study. -- Thomas Wynn French Studies

Compelling and impeccably argued. The book provides a deeply integrated analysis of theatre and revolutionary political culture; it is one of the most successful studies to emerge from this important historiographical trend. Maslan's admirable work furthers our understanding of the theatre's role at one of the most important junctures in the history of democracy. Theatre Journal In its bold and compelling arguments and its subtle textual analyses, Maslan's study is one of the most important and innovative books on revolutionary theater published in recent years. It makes an important contribution not only to the study of literature but also to the understanding of the history and political culture of the period. Brecht Yearbook Revolutionary Acts is most successful as a series of creative, highly historicized... readings of the performances and reception of a handful of plays from 1780 to 1795. -- Jeffrey Ravel Journal of Modern History Maslan's thought-provoking book makes a distinctive contribution to the understanding of the literary and cultural history of the French Revolution. Modern Language Review Original and thoughtful work... offers great originality, creativity, thoughtfulness and erudition. H-France Ambitious, insightful, and engaging study. -- Thomas Wynn French Studies

Author Information

Susan Maslan is an associate professor of French at the University of California-Berkeley.

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