The Drama of Fallen France

Kenneth Krauss

Description

The Drama of Fallen France examines various dramatic works written and/or produced in Paris during the four years of Nazi occupation and explains what they may have meant to their original audiences. Because of widespread financial support from the new French government at Vichy, the former French capital underwent a renaissance of theatre during this period, and both the public playhouses and the private theatres provided an amazing array of new productions and revivals. Some of the plays considered here are well known: Anouilh's Antigone, Sartre's The Flies, Claudel's The Satin Slipper. Others have remained obscure, such as Cocteau's The Typewriter, Giraudoux's The Apollo of Marsac, and Montherlant's Nobody's Son; and two—André Obey's Eight Hundred Meters and Simone Jollivet's The Princess of Ursins—have remained virtually unread since the early 1940s. In examining French culture under the Vichy regime and the Nazis, Kenneth Krauss links the politics of gender and sexuality with the more traditional political concepts of collaboration and resistance. A final chapter on Truffaut's 1980 film, The Last Métro, demonstrates how the present manages to rewrite and revision the complex and seemingly contradictory reality of the past.

Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Overture

1. A Queer Premiere: Jean Cocteau's The Typewriter

2. Collabo Beefcake and Resistant Reception: Ambiguity in André Obey's Eight Hundred Meters and The Suppliant Women

3. French Identity: The Intended Audience for Jean Giraudoux's The Apollo of Marsac

4. The Limits of Opportunism: Simone Jollivet's The Princess of Ursins

5. The Politics of Intention: Jean Anouilh's Antigone via Oreste

6. The Politics of Reception: Jean-Paul Sartre's The Flies

7. A Politics of Sexuality: Henry de Montherlant's Nobody's Son

8. The Politics of Impersonation: Casting and Recasting Paul Claudel's The Satin Slipper

Epilogue: Catching The Last Métro: Francois Truffaut's Portrayal of Occupation Drama and Sexuality

Finale

Notes

Bibliography

Name Index and Literary Works

Sujets

• Theatre
• History of Europe
• France

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791485798
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

T HE  D RAMA OF  F ALLEN  F RANCE

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T HE D RAMA OF F ALLEN F RANCE

Readingla Comédie sans Tickets

Kenneth Krauss

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2004 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207

Production by Diane Ganeles Marketing by Anne M. Valentine

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Krauss, Kenneth, 1948– The drama of fallen France : Reading la comédie sans tickets / Kenneth Krauss. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-5953-5 (alk. paper) 1. French drama—20th century—History and criticism. 2. Government, Resistance to, in literature. 3. France—History—German occupation, 1940–1945. 4. Theater—France—History—20th century. 5. World War, 1939–1945—France— Theater and the war. I. Title.

PQ558.K73 2003 842'.91209358—dc21

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2003042558

To the memory of Eleanor Richman who, even when it might have been forgotten, kept alive in me the idea of France and gave so much to everyone.

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Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Overture

Contents

Chapter 1: A Queer Premiere: Jean Cocteau’sThe Typewriter

Chapter 2: Collabo Beefcake and Resistant Reception: Ambiguity in André Obey’sEight Hundred Meters and The Suppliant Women

Chapter 3: French Identity: The Intended Audience for Jean Giraudoux’sThe Apollo of Marsac

Chapter 4: The Limits of Opportunism: Simone Jollivet’sThe Princess of Ursins

Chapter 5: The Politics of Intention: Jean Anouilh’sAntigone viaOreste

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CONTENTS

Chapter 6: The Politics of Reception: Jean-Paul Sartre’sThe Flies

Chapter 7: A Politics of Sexuality: Henry de Montherlant’sNobody’s Son

Chapter 8: The Politics of Impersonation: Casting and Recasting Paul Claudel’sThe Satin Slipper

Epilogue: CatchingThe Last Métro: François Truffaut’s Portrayal of Occupation Drama and Sexuality

Finale

Notes

Bibliography

Name Index and Literary Works

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Illustrations

Cartoons of Cocteau and cast ofThe Typewriter Breker’s Sculptures at l’Orangerie Photo spread ofThe Suppliant Women Set designs forThe Apollo of Marsac Simone Jollivet around 1928 and 1943 The Princess of Ursins meets her nemesis Near the final curtain ofNobody’s Son

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