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A Theater of Diplomacy : International Relations and the Performing Arts in Early Modern France / Ellen R. Welch.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Haney Foundation SeriesPublisher: Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2017]Copyright date: ©2017Description: 1 online resource (312 p.) : 10 illusContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780812249002
  • 9780812293869
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 327.4 23
LOC classification:
  • JZ1587 .W44 2017
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources: Available additional physical forms:
  • Issued also in print.
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction -- Chapter 1. Orchestrating Dissonant Concord in the Bayonne Entertainments (1565) -- Chapter 2. The Ambassador's Point of View, from London to Paris (1608-9) -- Chapter 3. National Actors on the Ballet Stage (1620s-30s) -- Chapter 4. Richelieu's Allegories of War (1639-42) -- Chapter 5. Ballet Diplomacy at the Congress of Westphalia (1645-49) -- Chapter 6. Entertaining Personalities at Louis XIV's Court (1653-69) -- Chapter 7. Exotic Audiences (1668-1715) -- Chapter 8. Diplomacy on the Public Stage (1697-1714) -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- Acknowledgments
Summary: The seventeenth-century French diplomat François de Callières once wrote that "an ambassador resembles in some way an actor exposed on the stage to the eyes of the public in order to play great roles." The comparison of the diplomat to an actor became commonplace as the practice of diplomacy took hold in early modern Europe. More than an abstract metaphor, it reflected the rich culture of spectacular entertainment that was a backdrop to emissaries' day-to-day lives. Royal courts routinely honored visiting diplomats or celebrated treaty negotiations by staging grandiose performances incorporating dance, music, theater, poetry, and pageantry. These entertainments-allegorical ballets, masquerade balls, chivalric tournaments, operas, and comedies-often addressed pertinent themes such as war, peace, and international unity in their subject matter. In both practice and content, the extravagant exhibitions were fully intertwined with the culture of diplomacy. But exactly what kind of diplomatic work did these spectacles perform?Ellen R. Welch contends that the theatrical and performing arts had a profound influence on the development of modern diplomatic practices in early modern Europe. Using France as a case study, Welch explores the interconnected histories of international relations and the theatrical and performing arts. Her book argues that theater served not merely as a decorative accompaniment to negotiations, but rather underpinned the practices of embodied representation, performance, and spectatorship that constituted the culture of diplomacy in this period. Through its examination of the early modern precursors to today's cultural diplomacy initiatives, her book investigates the various ways in which performance structures international politics still.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780812293869

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction -- Chapter 1. Orchestrating Dissonant Concord in the Bayonne Entertainments (1565) -- Chapter 2. The Ambassador's Point of View, from London to Paris (1608-9) -- Chapter 3. National Actors on the Ballet Stage (1620s-30s) -- Chapter 4. Richelieu's Allegories of War (1639-42) -- Chapter 5. Ballet Diplomacy at the Congress of Westphalia (1645-49) -- Chapter 6. Entertaining Personalities at Louis XIV's Court (1653-69) -- Chapter 7. Exotic Audiences (1668-1715) -- Chapter 8. Diplomacy on the Public Stage (1697-1714) -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- Acknowledgments

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

The seventeenth-century French diplomat François de Callières once wrote that "an ambassador resembles in some way an actor exposed on the stage to the eyes of the public in order to play great roles." The comparison of the diplomat to an actor became commonplace as the practice of diplomacy took hold in early modern Europe. More than an abstract metaphor, it reflected the rich culture of spectacular entertainment that was a backdrop to emissaries' day-to-day lives. Royal courts routinely honored visiting diplomats or celebrated treaty negotiations by staging grandiose performances incorporating dance, music, theater, poetry, and pageantry. These entertainments-allegorical ballets, masquerade balls, chivalric tournaments, operas, and comedies-often addressed pertinent themes such as war, peace, and international unity in their subject matter. In both practice and content, the extravagant exhibitions were fully intertwined with the culture of diplomacy. But exactly what kind of diplomatic work did these spectacles perform?Ellen R. Welch contends that the theatrical and performing arts had a profound influence on the development of modern diplomatic practices in early modern Europe. Using France as a case study, Welch explores the interconnected histories of international relations and the theatrical and performing arts. Her book argues that theater served not merely as a decorative accompaniment to negotiations, but rather underpinned the practices of embodied representation, performance, and spectatorship that constituted the culture of diplomacy in this period. Through its examination of the early modern precursors to today's cultural diplomacy initiatives, her book investigates the various ways in which performance structures international politics still.

Issued also in print.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 26. Aug 2020)