In seventeenth-century France a new type of theatre was established to correspond to the ideals and taste of the dominant social group. As part of the process a particular ideal was forged for the new-style actor. Moulded by classical writings on acting and actors which suggested that the; style of serious, cultured acting operated within the same aesthetic as that of oratorical delivery, this ideal similarly identified refined acting with principles of pronuntiatio and the bienséance acceptable in contemporary formal discourse As a result of this identification no separate art of acting was considered necessary in seventeenth-century France, the rules and principles of expression of emotion in oratorical delivery being accepted as valid for serious acting. It is to these rules and. principles therefore that recourse must be made if the style of seventeenth-century acting and the approach of the actor at this period are to be appreciated. Study of seventeenth-century French treatises on oratorical delivery indicates the extent to which expression of emotion was considered to require study and practise of basic principal which would enable the speaker to evoke a particular passion by appropriately moving tones and accompanying gesture, and yet at the same time remain within a socially-acceptable range. Interpretation of seventeenth-century writings Oil actors and acting in light of these principles highlights the declamatory nature of serious acting of this period. The actor was understood to approach his role with a view to representing and thus exciting passions through effective vocal variation and suitably decorous accompanying gesture (body-language). Attention was focused upon the actor's voice, upon his moving tones and cadences, and upon the grace with which he used his body to reinforce such emotional portrayal. During the eighteenth century this conception-of acting and the style it had produced were called into question. Acting began to evolve its own aesthetic, an aesthetic based upon impersonation of character through personal identification and experience of the effects of emotion in real life. Study of rules to regulate emotional expression and imitation of the best models were abandoned in favour of cultivation of artistic sensibility: recourse to the imagination and personal sensitivity. In the process emphasis shifted from the voice to non-linguistic ways of showing feeling on the stage, and gestural expression released itself from subjection to social bienséance and enriched its range and potential. Evidence of these trends as well as fidelity to or reaction against principles of bienséance may be traced in writings on acting and delivery of the first half of the eighteenth century. At the beginning of the century acting theory was still rooted in and patterned on the model of pronuntiatio. By 1750 it had established its worth as an independent art with principles more directly based upon the dramatic experience.

This thesis deals with the representation of the body and space in the theatre of Bernard-Marie Koltes and Helene Cixous. From the theoretical point of view, it looks at transition in French theatre from a modern to a postmodern predicament, from a discursive to a corporeal theatre. It then looks at the ways postmodern culture maps, configures, disciplines, and violates the body, particularly through the relationship of the new textuality to its stage manifestations. Textually, it analizes three plays by each playwright. The juxtaposition of the works of Koltes and Cixous allows for an in depth look at the theatre of the 1970's and 80's in France, a period marked by theatrical decentralisation and experimentation. Both favoured a strong tie to theatre practice while developing a close relationship with a theatre director: Patrice Chereau, in the case of Koltes, and Ariane Mnouchkine, in the case of Cixous. Aside from looking at the relationship with theatre practitioners, this thesis examines a number of aesthetic and political affinities which bring Koltes and Cixous together, such as redefining a postmodern mythology and a political role for theatre. Unlike many postmodernist theatre practices that try to evade political commitment, both Cixous and Koltes are preoccupied with the resistance to a nihilistic discourse, and propose an evolving and corporeal stage presence inscribed in a pluralistic space of representation. For Koltes, the body on the stage resists symbolic categorization in Combat de negre et de chiens (1979), it then becomes related to spatial reality outside language in Quai ouest (1985), and finally the corporeal body is culturally and ideologically mapped in Le Retour au desert (1988). This triple dimension is also reflected in the work of Cixous, for whom the theatre is a space of feminist praxis. First, the space of representation, through the subversive performativity of the body, questions the premises of the psychoanalytic gaze in Portrait de Dora (1976), then classical mythology is rewritten to disrupt patriarcal discourse in Le Nom d'Oedipe: chant du corps interdit (1978), and a post-colonial role for theatre is redefined in order to question the historical subject in L'Indiade ou l'lnde de leurs reves (1987). Finally, this thesis looks at the ways both Koltes and Cixous join in with postmodernism in declaring the impossibility of grand-narrative, while trying to show how identity cannot be based on essentialist categories of race, gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation, but on the performance of all these various categories as they intersect in the performing body.

Taking as a case study the Theatre-Italien, here considered both as a particular theatrical practice and as a specific stage in Paris---one of the most popular at the time---this dissertation asks what role this theatre played in the novel competition of discourses which characterized political culture in the era of Revolutions. All too often, historians have overestimated print culture as the main medium through which discourses were produced in the eighteenth century, and this despite the fact that theatre played a fundamental role in the public life of this period. Furthermore, when theatre is studied, historians emphasize too often the written form of the plays. / The dissertation's structure seeks to underline the specificity of the cultural practice represented by the theatre. The discrepancies between the meaning of a play written by a particular author and the same play as it is performed on stage are emphasized. Political messages emerge out of the language of the actors and actresses without any possibility to control them, so that the players become, in effect, co-authors of the play. Similarly, the variety of the nature of the audience and the way in which it becomes at once judge, co-author and co-actor make the public, neither intangible nor invisible, but simply gathered, a crucial feature of this cultural practice which allows us to argue that theatre was actually a very bad instrument of propaganda. Instead, theatre can be seen at the time to be a public scene of immediate political debate. The conflicting opinions expressed there turn theatre not into the minor of political reality intended by various regimes confronted to the diversity of the polity---what some people have called "a school for the people"---but rather as the mirror of the reality experienced by a large number of Parisians at the time. It is in this sense that we relate the theatrical practices studied with the concept of public spirit, expressing the people's understanding of the general interest, instead of that of public opinion, expressing the unified message imposed by a dominant political group.

This thesis deals with the representation of the body and space in the theatre of Bernard-Marie Koltes and Helene Cixous. From the theoretical point of view, it looks at transition in French theatre from a modern to a postmodern predicament, from a discursive to a corporeal theatre. It then looks at the ways postmodern culture maps, configures, disciplines, and violates the body, particularly through the relationship of the new textuality to its stage manifestations. Textually, it analizes three plays by each playwright. The juxtaposition of the works of Koltes and Cixous allows for an in depth look at the theatre of the 1970's and 80's in France, a period marked by theatrical decentralisation and experimentation. Both favoured a strong tie to theatre practice while developing a close relationship with a theatre director: Patrice Chereau, in the case of Koltes, and Ariane Mnouchkine, in the case of Cixous. Aside from looking at the relationship with theatre practitioners, this thesis examines a number of aesthetic and political affinities which bring Koltes and Cixous together, such as redefining a postmodern mythology and a political role for theatre. Unlike many postmodernist theatre practices that try to evade political commitment, both Cixous and Koltes are preoccupied with the resistance to a nihilistic discourse, and propose an evolving and corporeal stage presence inscribed in a pluralistic space of representation. For Koltes, the body on the stage resists symbolic categorization in Combat de negre et de chiens (1979), it then becomes related to spatial reality outside language in Quai ouest (1985), and finally the corporeal body is culturally and ideologically mapped in Le Retour au desert (1988). This triple dimension is also reflected in the work of Cixous, for whom the theatre is a space of feminist praxis. First, the space of representation, through the subversive performativity of the body, questions the premises of the psychoanalytic gaze in Portrait de Dora (1976), then classical mythology is rewritten to disrupt patriarcal discourse in Le Nom d'Oedipe: chant du corps interdit (1978), and a post-colonial role for theatre is redefined in order to question the historical subject in L'Indiade ou l'lnde de leurs reves (1987). Finally, this thesis looks at the ways both Koltes and Cixous join in with postmodernism in declaring the impossibility of grand-narrative, while trying to show how identity cannot be based on essentialist categories of race, gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation, but on the performance of all these various categories as they intersect in the performing body. / Arts, Faculty of / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of / Graduate

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