The mind/body stage : passion and interaction in the Cartesian theatre /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Gobert, R. Darren.
Imprint:Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, ©2013.
Description:1 online resource (xiii, 248 pages) : illustrations
Language:English
Subject:Descartes, René, -- 1596-1650 -- Influence.
Descartes, René, -- 1596-1650.
Theater and philosophy -- Europe -- History -- 17th century.
Theater and philosophy -- Europe -- History -- 18th century.
PERFORMING ARTS -- Theater -- General.
PERFORMING ARTS -- Theater -- History & Criticism.
Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.)
Theater and philosophy.
Europe.
Electronic books.
Electronic books.
History.
Format: E-Resource Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11203959
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:080478826X
9780804788267
9780804786386
0804786380
Notes:Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary:Gorbert explores theatre history's unexamined importance to Cartesian philosophy alongside Descartes's unexamined impact on theatre history. Put another way, it provides a new reading of mind-body union informed not only by Descartes's 'Passions of the Soul' and his correspondence with Elisabeth of Bohemia but also by stage theory and practice, while simultaneously itemising the contributions of Cartesianism to this theory and practice.
Other form:Print version: 9780804786386 0804786380
Description
Summary:

Descartes's notion of subjectivity changed the way characters would be written, performed by actors, and received by audiences. His coordinate system reshaped how theatrical space would be conceived and built. His theory of the passions revolutionized our understanding of the emotional exchange between spectacle and spectators. Yet theater scholars have not seen Descartes's transformational impact on theater history. Nor have philosophers looked to this history to understand his reception and impact. After Descartes, playwrights put Cartesian characters on the stage and thematized their rational workings. Actors adapted their performances to account for new models of subjectivity and physiology. Critics theorized the theater's emotional and ethical benefits in Cartesian terms. Architects fostered these benefits by altering their designs.

The Mind-Body Stage provides a dazzlingly original picture of one of the most consequential and confusing periods in the histories of modern theater and philosophy. Interdisciplinary and comparatist in scope, it uses methodological techniques from literary study, philosophy, theater history, and performance studies and draws on scores of documents (including letters, libretti, religious jeremiads, aesthetic treatises, and architectural plans) from several countries.

Physical Description:1 online resource (xiii, 248 pages) : illustrations
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:080478826X
9780804788267
9780804786386
0804786380