Un « curieux problème littéraire » : Rendre compte de la performance poétique de manière optimale ou comment optimiser l’écriture du non-scriptible
Eighteenth-century performances of verse reading were the subject of written reports by contemporary authors attempting to immortalize and share those sublime moments. However, can the oral material be rendered through writing only, while the reader’s stage presence and action must remain elusive? I...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Institut du Monde Anglophone
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| Series: | Etudes Epistémè |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/17720 |
| _version_ | 1797223245676544000 |
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| author | Cécilia Roumi |
| author_facet | Cécilia Roumi |
| author_sort | Cécilia Roumi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Eighteenth-century performances of verse reading were the subject of written reports by contemporary authors attempting to immortalize and share those sublime moments. However, can the oral material be rendered through writing only, while the reader’s stage presence and action must remain elusive? Is there an optimal way to “put on the air” (Jacques Wagner) the written word in order to make the poetic performance heard? Among the amateurs of such performances, many have tried to write down their experiences by proposing a refined analysis of the reader’s voice, its timbre, its ambitus, or its vocal power. Some, like Grétry, went so far as to convert the experience of poetic reading into musical notation accompanied by prose comments. Others preferred to set up strategies of compensation or detour. Accepting the limitations of written language when it attempts to account for the spoken voice, some opted for the citation of fragments they had heard. Wouldn’t it be better, however, to sacrifice an objective account and allow the language to unfold its poetic power in order to render not only the letter of the performance but the spirit? This was the choice made by some writers who decided to move the narrative towards the reception of the reading aloud: they propose a vivid description of the community seized by emotion, paradoxically giving to hear what is properly immaterial and ephemeral in the poetic performance. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T13:34:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-77ae6c5737a34651a85bdcd3f1013ca0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1634-0450 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T13:34:10Z |
| publisher | Institut du Monde Anglophone |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Etudes Epistémè |
| spelling | doaj.art-77ae6c5737a34651a85bdcd3f1013ca02024-04-04T09:25:54ZengInstitut du Monde AnglophoneEtudes Epistémè1634-04504410.4000/episteme.17720Un « curieux problème littéraire » : Rendre compte de la performance poétique de manière optimale ou comment optimiser l’écriture du non-scriptibleCécilia RoumiEighteenth-century performances of verse reading were the subject of written reports by contemporary authors attempting to immortalize and share those sublime moments. However, can the oral material be rendered through writing only, while the reader’s stage presence and action must remain elusive? Is there an optimal way to “put on the air” (Jacques Wagner) the written word in order to make the poetic performance heard? Among the amateurs of such performances, many have tried to write down their experiences by proposing a refined analysis of the reader’s voice, its timbre, its ambitus, or its vocal power. Some, like Grétry, went so far as to convert the experience of poetic reading into musical notation accompanied by prose comments. Others preferred to set up strategies of compensation or detour. Accepting the limitations of written language when it attempts to account for the spoken voice, some opted for the citation of fragments they had heard. Wouldn’t it be better, however, to sacrifice an objective account and allow the language to unfold its poetic power in order to render not only the letter of the performance but the spirit? This was the choice made by some writers who decided to move the narrative towards the reception of the reading aloud: they propose a vivid description of the community seized by emotion, paradoxically giving to hear what is properly immaterial and ephemeral in the poetic performance.https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/17720poetic declamationDelilleGrétryLekainLinguetLa Harpe |
| spellingShingle | Cécilia Roumi Un « curieux problème littéraire » : Rendre compte de la performance poétique de manière optimale ou comment optimiser l’écriture du non-scriptible Etudes Epistémè poetic declamation Delille Grétry Lekain Linguet La Harpe |
| title | Un « curieux problème littéraire » : Rendre compte de la performance poétique de manière optimale ou comment optimiser l’écriture du non-scriptible |
| title_full | Un « curieux problème littéraire » : Rendre compte de la performance poétique de manière optimale ou comment optimiser l’écriture du non-scriptible |
| title_fullStr | Un « curieux problème littéraire » : Rendre compte de la performance poétique de manière optimale ou comment optimiser l’écriture du non-scriptible |
| title_full_unstemmed | Un « curieux problème littéraire » : Rendre compte de la performance poétique de manière optimale ou comment optimiser l’écriture du non-scriptible |
| title_short | Un « curieux problème littéraire » : Rendre compte de la performance poétique de manière optimale ou comment optimiser l’écriture du non-scriptible |
| title_sort | un curieux probleme litteraire rendre compte de la performance poetique de maniere optimale ou comment optimiser l ecriture du non scriptible |
| topic | poetic declamation Delille Grétry Lekain Linguet La Harpe |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/17720 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ceciliaroumi uncurieuxproblemelitterairerendrecomptedelaperformancepoetiquedemaniereoptimaleoucommentoptimiserlecrituredunonscriptible |