Victorien Sardou’s pièce Théodora, staged for the first time in Paris in 1884, was written during a period of increasing interest in Byzantium on the part of French culture and drew renewed attention to the figure of Justinian’s empress consort. If Sardou’s debt to pioneering Byzantine studies is certain - not only and not so much to Gustave-Léon Schlumberger as to an unrecognised and avant-garde cultivator of Byzantine history like Augustin Marrast, whose character is highlighted and whose role in the history of Byzantine studies is here rediscovered – the real success of the pièce owes much to Sarah Bernhardt, icon of the fin de siècle Femme Fatale. Her interpretation of Theodora brings new relevance to the figure and makes Byzantium known to Western public opinion, eliciting admiration (in the young Freud) or disdain (in the young Charles Diehl). The moralising bourgeois conformity of Diehl, venerated founding father of French Byzantine studies, would correct and censure the image of Theodora created by Bernhardt and Sardou. The sex-phobic, moralistic terms used by Diehl in the querelle with the playwright are at the origin of the stereotypical image of Byzantium that would emerge in the twentieth century: a vacuous, decadent kingdom riddled with female or effeminate intrigue.

Ronchey, S. (2002). Teodora e i visionari. In "Humana sapit". Etudes d'antiquité tardive offertes à Lellia Cracco Ruggini (pp. 445-453). TURNHOUT : Brepols Publishers.

Teodora e i visionari

RONCHEY, SILVIA
2002-01-01

Abstract

Victorien Sardou’s pièce Théodora, staged for the first time in Paris in 1884, was written during a period of increasing interest in Byzantium on the part of French culture and drew renewed attention to the figure of Justinian’s empress consort. If Sardou’s debt to pioneering Byzantine studies is certain - not only and not so much to Gustave-Léon Schlumberger as to an unrecognised and avant-garde cultivator of Byzantine history like Augustin Marrast, whose character is highlighted and whose role in the history of Byzantine studies is here rediscovered – the real success of the pièce owes much to Sarah Bernhardt, icon of the fin de siècle Femme Fatale. Her interpretation of Theodora brings new relevance to the figure and makes Byzantium known to Western public opinion, eliciting admiration (in the young Freud) or disdain (in the young Charles Diehl). The moralising bourgeois conformity of Diehl, venerated founding father of French Byzantine studies, would correct and censure the image of Theodora created by Bernhardt and Sardou. The sex-phobic, moralistic terms used by Diehl in the querelle with the playwright are at the origin of the stereotypical image of Byzantium that would emerge in the twentieth century: a vacuous, decadent kingdom riddled with female or effeminate intrigue.
2002
2503512798
La pièce Théodora di Victorien Sardou, rappresentata per la prima volta a Parigi nel 1884, si colloca in una temperie di crescente interesse per Bisanzio da parte della cultura francese e a sua volta suscita nuova attenzione sulla figura dell'imperatrice consorte di Giustiniano. Se è certo il debito di Sardou nei confronti non solo e non tanto di Gustave-Léon Schlumberger, ma anche e soprattutto di un misconosciuto e pionieristico cultore della storia bizantina quale fu Augustin Marrast, la cui figura viene qui messa in luce e il cui ruolo nella storia degli studi bizantini viene qui riscoperto, il successo della pièce si deve soprattutto a Sarah Bernhardt, icona della Femme Fatale di fine secolo. La sua interpretazione di Teodora ne riattualizza la figura e fa conoscere Bisanzio all'opinione pubblica occidentale, destando ammirazione (nel giovane Freud) o sdegno (in Charles Diehl). Il perbenismo moralizzatore di Diehl, venerato padre fondatore della bizantinistica francese, correggerà e censurerà l'immagine di Teodora creata dalla Bernhardt e da Sardou. I termini sessuofobici e moralistici adottati da Diehl nella querelle sorta con il commediografo sono all’origine dell’immagine stereotipa che di Bisanzio si formerà il Novecento: un regno vacuo e decadente di intrighi femminili o effeminati.
Ronchey, S. (2002). Teodora e i visionari. In "Humana sapit". Etudes d'antiquité tardive offertes à Lellia Cracco Ruggini (pp. 445-453). TURNHOUT : Brepols Publishers.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11590/163058
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