Complete Books: More Commedia (en français)

[post 173]

Let's give the French some credit!

They may tend to over-intellectualize, but historically they have been enthusiastic fans and loyal supporters of clowns, mime, and circus. Commedia troupes — la Comédie-Italienne — made their homes in Paris, and while the best clowns may have been from England, Italy, or Spain, often they had to come to the French capital to be fully appreciated.

The French also write (and even read!) books, so it's not surprising that some of the best works on this whole physical comedy tradition were written in French. My own Clowns book would have been significantly diminished had I not been able to read Rémy, Thétard, Strehly, Perrodil, Adrian, and many others. And if I'm a bit of a francophile, you'll have to forgive me, because the truth is I've been bought: in 1990 I had a Fulbright fellowship to France to study physical comedy, half of which was funded by the French government. I have, however, been dutifully repaying them ever since (with interest) in the form of regularly scheduled purchases of French wine, with a marked preference for the earthier Bordeaux reds.

But enough about moi. Google tells me a lot of my blog fans come from la France, and je sais for a fact that more than a few of my Anglophone readers also lisent French. The least I can do is include a few free books en français.

Holy vache, I see que this blog post se transforme progressivement into français.... ça is becoming vachement dif. Tant pis, car maintenant vous devez souffrir mon français maladroit!

Okay, eau quais.... allons-y!

Masques et Bouffons de Maurice Sand (1860)
Commençons par Masques et Bouffons de Maurice Sand, mon introduction et la traduction anglaise de laquelle j'ai déjà publié dans ce précédent post.

Tome 1:

Masques_et_Bouffons_vol01

Tome 2:

Masques Et Bouffons Vol02



Mémoires de Carlo Gozzi (1797)
Mon introduction et la traduction anglaise se trouvent aussi dans ce précédent post.

MémoirsDeGozzi



Mimes et Pierrots: Notes et Documents de Paul Hugounet  (1889)
Le dernier, mais non le moindre, c'est le plus tôt importante étude scientifique de la pantomime, celle de Paul Hugounet (né 1859), un contemporain de Charles Deburau. Après les trois premiers chapitres, ce livre se concentre sur la pantomime française du 19ème siècle.

Mimes Et Pierrots



Prochainement: des livres en français sur le Théâtre des Funambules.