Grand Théâtre, café-concert en variététheater in Gent (1880-1914): genealogie van de aandachts- en verstrooiingspraktijken in relatie tot de economisch-culturele context en psychosociale ervaringen van de moderne toeschouwer

Subtitle:Grand Théâtre, café-concert and variety theatre in Ghent (1880-1914) : genealogy of the attention and distraction practices in relation to the economic and cultural context and the psychosocial experiences of the modern spectator

This study researches to what extent ‘the problem of attention’ in the late 19th century, as has been pointed out by Jonathan Crary in his study Suspensions of Perception: Attention, Spectacle and Modern Culture (1999), was present in the recreational life of the city of Ghent. Through the attention practices in Grand Théâtre, the distraction practices in café-concert and the combination of attention and distraction in variety theatre, Crary’s theory is measured against a new artistic research domain: theatre, café-concert and variety theatre in an industrial provincial town. As a result, the problem of attention is applied as a declarative model for the difference in perception between ‘official’ and ‘popular’ forms of culture and recreation. By linking the tensions in spectatorship with the economic, cultural and psychosocial developments between 1880 and 1914, this study aims to expose the relation between modernity and modern perception in an industrial provincial town.

Publication year:2014

Accessibility:Closed