The travelling lantern
The Courtois and Grandsart-Courtois family theatres as transcultural mediators at the nineteenth-century fair
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12896000 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nele Wynants (0000-0003-3863-751X, Université Libre de Bruxelles, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 3-4 |
| Pages | 233-260 |
| Publication date | 2019-07-03 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Early Popular Visual Culture (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1746-0654 • E-ISSN: 1746-0662 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/17460654.2019.1705649 |
| OpenAlex | W2999904365 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 13 |
This article discusses the lantern at the nineteenth-century fairground as a mobile but hidden technology and elucidates the role of this optical medium in the transnational circulation of visual culture by focussing on one particular but exemplary case: the Théâtre Courtois and the Théâtre Grandsart-Courtois. This Belgian fairground family travelled during five generations around European fairgrounds from the early nineteenth until the beginning of the twentieth century. Their programmes were very diverse, combining magic with science and technology, music, dance and acrobatics. On their travels they picked up new technological developments and ideas that were particularly suited for show business and introduced them in their shows: from projection with lanterns, through the use of electric light to the introduction of the cinematograph at Belgian, Dutch and French fairs. Relying on international fairground networks, they thus contributed to the circulation of visual culture between European cities and at annual fairs in smaller towns and villages. By considering these family theatres as actors of cultural transfer, and the lantern as a transcultural mediator, this article illustrates the variety and complexity of their mediating roles
Art · Art history · Dance · Lantern · Literature · MAGIC (telescope · Orientalism · Visual arts · Historical and Literary Studies · Historical Art and Culture Studies · Visual Culture and Art Theory
Conjuring Science
Gothic effigy
Figuring modern dance within fin-de-siècle visual culture and print
Screen culture and the social question 1880–1914
Beyond and with the object
The magic lantern
Encounters across borders
On the passage of a man of the theatre through a rather brief moment in time
Curios Things in Curios Places’
La science populaire dans la presse et l'edition, XIXe et XXe siecles
| Citations per year | 0.33 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2020 - 2024 (5) |
| Highly cited | No |