Réception de la comédie française au Portugal (XVIIIe-XIXe siècles)

Abstract

For historical reasons, both of political and cultural nature, the import and enjoyment of the French theatrical model in Portugal happen quite late. The introduction of the French comedy into the Portuguese stages dates from 1730s. In fact, the prevalence of the French comedy over the Spanish Golden Age theatre takes place, in a first instance, through Moliere’s comedy, which circulated both on stage and page. Throughout the next decades, and at least until the first half of the 19th century, the popularity of the French comedy and vaudeville formed one of the major aesthetic and dramaturgical revolutions in the Portuguese cultural panorama. Nevertheless, theatrical scholarship has disregarded, so far, this cultural and artistic phenomenon, fundamental for revising the history of national theatre and performance, specially taking into account the contact with European theatre.