« Comme si nous étions à la contredanse » : chorégraphies utopiques chez Claire de Duras et George Sand
“It is as if we were in a contradance”: choreographic utopias in novels by Claire de Duras and George Sand
Author(s): Tessa Ashlin NunnSubject(s): Theatre, Dance, Performing Arts, Language and Literature Studies, Literary Texts, Studies of Literature, French Literature, Philology, Theory of Literature
Published by: Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II, Instytut Filologii Romańskiej & Wydawnictwo Werset
Keywords: contradances; utopia; George Sand; Claire de Duras; literary dances
Summary/Abstract: During the first half of the 19th century, contradances, made up of displacements and interactions between all the dancers starting in different places, abolish the obligations imposed by a society divided into classes. In Édouard (1825), Claire de Duras compares the performance of contradances, during an ancien régime ball, to fleeing to England, where social ascension seems possible. George Sand, in Le Compagnon du Tour de France (1840), contrasts the possibility of romantic relationships across classes during contradances with the impossibility of these unions in everyday life. By establishing a non-place, these fictional dances create ephemeral moments during which equality and freedom reign; however, off the dance floor, social hierarchies remain rigid.
Journal: Quêtes littéraires
- Issue Year: 2021
- Issue No: 11
- Page Range: 76-86
- Page Count: 11
- Language: French