Fandom, Authenticity, and Opera - Mad Acts and Letter Scenes in Fin-De-Siecle Russia

"In Russia at the turn of the twentieth century, printed literature and performances - from celebrity narratives and opera fandom to revolutionary acts and political speeches - frequently articulated extreme emotional states and passionate belief. A uniquely intense approach to public life and private expression - the 'melodramatic imagination' - is at the center of this study. Previously, scholars have only indirectly addressed the everyday appropriation of melodramatic aesthetics in Russia, choosing toconcentrate on canonical texts and producers of mass culture. Collective fantasies and affects are daunting objects of study, difficult to render, and almost impossible to prove empirically. Music and art historians, with some notable exceptions, have been reluctant to discuss reception for similar reasons. By analyzing the artifacts and practices of a commercialized opera culture, author Anna Fishzon provides a solution to these challenges. Her focus on celebrity and fandom as features of the melodramatic imagination helps illuminate Russian modernity and provides the groundwork for comparative studies of fin-de-siáecle European popular and high culture, selfhood, authenticity, and political theater" -- back cover.

Product details

• Authors: A Fishzon, A. Fishzon, Anna Fishzon, Fishzon Anna
• Publisher: Palgrave UK
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 12.09.2013
• EAN: 9781137023445
• ISBN: 978-1-137-02344-5
• No. of pages: 291
• Series: Palgrave Studies in Cultural and Intellectual History; Palgrave Studies in Cultural a; Palgrave Studies in Cultural and Intellectual History; Palgrave Studies in Cultural a
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; Geschichte, Musik, Sozial- und Kulturgeschichte, B, Cultural History, History, Music, European History, Social History, Social & cultural history, Geschichte anderer geographischer Gruppierungen und Regionen, History, Modern, Civilization—History, Modern History, Europe—History, Palgrave Media & Culture Collection, Europe, Eastern—History, History of specific lands, Russian, Soviet, and East European History, Russia—History