#Revue Confrontation

[alleannaharris]

Today's Black History Month illustration is of Josephine Baker. She was a world famous entertainer, WWII spy, and activist.

Freda Josephine McDonald was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1906. Her parents were both vaudeville performers, but Baker would have to take on odd jobs to help support her family.

At the age of 15, she ran off and joined a dance troupe from Philadelphia. She also got married, took her husband’s last name, dropped her first name and started going by the name Josephine Baker. After acting and dancing in musicals, she moved to New York City and was soon performing at the Plantation Club where she became a crowd favorite.

In 1925, Baker went to Paris to dance at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in La Revue Nègre. When the Revue closed, she was given her own show and her career skyrocketed.

She was the first Black woman to star in a motion picture and one of the first Black entertainers to achieve acclaim on screen and stage.

Baker became a citizen of France in 1937. When the Germans occupied France during WWII, she worked with the Red Cross and the French Resistance by transporting confidential information by writing with invisible ink on her sheet music. She was awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honor with the rosette of the Résistance.

Baker traveled many times to the US to participate in the civil rights movement. She was the only woman who spoke at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1968.

Her time at home forced her to confront segregation and discrimination that she didn’t experience overseas. She often refused to perform for segregated audiences and club owners were forced to integrate for her shows.

She continued to perform until her death in 1975, during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of her Paris debut.

I’ll be back on Monday with the last illustration and story!

[waffleweirdo]

Just thinking about how Junna in episode 9 was probably the first time anyone else saw Nana crying in decades…

The tragedy of Nana and Junna sharing such a similar loneliness, and closing themselves off from others, recognizing that in each other, and finding comfort with one another, but still being so closed off from each other is soooo

They see through 99% of each other. And can recognize themselves in the other, but because of that they keep a distance. They exist in proximity, but never truly intersect or open themselves up. It isn’t until the revue of hunting where they truly face each other.

The two of them are so close, and yet stay safely apart the same way they both run away from the stage. They are too afraid of falling apart themselves…

But when they did lay all of their feelings bare, even after having to confront the ugliest parts of themselves and everything they feared and wanted to avoid happening, they still mattered to each other. They still cared about each other, and wanted to once more be by each other’s sides even if it seemed like only a distant dream.

The two of them were overcome with fear, and loneliness, ran from others just as they did from the stage, and struggled so much… but in the end they were still there for each other. Even if it did take countless years, they were finally able to truly reach each other. Their connection overcame it all.

Even if it is a tragedy, they can rewrite a happy ending

[naturallyexcessive]

So! Ateam wants me dead personally and dropped Amemiya and Masai revue outfit designs, knocking me dead and making me go eat concrete!

Is this their idea of an April Fool’s joke? Yes. Am I going to take this 100% seriously and at face value? Also yes.

This is mostly a cleaned up collection of my insaneposting from other places (cough Twitter and Discord) so these thoughts may be sporadic. And nonsensical. And filled with so much copium.

First major comment! Their revue outfits are almost entirely black. This also includes their undershirts, which one should note are - by default - white for Class A. Not only does this work as representing the difference between Classes A and B (Class A get white undershirts while Class B get black ones), but this choice of palette for their outfits is almost certainly a reference to the traditional wear of stagehands: they typically wear black or other dark clothes as a means of making sure they remain unseen during performances. Invisible, away from the spotlight, if you will.

Should note that this is mostly an anime-to-game thing, since Sakura Yanagi’s uniform in the stageplays is uniquely colored and features a white undershirt. However, one can also probably reason this is because Sakura outright reawakens as a stage girl, whereas we (currently) know nothing about the context for the Amemiya and Masai revue drip.

Another point: wow, their weapons are very silly. Byproduct of this entire thing being an April Fool’s addition and all. Yet in spite of them being supposed gag weapons, they actually do fit the two of them to a degree, even as jokes? Bear with me here.

Amemiya’s is mostly self-explanatory. She’s the scriptwriter. Her weapons are her words and this is pretty much a literal representation of that. Something something pen power sword. The thing is very stupid but it’s also very blunt and straightfoward in the same way Amemiya is.

Masai’s is REALLY silly... she’s gonna DECK you with her FOG MACHINE. There’s still cohesion here, though, albeit if it’s a bit straw-graspy. The “kiri” in her given name, Kiriko, literally means fog, so there’s that. There’s also the fact that - from what little we know of her - Masai herself is somewhat non-confrontational, preferring to avoid conflict for the sake of keeping peace (since Amemiya has to be the one to step in and fully reject Kaoruko back in Episode 6, not Masai), but when she needs to stand her ground, she does so well (see Gekijouban). Her having a rather unorthodox, ineffective-seeming weapon kind of works in her favor and represents this aspect of her; it’s a fog machine so it can produce a means of allowing her to hide and avoid attacks, but since it’s a blunt force weapon if swung at someone, it hits hard when it counts.

So honestly for an April Fool’s addition, this hits. Rare Class B content win for us!!!!!!

[idolofm4dness]

I'm currently in the middle of writing about Ninjago au. Centering the relationship between Lloyd and Harumi has a strong chokehold on me that I can't believe. I betrayed myself by shipping them with the rest of the ninjas and testing Lloyd about his crush. Its was a slap in the face. She was the villain of the second season. I was shipping them hard even though I have a love-hate relationship with shipping myself.

Bleeding Hearts au -

What if Lloyd and Harumi had a final fight where Lloyd, because of the saying "beware the anger of a good man times 100," confronts Harumi about her actions. Harumi gets her own version of the cave and now has a scene where Lloyd makes her see the pain she has caused. He points out all the people she hurt with the destruction of the Jade Palace, how she only focused on the king and queen, but her plan killed others who were innocent. He mentions that the people of Ninjago asking her if their praise Garmadon, and how, as saviors of Ninjago, people are living in fear as they know they're imprisoning people who should be against them. A protector is supposed to bring hope, not fear. Also, he is angry at her and the Sons of Garmadon.

He Agree with her about his father being a savior. He did it twice. As the great devour attack, he too saw him as a savior, but saw the good in him when he sacrificed himself to repent for what he did when he was evil, basically. They see what they did as disrespectful.

He's done playing nice with that girl, and I really want him to put on the mask of hatred, or else we'll have more glimpses of his oni side, showing that he hates her just as much. In her diary, it's explained that he seemed to care for her, but he talks about how she destroyed two people, Hutchins and him, who actually loved and cared about her. Let's be real, I love Lloyd, but sometimes I feel like he's too passive. He needs to go apeshit once in a while because the villains mess with him too much, and at some point, they're going to realize that they should stop mentally torturing him. He basically becomes her villain in a way. They say he was mostly inspired by a piece of fan art where Lloyd is a manifestation of Harumi's guilt. Also, he actually does try to rebuild his relationship with Garmadon.

My second AU is inspired by Revue Starlight. Funny enough, I've actually finished writing the first chapter for this one. In this AU, the two main characters are essentially like Karen and Hikari, but with a twist - they have bad blood and attend rival schools. In this version, they actually meet as children in a gift shop, where they both see the same play and quickly become friends, promising to become actors together like in the anime. I'm still working out the details, though. I haven't figured out Harumi's relationship with Lloyd in this AU because, unlike in the show, he isn't responsible for killing her parents. Her parents died in a car accident, which doesn't really involve Lloyd at all, so I don't know why she's so angry at him. I don't have much else planned for it, but I really like this idea. I was actually inspired to write this while re-watching some Revue Starlight revues, specifically the revue of the hunting. Is this is Anime is like figure out your problems via song. I feel their relationship is much better in this version and they actually do forgive each other.

if you guys wanna give me some suggestions, I like it to give us some suggestions of some revue titles.

[mclennonlgbt]

On June 28, 1969, exactly 55 years ago, riots began at the Stonewall Inn bar in New York. It was this event that marked the beginning of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.

The most famous myth related to the events at Stonewall states that the revolution was started by Marsha P. Johnson, a black drag queen and queer icon. But Marsha repeatedly denied this, claiming that she did not arrive at Stonewall until after 2 a.m., when fighting with the police had already begun in earnest.

So who made LGBTQ people have the courage to start an uprising? Stormé DeLarverie, the daughter of an African-American woman and a white man. She was one of the first drag kings in the USA and a member of Jewel Box Review - the first racially inclusive drag queen revue. In the 1970s, Stormé worked as a security guard and bouncer in lesbian clubs.

On the night of June 28, during a police raid on a bar, Stormé got hit while trying to help a man who had been pushed to the ground, and had to confront a policeman who shouted at her, thinking he was a boy, 'Move, twat!'" She was hit with a baton and that was the first blow that started it all. Stormé DeLarverie hit the policeman with her bare fist and he was covered in blood.

Let's remember Stormé, the Rosa Parks of the LGBTQ+ community.

[yuzukahibiscus]

Maisora Hitomi Retirement Press Conference

She has always been shining ever since she joined the revue, and in the blink of an eye, Maisora has been aiming for a higher level. After being in Flower Troupe, she became the Star Troupe Top Musumeyaku in 2019. She challenged the role of the heroine the many grand works, and she always coloured every performance with her grace and lovely stage presence, yet she announced her retirement in December. On April 8, she held the press conference in Takarazuka Revue.

Maisora's speech

To everyone whom I have met, who have guided me and raised me up, and also to all the fans who have been supporting me, I am grateful from the bottom of my heart. Until the last day, I wish to remember Kobayashi Ichizou's words of "Pure, Proper, and Beautiful and Bright" by heart, and continue to hone myself as a Takarazuka musumeyaku every day.

Extract of the Q&A

What was the moment you decided your retirement?

Since I became a Top Musumeyaku, I've always been thinking when I would be retiring. I was admitted into the Takarazuka Music School in the 100th anniversary of Takarazuka Revue. Now, I am still a current sienne in the 110th anniversary of Takarazuka. And at this year I call my turning point, I had played the role of Sally from "ME AND MY GIRL" that I admire so much, and I feel so satisfied, and that was when I thought of retiring.

When did you tell your partner Rei (Makoto)?

I told her during the rehearsals for "RRR x TAKA"R"AZUKA -√Bheem- / Violetopia". I'm not good at expressing my thoughts in words, but Rei-san has always been so understanding, and she knows who I really am... She slowly heard my words and said, "If that is what Naco-chan (Maisora) decides, I will support you fully", and said such warm words to me.

What is/are your memorable role(s)?

The first role I got with a name was during Flower Troupe times when I played Hanna in "Hanna's Florist" and it's still a very dear role to me even now. When I came to Star Troupe, I played Juliette in "Romeo & Juliette", and it was a time when I wanted to do my best and confront the challenges ahead, the teachers and everyone from Star Troupe helped me a lot and I felt that I was able to open a new door for myself. Also, I was able to perform in a musical written by Shibata Yukihiro "Valencian Passion", which is a dream come true for me and thus unforgettable.

What's the greatest hurdle you've faced?

When I transferred to another troupe, it was a great change in my Takarazuka life. There were so many hurdles to overcome, but Rei-san who was the closest to me and encouraged me, "It's okay if you can't do it. Just enjoy yourself the most on stage" and I was able to progress forward. Whenever the time, Star Troupe members never let go of my hand and guided me warmly, so my encounter with them is a great fortune, and I wanted to convey my gratitude for each and every one of them.

A message to the fans.

I'm truly thankful for all the fans that found me and cherished me. Even in the midst of the coronavirus that we couldn't meet each other in a close distance, it's because everyone was always supporting me and never left my side that I was able to continue walking on my path. Until the last day, I will convey my appreciation on stage and do my very best. Please continue to support me.

[cerastes]

Oh yeah so I started Starlight Revue last night with Iron and it’s so fucking funny how it’s theater kids going ham on each other and (so far, watched half of it) the fight choreography in itself is whatever BUT the screenplay is really fun, and that’s clearly what they were focusing on and what they wanted to make an impression with. For example, when Karen is fighting Tendo, the entirety of the stage is constantly shifting in order to make sure Tendo has the higher ground, Karen only once ever gets the high ground, and it is immediately stolen from her by a thrust from Tendo’s sword, which Karen dodges, but the staircase immediately becomes a ramp and Karen falls even lower. Karen is simply not at Tendo’s level and, though certain moments of brilliance might match or even surpass Tendo briefly, these are but ephemeral, and Karen once more falls beneath Tendo, who is consistent in her superiority in the stage so far.

All around, the show’s focus on the world around the characters morphing in order to create interesting, fun and meaningful visuals that correlate directly with the song that’s being sung and the clash of the characters is nothing short of fascinating! It goes to show that making an interesting and fun fight doesn’t necessarily need to be the tightest Sammo Hung choreography ever written, you just need to make it interesting in your own terms.

I also like that there’s a character named Big Banana and she’s got danger written all over her, doubtlessly setting up a confrontation between her and Karen in the future, given that Karen is, in her own words, “constantly evolving, the version of me you see today is the best me”, whereas Nana has shown signs of preferring a stagnant, consistent status quo, keeping things the same, no need to change what isn’t broke.

[editrevue]

UHHH Top 5 best Arcana Arcadia moments

gosh making me choose just 5 is so cruel but the rules are the rules jHASDKS I'll leave it under the cut for rambling purposes teehee [ask]

Yumeoji Sisters

TamaRui

Revue Frontier

the actual parts of the play??

YachiMei

honarary mentions: chitose, kuromaya flirting, nana slips up vs maya, "death has gentle eyes", kaoruko & tamao's revue

hm. a lot of my answers are probably personal but i guess that's half the fun and half the point! and these are in no particular order either because I just love Arcana's overarching story overall :

The Yumeoji Sisters. people who know me already know that I adore them both so so much and it's no surprise that I'd love their arc because I am a very big Shiori Yumeoji kinner. I wish that we had the satisfaction of seeing it through to the end before Yachiyo started hearing boss music but honestly the note it left off of and the interpretation that you can take away from their revue's ending had my lying on the floor. It started so rocky and ended so sweet, it felt like such a normal sibling quarrel and just... so like them?, yknow? like of course they're going to be super petty and then hang out that weekend. so real! Shiori's desperate struggle to get an honest answer out of Fumi and inability to let go or move on, Fumi finding her stage and realizing the kind of person she wants and needs to be, aiming to overcome their pride; Michiru and Ichie's honest efforts to bring those strong and opposing traits out of the two of them in their own revues prior. AUGH. Shiori gaining confidence as a stage girl, and as a younger sister, to stand up to and alongside her older sister for the first time in months... when Fumi finally acknowledges Shiori's growth to her face, and when they made a new promise oh my god it was such an irreplaceable feeling to watch happen. like girl has the RANGE. Sun and I often talk about her roles and compare them, like say Belle or Aries for an example but then you see Shuten-Doji or Holly Taker?? INSANE!! Honorary mention that ties into this too actually is when Michiru threw her coat down and let Shiori win, recognizing her determination and passion, and allowing Shiori to reach her sister and confront their promise, like Michiru wishes she had the strength to do with Akira. god god their revue struck so many chords with me. things that did not have to be so personal. For the sake of everything I'll just lump everything involving Shiori and Fumi together, which includes the revues with Michiru and Ichie, and just say their whole arc together and separate during Arcana made me sob like crazy. I've seen someone say this and I agree, I'd give literally anything to see this revue specifically animated!! i'm so serious

TamaRui. when me (Tamao) and Rui have our little spat and then all of Rinmeikan shows up. they're all saying words of encouragement and are like. awawawa okay okay okay let me get the screenshots or i won't make it out alive hold on. here:

WHEN I SAY THIS REVUE CHANGED ME FUNDAMENTALLY AS A PERSON. Another kinnie moment unfortunately but it's like they literally took me and put me into the source. Tamao balancing good and evil in her head, with the weight of decision constantly on her shoulders. You can see up until Arcana when it comes to a head her wavering slipping through cracks, her internal struggle to choose which path best suits her and her goals. The personality changes resonated with me, something I can relate to as a person today. Actually, and more importantly, Rui's development in Arcana is also one of my favorites overall. good! for! her!! gosh she deserved this growth and it's one of the most important things for her to have gone through. That she can healthily detach and be her own person outside of Tamao while still looking up to her as a role model and as a friend. I could talk for hours about Tamao's issues as a stage girl and as a person, but what made this moment in arcana so impactful for me is Rui loosely doing unto Tamao what Shiori did with Fumi, and that's create a new promise together while also diverging their own paths. I absolutely love that Rui brought back Yuyuko's "spell" and used it in their revue, I love that Rui learned what kind of stage girl SHE wants to be, I love that Rui was inspired by someone other than Tamao to realize these goals and dreams. All while keeping her love for Tamao so dear to her heart. Rui's proclamations of love, her fighting back against Tamao for her truth and not faltering once even when Tamao raised her voice and struggled to fight back, goddd all of it just made me so emotional . The fact it ended on such a positive note for everyone too and helped them all move forward together better than ever I'm (clutches my heart) Rinmeikan means so much to me

Revue Frontier. um. uh. um. not only is What Shines the Darkness literally like my favorite arcana arcadia song probably but everything about Frontier in this oh my god. very similarly to rinmeikan their whole dynamic and found family together is just something so special, something so pure and beautiful and absolutely unmatched. OH AND ALSO. Elle's inclusion in the story!!! can i mention that!!! I'm grouping that part of the story with this even if it's not until the end of arcana just because she is a part of frontier and their story anyway!! The fact that Elle decides to join Frontier when she's older warmed my heart so much it was such a touching moment for me. I love Frontier and wish they got more attention, their part of the story in Arcana was so memorable and so integral. I love their found family and each of their interactions with each other. it broke my heart when Aruru ran away and everyone was just so scared and lost. The irony of this when their part of the story before arcana involved the others being lost and Aruru having to find them and "bring them back" to her stage, it's just so cathartic and poetic. such a beautiful arc

The Play! this is a cheesy silly answer probably but i don't think people talk about the actual parts of the play enough. which i wholeheartedly get because the most important parts of arcana is the actual character interactions and the revues between them. but I absolutely loved the actual play parts and getting to read them with Sun out loud on call. We voice acted the lines and did our own little private performance it was literally so fun!! it left a very positive memory with us and I just think getting to see the starira characters actually play their roles adds to the emersion of the game itself. it's some of my favorite parts of the game overall. the songs, the story, the actual play, getting to see how the play is put together in the intermissions (shoutout to masai and amemiya for real! plus it was really fun to see michiru get included in creating the play as well actually I enjoyed how they went about that), and also the fact that it's based on tarot. Each arcana fitting the character it represents down to both the positive AND negative traits, ah, you love to see it. I own a few decks irl and have been around tarot through my mother, so a source I'm this passionate about that has ties to another interest so dear to me just adds to its charm. I own the official bushiroad starira arcana set!! i'd love to show it sometime if anyone's curious :3c

YACHIMEI. "it's dangerous to go alone, take this!" but seriously when Mei Fan handed their weapon to Yachiyo I literally didn't even know how to process it at first. Not only was it really awesome to see the two of them up against Akira in the first place, but Mei Fan turning the tide in their favor but giving Yachiyo the fighting change and final blow was just icing on the cake for me. I was just as surprised as when Michiru removed the coat for Shiori to earn the win. When YCHM shouted their Frau Platin introductions I was so proud of both of them too, that was such a defining moment for the two of them. Another moment like the yumeoji sisters I'd LOVE to see animated. A whole series just based on the arcana arcadia arc would be a dream come true... but, seeing Akira laugh in pride and challenge them further, Mei Fan faced with his pride and jealousy towards Yachiyo, Yachiyo being tested to stop holding herself back "for the sake of others", it was the perfect storm in my opinion. A great way to showcase all of their strengths and weaknesses, and in general was a very entertaining matchup. Just the live2d wasn't enough I need more :sob:

Honorary mention: Chitose! When we got a glimpse of her and when Yachiyo finally was able to come to terms with her feelings involving her sister in the revue between yachiyo and kuromaya. I love Yachiyo and Chitose so much, but I know that whole dynamic and their story mean everything to mod Sun. She'd appreciate this being one of my answers for sure. I loved getting to learn what kind of soul she is, even before her more official appearance in the Gemini bond story (PLEASE GO READ IT) it was so interesting. Nothing will be funnier to me btw than when Yachiyo is talking about Chitose and then Claudine and Maya start openly flirting with each other. iconic

kaoruko and tamao's revue made me insane. no further questions

honestly every part of arcana arcadia matters and I purposefully left out the Intermissions/Bond Stories because I feel like those are more separate pieces to the whole I could tackle in a completely different train of thought. don't ask me about emperor intermission . please

[aboutanancientenquiry]

"Chronique des activités scientifiques

Revue des livres

Comptes rendus et notices bibliographiques

Le Polythéisme grec à l’épreuve d’Hérodote

Theodora Suk Fong Jim

p. 290-293

Référence(s) :

Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge, Le Polythéisme grec à l’épreuve d’Hérodote, Paris, Les Belles Lettres / Collège de France, 2020. 1 vol. 13,5 × 21 cm, 251 p. (Docet Omnia, 6). ISBN : 978-3-515-12809-4.

Texte intégral

1 The last half century has seen a dazzling array of new approaches in the study of Greek polytheism. Moving away from a polis-centred model into which every student of Greek religion was once initiated, scholars have now advocated alternative frameworks ranging from ‘personal’ and ‘lived’ religion, to ‘network’ analyses, comparative perspectives, and the application of cognitive theories. Pirenne-Delforge’s latest book is a nuanced response to recent shifts in scholarly trends, and a critical reflection on current debates on the character of Greek polytheism. While revisiting old issues central and fundamental to the study of Greek religion, it offers a whole host of new insights into the analysis of Greek gods, the tension between unity and diversity, and the choice of conceptual tools by ancient historians.

2 The author confronts the thorny question of terminology from the outset: can we speak of Greek ‘religion’ when studying the ancient Mediterranean? Carefully tracing the history of the terms ‘religion’ and ‘polytheism’, she demonstrates that neither represents the ancient Greeks’ own use of word, and that their subsequent use is closely bound up with Christian polemics. Nevertheless, she reminds us, in historians’ attempt to avoid or get rid of terms with Christian associations, not only will we leave ourselves with no interpretive tool, we will also be perpetuating, consciously or unconsciously, the prejudice that Christianity is the true religion. In fact this ‘purge’ in terminology can go on: what about ‘religious’, ‘piety’, ‘thanks-giving’, ‘miracle’, and so on? Whether or not modern historians can give credence to the relations between the ancient Greeks and their gods, what is important is that they are recognized by the Greeks themselves. The definition of ‘religion’ chosen by the author aptly emphasizes this: its key element consists in ‘les relations avec la sphère supra-humaine dont cette culture postule l’existence’ (p. 55).

3 A central issue threaded through the whole book is the constant, and seemingly unreconcilable, tension between unity and diversity, the general and the particular, inherent in Greek polytheism. The question of ‘one or many’ has attracted scholarly attention in recent theoretical analyses of Greek cult epithets: to what extent is Zeus Meilichios the same as Zeus Ktesios? How much difference is there between the innumerable Zeuses bearing different epithets? Pirenne-Delforge shows, significantly, that the plurality (poly-) in the word ‘polytheism’ is not restricted to divine figures but is manifest at every level of Greek religion, from sacrificial and other ritual practices, to cult places and sanctuaries, divine names and epithets, and conceptions of the divine: these might vary between different levels of organization (Panhellenic, regional, polis, sub-polis, and so on), from place to place, from one individual to another, and across different time periods. So overwhelmingly diverse is every aspect of Greek polytheism that the singular ‘religion’, one may object, can hardly capture its diversity. Pirenne-Delforge categorically emphasizes the plurality and multiplicity inherent in Greek polytheism on the one hand, but on the other reaffirms the value and validity of Greek ‘religion’ in the singular. To speak of Greek ‘religion’ (rather than ‘religions’), in her view, is not to obscure or obliterate the bewildering plurality in Greek polytheism, but to recognize that ‘une certaine unité sous-tend les relations que les Grecs entretenaient avec leurs dieux’ (p. 95).

4 To demonstrate that this unity is not a construct invented by the historian, Pirenne-Delforge puts her arguments to the test by using Herodotus, who best documents the diversity of religious customs (nomoi) across and within ancient Mediterranean cultures. Close analysis of his Histories and other sources reveals that ‘Greek gods’ and ‘Greek sacrifice’ existed in the ancient Greeks’ own representation of theia pragmata. Such categories tend to lie ‘dormant’ in the Greeks’ perception of religious matters, but come to the surface when a contrast is made with non-Greek phenomena or in a foreign milieu. A question nevertheless remains: in the absence of a centralized religious authority, what gives unity to Greek polytheism? How far can regional, local, and personal variations go before any element loses its ‘Greekness’? Other eminent scholars have conceptualized aspects of this tension using the symbolism of a concertina (capable of expansion and contraction) or kaleidoscope (capable of changing from one to many varied visions),1 whereas Pirenne-Delforge stresses that both unity and diversity are constitutive of our understanding of Greek polytheism, and have to be studied together at every level of analysis. These two forces, the unifying and diversifying, the centripetal and centrifugal,2 hold each other in check, so that there was a limit to how far variations could go.

5 The analysis of the Greek gods has undergone various important shifts in paradigms over the last few decades. The ‘structuralist’ approach associated with Vernant and Detienne emphasizes that Greek gods were divine powers rather than persons, and that they need to be defined in relation to other powers in the pantheon. Versnel in Coping with the Gods (2011) is similarly preoccupied with the question of ‘one or many’, but he is anti-structuralist in stressing the inconsistencies in the Greeks’ perception of the gods and their ability to entertain multiple conceptions of a divine figure. Pirenne-Delforge’s present volume builds on what one might call the ‘neo-structuralist’ approach which she has developed in collaboration with Pironti. While recognizing the anthropomorphic tendencies in the Greeks’ perception of their gods, she follows Vernant in stressing that a god is not a ‘person’, but a divine power with a broad spectrum of competences (technai). Despite the potential plurality of each divine figure, she argues, ‘quelque chose de stable paraît transcender la polyonymie de chaque figure divine’ (p. 128). She uses the symbolism of a ‘network’ (réseau) to capture the dynamic powers and different attributes of each god. Nevertheless, it is unclear if the concept of a network necessarily leads to ‘quelque chose de stable’: all that it emphasizes is the interconnected nature of a god’s different powers, but that was already the assumption underlying what Parker calls the ‘snowball theory’ of polytheism.3

6 After almost two decades of lively debates on the relevance of ‘belief’ in the study of Greek polytheism, most historians now recognize that ‘belief’ existed among the Greeks in a broad sense without Christian overtones, that a plurality of different ‘beliefs’ coexisted, and that ‘belief’ is indispensable in making sense of the Greeks’ relations with their gods. Nevertheless, beyond these broad consensuses, progress in the investigation of ‘belief’ seems to have reached an impasse. Pirenne-Delforge takes the subject further by taking a fresh look at the closest Greek equivalent nomizein. The two aspects of its meaning—the ritualistic sense of ‘to practice and observe as a custom’, and the cognitive sense of ‘to believe’, ‘to recognize as gods’—have often been considered separately, whereas Pirenne-Delforge emphasizes that they are two sides of the same coin. To recognize a certain figure as god, in her view, implies a whole series of rituals and cultic actions rendered to the god concerned, and therefore nomizein tous theous in effect means to integrate the gods in the nomoi of the society. The cognitive recognition of a god in one’s mental sphere is expressed in religious customs, and so we should no longer prioritize ritual as primary or more important than belief. Even for phenomena such as divination and sacrifice, which seem manifestly ritualistic, Pirenne-Delforge demonstrates that these practices are in fact closely linked with the Greeks’ representation of the gods.

7 Other key issues arising from the book include the relations between gods in literature and gods in lived religion, the boundary between ‘public’ and ‘private’ religion, and the relations between the Panhellenic and the local. Each side of these dichotomies tends to form a separate object of analysis in existing studies and is rarely brought together or considered on the same plane in any given analysis. Yet Pirenne-Delforge almost effortlessly brings together different aspects, reminding us that the boundary in these polarities is fluid, permeable, and often ill-defined. In fact hardly any phenomenon in Greek religion can be studied solely from the perspective of either the polis or the individual, the literary or the cultic, the general or the particular, when both aspects are complementary to each other.

8 Forcefully argued and remarkably well-informed, this profoundly thoughtful book beautifully brings together a great deal of valuable insights and an impressive amount of learning resulting from many years of reflection on this subject. It challenges future generations of students and scholars in Greek religion to aspire to a new standard: to study Greek polytheism in its different manifestations and in its totality, and to deploy a multiplicity of perspectives for understanding the complexity of what can justifiably be called Greek religion.

Haut de page

Notes

1 R. Parker, On Greek Religion, Cornell, 2011, p. 87; H. Versnel, Coping with the Gods, Leiden, 2011, p. 212; M.S. Smith, Where the Gods Are, New Haven, 2016, p. 57.

2 E. Kearns, “Archaic and Classical Greek Religion”, in M.A. Aweeney, M.R. Salzman, E. Adler (eds.), The Cambridge History of Religions in the Ancient World, Cambridge, 2013, p. 281–284.

3 R. Parker, On Greek Religion, Cornell, 2011, p. 86.Haut de page

Pour citer cet article

Référence papier

Theodora Suk Fong Jim, « Le Polythéisme grec à l’épreuve d’Hérodote », Kernos, 34 | 2021, 290-293.

Référence électronique

Theodora Suk Fong Jim, « Le Polythéisme grec à l’épreuve d’Hérodote », Kernos [En ligne], 34 | 2021, mis en ligne le 31 décembre 2021, consulté le 03 octobre 2023. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/kernos/3913 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/kernos.3913Haut de page

Auteur

Theodora Suk Fong Jim

University of Nottingham

Articles du même auteur

Seized by the Nymph? [Texte intégral]Onesagoras the ‘dekatephoros’ in the Nymphaeum at Kafizin in CyprusParu dans Kernos, 25 | 2012

The vocabulary of ἀπάρχεσθαι, ἀπαρχή and related terms in Archaic and Classical Greece [Texte intégral]Paru dans Kernos, 24 | 2011 "

[nevermelting]

Fire Emblem Cindered Shadows Expansion - review

(Listen, I know I am like VERY late to the party but since FE3 is one of my most favorite games ever and I played the expansion just now, here's my IN DEPTH review.)

Overall impression: With Cindered Shadows, I received more than I bargained for. The whole new underground world (literally a new, explorable location) opens up for you with its special challenges of the disenfranchised people and underdogs. Unusual personalities dwell here with perspectives that were previously unexplored. The monastery and its internal politics just got a massive upgrade and you won't want to go back to how it was before.

The story: Cindered Shadows story opens up quite atmospherically, even though a bit clumsily in the way it ties in with the main lords' story. From the first moment you lay your eyes on Yuri and his team, you know immediately that you are in for something special. Does this feeling remain throughout the story and post-story FE3 main game integration though? That is a more complex question. In my opinion, while absolutely intriguing, Cindered Shadows story couldn't quite live up to the potential of greatness mostly because it promises a story of underdogs almost Victor Hugo style and throws it all away in a rather personal than social confrontation in the end. The villain is rather weak this time and isn't even a bad person per se. Personally, I am rather in favor of the Church but in this case, imo, the rebellion of Wolves would be more appropriate than Edelgard's rebellion (which is, you know, often the excuse for invading other countries). But Wolves are REALLY downtrodden, UNLIKE Edelgard herself and the story doesn't allow them to rebel. Had it been up to me, I'd rather have Yuri's Great French Revolution than Edelgard's....uh, let's just give it a rest this time actually. 'Descendants of Saints living in the slums' is an interesting concept for me as someone who likes the Saints though.

Characters: Characters are interesting but sometimes a bit confusing. When you first meet them, you get the impression of 'thick as thieves' close-knit gang. When you start getting bits of their conversation among themselves though, you start to see that they actually pretty much hate each other. Yuri in particular turned out to be a much more unsavory character for me, being so off-puttingly rude to most and main character too that it made me cringe. His self-absorbed persona of eyeshadow-wearing mafia boss is completely unrealistic, exasperating and irritating. Which is strange because I like his role as a leader in CS side story. (And I would like it even more if he was more about Rebellion and less about fucking around and eyeshadow and looking like an edgy Takarazuka Revue actress.)

Hapi is also sometimes irritating, but unlike him, in a completely realistic way. Her constant complaining, unrelated mentions of personal trauma in seemingly random situations and childish cynicism are all too familiar for everyone who dealt with Gen Z at any point in their life. I actually appreciate her as a character because it is the closest any media came to depicting a fantasy Gen Z girl - without any judgement, but you know, with all her quirks.

Byleth will be just minding their business when Hapi will appear out of nowhere with 'Gentle reminder that I don't trust you because you are with the church scum. I don't care if you saved me. Gentle reminder that the Church literally tortured me.' And the stories keep getting more and more colorful. You aren't half sure if it's true or simply exaggerated but the only thing you can say is 'Valid.' Hilarious. (Even if the stories are true , it is sad but the way she speaks of them is hilariously self-important.)

Constance seems to be like a running joke for most and she doesn't have many support conversations with people outside of the Wolves. She is sometimes a very annoying sadistic anime Princess but sometimes surprisingly human and then you feel bad for her. She is written in a very inconsistent way, perhaps as a villain or traitor originally. While I do agree that she is often bad, the game often treats her in an overly cruel way that isn't reserved for similar characters.

Balthus seems to be the only normal of the bunch and the one I like the most. However, even he isn't free from inconsistent writing. I often feel like with Ashen Wolves, the authors attempted to add edginess without knowing where to add it and managed to create hostility instead. Again, it's not that bad actually. But maybe it's related to the way the existence of Abyss is never really resolved.

Gameplay: Cindered Shadows add a lot of tough missions in both side story and main story where enemies exploit a tactic of reinforcements in a major way. Sometimes you wonder if those waves of enemies can even stop. On the other hand, after playing them the primary game may feel too easy on lower difficulties. Overall, the the difficulty isn't too bad and is mostly fair.

[waffleweirdo]

I love how much Revue Starlight calls out its characters and makes them confront themselves and grow. So I made a dumb spreadsheet about how much the characters get called out!!

(Based on absolutely no evidence)

Conclusion: Masai is objectively the best revstar character

[kaedeichinose]

found out the artist who did the concept work on the bumblebee kiss scene is also a revue starlight fan and you know what yeah a revue starlight fan WOULD force two characters to have an emotional confrontation on a rickety bridge and then an emotional climax on top of a pillar covered in flowers.

[whileiamdying]

The Untouchable Tina Turner

Some people perform music; some people become music.

By Amanda Petrusich May 25, 2023

On Wednesday, one of the great American voices—gritty, vehement, tender, and red-hot, containing, somehow, both the entire history and future of rock and roll—went silent. Tina Turner, who was born Anna Mae Bullock, in 1939, in Brownsville, Tennessee, died at her home in Switzerland, at age eighty-three. She was known for her superhuman resilience, and, in a way, I came to believe that she was actually invincible. In 1988, when she was forty-eight years old, she performed to some hundred and eighty thousand fans in Rio de Janeiro, ousting Frank Sinatra from the record books by drawing what was, at that point, the largest-ever ticketed crowd for a solo performer. The show was filmed, thank heavens. The energy is uncanny. Bionic. It’s like watching an Olympic final in Being Badass. Early in the set, wearing a fringed minidress, heeled ankle boots, and a pearl necklace, Turner performs “Better Be Good to Me,” a single from 1984. It’s a song about being in love with someone you don’t entirely trust. “Should I be fractured by your lack of devotion?” she wonders in the first verse. The next bit contains all of her magic. She’s asking a question, but her tone isn’t earnest, it’s incredulous. How dare this person expect her to compromise? “Should I? Should I?” she roars. You will want to holler “NO!” at your screen—but, of course, the question was always rhetorical.

Turner was brought up on a cotton farm and educated in a segregated, one-room schoolhouse. She grew up singing in the choir of the Spring Hill Baptist Church in Nutbush, about sixty miles northeast of Memphis. Her great-great-grandfather, Logan Currie, Sr., had been enslaved in the same region. “I hated the cotton field,” she told Henry Louis Gates, Jr., in a 2007 interview for PBS. “There were those hairy worms crawling, the spiders.” Turner later moved to St. Louis, where she met Ike Turner at the Manhattan Club, a Black bar and venue. She eventually persuaded Ike to let her sing with his band, the Kings of Rhythm. They became romantically involved, and, in 1960, formed the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, becoming hugely popular on the Chitlin’ Circuit, a series of Black-owned night clubs throughout the southeast. In 1971, they had a crossover hit with their cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Proud Mary,” and performed the song on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” For the broadcast, Turner wears a gold flapper dress. She bounces around the stage vigorously, so gleeful and open and strong that it feels as though, surely, she must have an extra set of lungs stashed somewhere. There’s a looseness to her performance that’s far funkier and more human than the hyper-choreographed, steel-eyed stylings of her modern counterparts. I don’t know how to describe it. She is simply very, very alive.

It’s still hard to write about the sixteen years she spent in that abusive, ugly relationship with Ike. She escaped the marriage in 1976. She was thirty-seven years old, and in possession of just thirty-six cents and a Mobil gasoline card. “I didn’t fear him killing me when I left, because I was already dead,” she told People, in 1981. It was the first time that she had spoken publicly about the abuse, and she described it as “torture.” Besides the usual subjugations (beating and berating her), Ike had changed her name and assumed control of her career and finances. It’s easy to think of this experience as the defining trauma of Turner’s life and art—to presume that it shaped and informed her music in a deep and irrefutable way—but it feels stupid, even unfair, to give Ike, who died of a cocaine overdose in 2007, any more air in her story. There have been two memoirs, a Broadway musical, a feature film, interviews. Turner was asked to confront and remember her abuse for decades after it ended. It feels proper to free her of it now. “I don’t like to pull out old clothes,” Turner said in “Tina,” an HBO documentary from 2021. “It’s like old memories, you just want to leave that in the past.”

Let us look, then, to the nineteen-eighties, a decade in which Turner, liberated from her marriage, dominated the charts and the national imagination: the voice, the power, the presence, the legs, the wardrobe, the hair. My God, the dancing! How free does a person have to be to move that way? Freer than I have ever felt or been, certainly. Some people perform music; some people become music. If you’re having a miserable day, one foolproof cure is typing “Tina Turner live 1985” into the YouTube search bar, and bearing witness to something virtuosic, if not divinely ordained. At the time, Turner was on tour in support of the multiplatinum “Private Dancer,” her fifth full-length album, and the record that resuscitated and then ignited her solo career. There’s some extraordinary footage of David Bowie joining her onstage at a show in Birmingham, England, for a duet of “Tonight,” a song first released on Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life,” in 1977. Bowie, who co-wrote the track—it features a repeating Aretha Franklin sample—appears on the original; he went on to record it for an album of his own, in 1984. Turner guested on Bowie’s version (they skipped Pop’s spoken-word intro, which describes a heroin overdose). Watching them do it live is electrifying. Bowie is grinning so much and so wildly that I wonder how he even manages to keep on singing. They slow dance for a bit in the middle, while Tim Cappello plays a shirtless saxophone solo. I would call this section “steamy,” but it feels like too chaste of a word. “This is a privilege,” Bowie says, when it’s all over. Boy, does he mean it.

Turner’s later years were appropriately lavish. After she retired, she lived in Küsnacht, Switzerland, in an estate known as the Château Algonquin, with clear views of Lake Zurich, and, according to a 2019 profile in the Times, “a life-size two-legged horse sculpture suspended from a domed ceiling, a framed rendering of Turner as an Egyptian queen, a room stuffed with gilded Louis XIV style sofas.” A plaque on the gate announces that, of course, no deliveries should be attempted before noon. Who would dare? Turner stopped performing in 2009, freeing herself of a substantial burden: “I was just tired of singing and making everybody happy,” she said. “That’s all I’d ever done in my life.” How glorious that must have felt—having only to worry about her own joy.

I was having lunch in Chinatown with friends when the news was announced. I had ordered a glass of white wine—indulgent for a weekday afternoon, I suppose, but I was feeling a little indulgent. I experienced a quick pang in my gut when one of my companions announced that Turner had died—the sharp, needling ache that comes when someone who you didn’t know personally, but who you understood to have contributed, in a profound and robust way, to the general goodness of the world, had left it. I swallowed the last of my drink. It felt right to be a little unsteady in that moment. “Tina would have had the wine,” the group chat later confirmed. Did Turner even drink? Who cares? The point was that she found a way to tap into some deep wellspring of ease and abandon and self-love, and drew from it when she needed to. And now she has left that for us, in her music, in her voice, in the singular way she occupied a stage. In this sense, she is untouchable, forever. ♦

[tokyo-tower-symbolism]

I posted 582 times in 2022

That's 582 more posts than 2021!

24 posts created (4%)

558 posts reblogged (96%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@jawlipops

@salmonfishsticks

@widescreencircus

@izanagikami

@mono-blogs-art

I tagged 89 of my posts in 2022

#revue starlight - 33 posts

#analyzing starlight - 9 posts

#claudine saijou - 9 posts

#revue starlight relive - 9 posts

#revstar - 7 posts

#hikari kagura - 6 posts

#asks - 5 posts

#fumi yumeoji - 5 posts

#nana daiba - 5 posts

#kaoruko hanayagi - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#and there’s a nonzero chance that some of their seniors at new national may have taken part and gotten deeply traumatized at what they did

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

A Deep Dive of the Junna-Nana Revue in the Movie, or why you really ought to believe in others more

The Revues in Revue Starlight can be difficult to understand.

Usually that’s because of all the imagery and music and symbolism coming at you simultaneously, but this one in particular is confusing because Nana is just so hard to understand. She is absolutely terrifying in the movie, and last time it was because she had to protect her reruns, but we don’t know why she’s doing it this time. And don’t get me wrong, we just had a whole thing where Mahiru chased Hikari with murderous intent, but that was acting! So we keep waiting for Nana to drop the act, but she never does! Even when Junna is crying and has lost the will to fight, Nana just leaves her behind like she doesn’t even care!? What’s going on? Nana is Junna’s biggest fan! What happened to Nana? What’s going on?

So this is my attempt to lay out everything going on and try to get a better understanding of what was going on with Junna and Nana throughout the movie. It’s also part of my series of deep dives into each of the movie’s Revues, and while it should be able to be read as a standalone thing, I will be analyzing the Revue of Annihilation in this one, so I may touch on the issues everyone else is dealing with as well. 

So to start it off, let’s take a look at what Junna’s dealing with at the start of the movie.

And I gotta say, girlie is going through it.

See the full post

99 notes - Posted September 30, 2022

#4

Official Manga Claudine vs Movie “But we’re minors” Junna

112 notes - Posted November 29, 2022

#3

Personally, I think Mahiru should’ve been allowed to keep that gun for the Revue

115 notes - Posted November 22, 2022

#2

A Deep Dive of the Claudine-Maya Revue in the Movie, or why you really ought to read the fine print before signing a contract in tomato juice

So the Revues in Revue Starlight are a lot.

There is just so much packed into a few minutes. The sets! The fighting! The music! There’s just so much going on that you can’t completely process everything going on at once. And it’s absolutely awesome. The Revues look so amazing and feel so epic.

And sure it’s a lot, but we still get what’s happening. We saw the build up to each Revue, and we mostly know what’s going on in each of their heads. After all, it’s not just the stage that matters in the revues, but also the emotions going into it. For some, they’re worried about their future as a stage girl, whether or not they’ll be good enough to one day achieve their dreams. And for others, they’re worried about what graduation will mean for their relationships with each other as they each go on their separate paths. And as much as they try to hide it, these anxieties boil over in their Revues, forcing them to confront their deepest insecurities in front of the very person they tried so hard to hide it from.

But they’re never alone in these cases, they have their partner. Admittedly this usually doesn’t help at first since the only thing worse than one person catastrophizing over their future is two people catastrophizing over their futures. But still, they all manage to figure it out in the end together.

But Maya and Claudine aren’t insecure about the future. Both of them know that they’ll get into their dream troupe and neither of them seem too bothered about the fact that the two of them will be going their separate ways after High School.

So unlike every other Revue so far, which has been desperate and came from a place of hurt, the Revue of Soul starts off so much more lighthearted. The vibes are completely different from everything that came before in the movie. It feels like Maya and Claudine have nothing left to say to each other, that they are doing this Revue just for fun, it’s like a game to them.

But obviously it’s not just that, the two of them mean so much to each other! They’re just acting otherwise because of their pride, and once the two of them decide to drop all pretenses, they can finally have a proper Revue, where they put everything on the line just to understand each other.

And to see how we got here, I’m going to try to lay out everything going on with Claudine and Maya in the Movie that got us here. This is a part of a series of Deep Dives I’m doing for each of the Movie’s Revues, and while you can read this one without reading the others, I may make some references to themes and ideas that I brought up in the earlier Deep Dives, but I’ll do my best to give context if that ever happens.

So first I wanna talk about Maya at the start of the Movie.

See the full post

208 notes - Posted November 10, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

It’s really funny how big a deal Kaoruko is in all the non-anime Revue Starlight media. 

Like in the mobile game, Tamao from Rinmeikan was always second place to Kaoruko in the Kyoto dance competitions, so when their schools have to face each other in a Revue, Tamao tries to ask Kaoruko not to participate because Tamao couldn’t see herself winning if Kaoruko was there. 

Or how in the stage plays, she was so legendary that there’s a school in Kyoto whose entire drama department worships Kaoruko and would go all the way to Tokyo just for the chance to meet her.

Meanwhile in the anime we see Kaoruko’s daily life, and she’s the literally the most pathetic person you’ve ever seen.

246 notes - Posted September 25, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[dealgemeneverwarring]

De Algemene Verwarring #82 - 29 November 2022

The eighty-second episode of De Algemene Verwarring was broadcast on Tuesday November 29, 2022, and you can listen to it by clicking on the Mixcloud widget below. And if that does not work, here’s the direct link to the Mixcloud page:

https://www.mixcloud.com/MedialabKortrijk/de-algemene-verwarring-82-29-november-2022/

Pictured below is Jim Thirlwell, a.k.a. Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel or The Foetus All Nude Revue or Foetus Interruptus or Foetus In Your Bed or Foetus Über Frisco or Foetus Art Terrorism, or also Wiseblood, or Clint Ruin, or Manorexia, or Steroid Maximus... the picture was apparently taken in 1985, one year after the release of one of many master pieces of his: “Hole”. I discovered the work of Thirwell in the local city library, where they had copies of “Hole” and also of “Nail” in the late eighties, early nineties, I can still singalong all the lyrics of both of those albums. I played a track of the Hole LP in this episode, because I don’t think I have already played Foetus tracks in De Algemene Verwarring and I have to say that although I don’t listen to those records as often as I listen to for instance early Coil records, the work of Jim Thirlwell has had an important influence on my musical education.

Also in this episode is the confronting and Coil related track “Rape” by Zos Kia, but don’t worry, it’s not a heavy episode and there’s enough other music that will put a smile on your face, from the likes of Wild Zeros, The Scaners, Tampax, Oblivians, Los Streaks, Mordecai, Boris Dzaneck, Treasury Of Puppies, Goldblum, and we dub into the night with The Idealist! And beneath the photo you can find the playlist for this show. Enjoy!

Playlist

Wild Zeros: Boy From Nowhere (7” “Homesick” on Frantic City Records, 2008)

The Scaners: Now Or Never (7” “Secret Demo Recordings” on Dangerhouse Skylab, 2018)

Tampax: UFO Dictator (LP V/A “Killed By Death #7” on RedRum Records, originally released on a split 7” with Hitler SS on Compact Cassette Records)

Oblivians: Strong Come On (7” Strong Come On” on Crypt Records, repress 2013, originally released in 1996)

Los Streaks: Reaccion Sicotica (7” Reaccion Sicotica” on Munster Records, 2022, originally released in 1967)

Mordecai: Waste (7” “Drag Me Down” on Wantage Records, 2012)

Nocturnal Projections: Nerve Ends In Power Lines (LP “Complete Studio Recordings”, DAIS Records, 2018)

Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel: Sick-Man (LP “Hole” on Self Immolation/Some Bizarre, 1985)

CIA Débutante: Kessler Syndrome (7” Pier” on SDZ Records & Officine Records, 2021)

Boris Dzaneck: Dance (LP V/A “Kale Plankieren - Dutch Cassette Rarities 1981-1985 Volume I” on Knekelhuis, 2017, originally released in 1983)

De Ambassade: Standhouden (7” “Standhouden” on Knekelhuis, 2020)

Angel: Drive (Down) (2LP V/A “Sky Girl” on Efficient Space, 2016, originally released on a 7” in 1982 on Teddy Bear Records)

Treasury of Puppies: Himlen Den Vackraste (LP V/A “And Felt Like…” on Knekelhuis Records, 2021)

Goldblum:  A Face Appeared (LP “Of Feathers And Bones” on KRAAK Records, 2021)

Zos Kia: Rape (12” “Rape” on All The Madmen Records, 1985)

The Idealist: The Revelation Dub (LP “A Lion Is A Lion And Not A Lamb” on Meakusma Records, 2022)

[societascriticus]

Hamlet d’Ambroise Thomas à l’Opéra de Montréal (Terminé)

D.I., Delinkan Intellectuel, revue d'actualité et de culture, in Societas Criticus Vol. 26-05 : www.societascriticus.com

Résumé

Hamlet d’Ambroise Thomas est une adaptation de l’emblématique pièce de théâtre de Shakespeare. À travers une brillante mise en scène d’Alain Gauthier, le public sera témoin de l’angoisse et du ressentiment tragique qui accablent les victimes d’un système où règne la corruption. Le talentueux chef Jacques Lacombe dirigera l’Orchestre Métropolitain.

Source : https://www.operademontreal.com/programmation/hamlet#summary

Argument

Acte I

Le mariage de Claudius et Gertrude est célébré. Hamlet, bouleversé par la mort de son père et le remariage subit de sa mère, est visité par le spectre de son père qui lui révèle avoir été assassiné par Claudius. Hamlet jure de le venger.

Acte II

Ophélie s'inquiète du comportement changeant de Hamlet. Lors d'un banquet, Hamlet engage une troupe de comédiens pour révéler, dans une pantomime mettant en scène un assassinat, la culpabilité du couple royal, provoquant colère et consternation.

Acte III

Hamlet contemple la destinée humaine dans le célèbre monologue « Être ou ne pas être. » Après avoir secrètement épié Claudius en proie au remords, il repousse Ophélie et confronte sa mère. Le spectre apparaît encore à Hamlet pour lui rappeler sa mission vengeresse.

Acte IV

Ophélie, repoussée par Hamlet, sombre dans la folie. Errante, en proie au délire, elle s'enfonce dans les eaux profondes d'un lac, hantée par ses souvenirs d'amour déçu.

Acte V

Hamlet songe avec regret à Ophélie, ignorant tout de son triste sort. Après une confrontation avec Laërte, un cortège funèbre révèle à Hamlet la fin tragique d'Ophélie. Alors qu'il songe à la rejoindre dans la mort, le spectre de son père le rappelle à son devoir. Hamlet tue Claudius et devient roi du Danemark.

Source : https://www.operademontreal.com/programmation/hamlet#argument

Distribution

HAMLET ELLIOT MADORE

OPHÉLIE SARAH DUFRESNE

LA REINE GERTRUDE KARINE DESHAYES

CLAUDIUS NATHAN BERG

LAËRTE ANTOINE BÉLANGER

MARCELLUS ROCCO RUPOLO

HORATIO ALEXANDRE SYLVESTRE

POLONIUS MATTHEW LI

LE SPECTRE ALAIN COULOMBE

CHEF D’ORCHESTRE JACQUES LACOMBE

METTEUR EN SCÈNE ALAIN GAUTHIER

CONCEPTION DES DÉCORS FRÉDÉRICK OUELLET

CONCEPTION DES COSTUMES SARAH BALLEUX

CONCEPTION DES ÉCLAIRAGES RENAUD PETTIGREW

CHEF DE CHŒUR CLAUDE WEBSTER

PIANISTE-RÉPÉTITRICE ESTHER GONTHIER

PIANISTE-RÉPÉTITEUR (CHŒUR) PIERRE MCLEAN

Source : https://issuu.com/operademontreal/docs/odm2461_prog_hamlet_fr_vf

Commentaires de Michel Handfield (2024-11-26)

D’abord, même si tous les médias ou presque l’ont fait, il faut souligner la prestation de Sarah Dufresne en Ophélie. (1) Ceci étant fait, revenons à notre sujet.

Si l’on connait surtout le Hamlet de Shakespeare, autour de 1600 (2), l’histoire d’Hamlet remonte bien avant, comme on le trouve sur Wikipédia :

- La légende scandinave d'Amleth (Saxo Grammaticus), vers 1200

- François de Belleforest, 1570

- Thomas Kyd et l'Ur-Hamlet, 1594 (3)

Ce livret d’Hamlet (4a), de Michel Carré (4b) et de Jules Barbier (4c), sur la musique d’Ambroise Thomas (5), est une adaptation de la pièce de Dumas père (6a) et de Paul Meurice (6b), intitulée « Hamlet, prince de Danemark », publiée en 1848. Elle a été présentée pour la première fois au Théâtre historique (Paris) (7) le 15 décembre 1847 (8), ce que nous apprend Wikipédia.

Bref, Hamlet a connu plus d’une version même si on l’associe toujours à Shakespeare ! De voir la version de Dumas et Meurice, plus contemporaine, fut rafraichissant.

Contrairement à la version de Shakespeare, où Hamlet meurt; dans cette version, plutôt basée sur le Hamlet d’Alexandre Dumas et Paul Meurice (9), il ne meurt pas, mais devra abandonner sa vie pour le royaume, car il devient roi et est bien seul, Ophélie s’étant suicidée suite à son comportement. Je cite les deux derniers passages à témoin :

Hamlet

Et moi? Vais-je rester, triste orphelin, sur terre,

À respirer cet air imprégné de misère?

Tragédien choisi par le courroux de Dieu,

Si j’ai mal pris mon rôle et mal saisi mon jeu,

Si, tremblant de mon œuvre et lassé sans combattre,

Pour un que tu voulais, j’en ai fait mourir quatre, -

Est-ce que Dieu sur moi fera peser son bras,

Père? Et quel châtiment m’attend donc?

Le fantôme

Tu vivras ! (10)

Le Pouvoir a donc ses exigences qui obligent souvent le renoncement de soi ! Un point de vue intéressant au moment où plusieurs cherchent la visibilité, la gloire, la richesse et le pouvoir sur les réseaux sociaux en se créant des personnages plus grands que nature, mais artificiels.

Tout cela, à quel prix?

C’est trop souvent au prix de se perdre soi-même dans l’illusion, une peine plus cruelle que la mort d’Hamlet dans la version shakespearienne, car il sera hanté tout son règne de la perte d’Ophélie, l’amour sacrifié ! Quand on regarde la monarchie, n’est-ce pas d’ailleurs leur triste destin? Connu et en apparence riche. Mais, ils ne s’appartiennent pas. Ils appartiennent à l’institution de l’État qu’ils incarnent et ont probablement moins de libertés individuelles que leurs sujets. Cela a donné lieu à quelques histoires tragiques...

Notes

1. https://www.operademontreal.com/artistes/sarah-dufresne

2. « La date exacte de la composition de la pièce n'est pas connue avec précision ; la première représentation se situe entre 1598 et 1601. Le texte fut publié en 1603. » https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet

3. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet

4a. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet_(opéra)

4b. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Carré_(librettiste)

4c. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Barbier

5. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambroise_Thomas

6a. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandre_Dumas

6b. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Meurice

7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Théâtre_Historique

8. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Meurice#Œuvres

9. Dans le programme, on nous parle d’Ambroise Thomas, le compositeur, mais pas du livret de Michel Carré et Jules Barbier, dont la finale ressemble bien au texte d’Alexandre Dumas et de Paul Meurice, ce dont on ne parle pas non plus. Après quelques recherches sur internet, pourtant, on trouve ceci :

« Hamlet is a grand opera in five acts of 1868 by the French composer Ambroise Thomas, with a libretto by Michel Carré and Jules Barbier based on a French adaptation by Alexandre Dumas, père, and Paul Meurice of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. » https://www.operaamerica.org/calendar/production/22732/hamlet

10. Alexandre Dumas, Hamlet : prince de Danemark, Emplacement 1589 sur 1633 – 98%, BnF collection ebooks/Kindle