Il teatro e l’indagine sull’umano. L’attore moderno in scena... all’ombra di Diderot

Can we say that the 18th century philosophe Denis Diderot and his theses of theatrical aesthetics are still relevant and viable on the modern theatre stage? The article elaborates on our contemporaneity to try to give an answer to this question, creating questionnaires-interviews with four professional actors with questions related to the key themes of Diderot's theatrical and artistic aesthetics, encountering the incredible actuality of the Diderotian vision. The idea of the actor's profession is, in its true essence, an aesthetic idea, thus stimulating a philosophical reflection based on all the great concepts of this discipline, highlighted by the theoretical and practical thought of Diderot and now investigated by the theatrical practice of contemporary actors: body, gestures, genius, interpretation, communication, expression. The sentiment of the Diderotian comédien on stage overcomes the distinction between a "warm", involved and passionate acting and a "cold", rational and controlled one, and declines its sensibility in a supra-individual meaning, in a concrete presentation of a model with a universal value but possible for the body of the actor on stage, therefore shared by spectators who observe the events happening on stage. In the same way, the modern actor trains on stage, organically and honestly, towards "becoming" in every moment and towards being legible, credible, creative, bringing to the stage actions full of questions that explore the possibilities of being human. In other words, becoming - as one of the actors interviewed in the questionnaire states in a very Diderotian way - «body of all bodies. A body that knows and can tell something universal and that makes vibrate inside the viewer the internal velvet that moves the soul. Even looking at something unrecognizable directly or consciously, I will feel narrated as a human being».

A ‘milky mass’ and ‘uniform material’: white marble in eighteenth-century French discourses on sculpture and geology

Knowledge of the materiality of stone during the Enlightenment expanded following the exploration of mineralogical structure, to alter ideas about taxonomy and challenge the role of rocks in the history of the earth. Close studies of the material of marble sculpture generated expertise on grain size, surface varieties and stone deposits. This mode of reception became intertwined with contemporary controversies about the age of the earth. This article focuses on both French sculpture and geological discourses of the eighteenth century to reveal an international and interdisciplinary network centring on protagonists such as Denis Diderot, Paul-Henri Thiry d’Holbach and Étienne-Maurice Falconet; through these figures, debates can be connected concerning both geology and art theory. Within these contexts, the article discusses the translation processes between these artistic and geological interests.

Musiker als Zeitungsleser?

Die beiden Briefe, die Denis Diderot auf seiner Rückreise von Petersburg Ende März 1774 in Hamburg an Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, den "größten Komponisten für Klavierinstrumente" seiner Zeit gerichtet hat, sind bereits sieben Tage nach seiner Abreise im Druck erschienen. Die Briefe der beiden Prominenten konnten mit gesteigertem Interesse rechnen, die Briefe wurden in den Zeitungen der Hansestadt mehrfach gedruckt und auch ins Deutsche übersetzt. Dass die eigene Antwort vom Komponisten zurückgehalten wurde und so am Anfang einer völlig disparaten Wirkungsgeschichte steht, ist nur eine von verschiedenen Merkwürdigkeiten dieser Korrespondenz.

Paradoxa über Politik und Theater

Paradoxa als »Gegenmeinungen« sind zentrales Gestaltungsmerkmal der Texte von Denis Diderot und Bertolt Brecht. Beide gehören nicht nur zu den bekanntesten Theaterdichtern, sondern sind auch politische Autoren. Dies zeigt sich sowohl in der Wahl ihrer Themen als auch in ihrer Formsprache. Susanne Schmiedens ausführliche Lektüre ausgewählter Texte im Zusammenspiel mit zeitgenössischen theoretischen Diskursen demonstriert, dass Theater, Wissenschaft und Demokratie gleichermaßen Gegenmeinungen als ihre Möglichkeitsbedingung betrachten müssen. Für eine demokratische Gesellschaft gilt, diese nicht nur zuzulassen, sondern zum gemeinsamen Tanz aufzufordern.

O conceito de trabalho no Brasil no século XVIII: o combate à ociosidade, à vadiagem e à preguiça

Os limites cronológicos que separam as obras de Gregório de Mattos (1968, 7v.), Luís dos Santos Vilhena 1969, 3v.), Pedro Taques de Almeida Paes Leme (1976, 3t.) ou Marcelino Pereira Cleto (1900) e José Arouche de Toledo Rendon (1978) marcaram a mudança de mentalidade em relação ao trabalho e o lugar dos habitantes na sociedade brasileira. O Iluminismo – que aceitou e propagou as novas ideias de Denis Diderot, Voltaire, David Hume, Adam Smith e outras, defendidas em Paris –, mas especialmente as teorias de Jean-Jacques Rousseau, debatidas na Academia de Dijon, mudaram esse conceito na cultura luso-brasileira, especialmente em relação ao trabalho.

Didro – politički mislilac

Deni Didro (Denis Diderot, 1713–1784) nije napisao politički traktat, ali političke ideje odjekuju u njegovom opusu i mogu se sistematizovati. To su istraživači nastojali da urade kroz pojedinačna teorijsko-kritička razmatranja, kao i kroz ediciju Didroovih političkih spisa sakupljenih u jednoj knjizi, a što su svojevremeno priredili Vernijer (Vernière, 1963) i Versini (Versini, 1995). U ovom radu, nakon teorijskopolemičkog dela, gde se razmatraju dva suprotstavljena pristupa u vezi s tim je li Didro politički stvaralac ili ne, kao i pregleda njegovih osnovnih političkih stavova, prikazaće se sociološko-politička pozadina priče Dodatak Bugenvilovom Putovanju (Supplément au Voyage de Bougainville, 1772). Ova priča je dobra književna ilustracija njegovih glavnih političkih ideja: uzajamni odnos prirode i čoveka, razlika između prirodnih i građanskih zakonâ, poreklo vlasti i pitanje društvene reforme.

O Tratado do belo ou as Indagações sobre a origem e a natureza do belo 1752 e alguns dos seus desdobramentos nos salons de 1763, 1765 e 1767 (e nos ensaios sobre a pintura que completam o salons 1765): alguns escritos de Denis Diderot sobre o belo e as artes

Esse trabalho busca esclarecer alguns aspectos da reflexão estética do filósofo Denis Diderot aproximando O Tratado do Belo ou as Indagações sobre as origens e a natureza do Belo com uma escolha de passagens dos Relatórios dos Salons. O Tratado foi editado como verbete sobre o Belo para a Encyclopédie em 1752. É um “tratado” tanto pelo estilo doutrinal empregado pelo filósofo, quanto pelo método epistemológico que busca nas suas origens a natureza do Belo. Os relatórios dos Salons de 1759,1763, 1765 e 1767, e os Ensaios sobre a pintura de 1765, constituíam os escritos mais importantes sobre a arte de Denis Diderot. Neles, o filósofo aplica e questiona na prática da crítica de Arte suas teorias em (trans) formações.