Performing Citizenship and German Amateur Theatricals

This open access book proposes a revision of 19th-century theatre history and examines the contribution of amateur theatre practice to European theatre, by shifting the focus to theatre as a cultural, social and aesthetic practice. Non-professional theatre practice has been largely neglected due to...

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المؤلف الرئيسي: Wagner, Meike
التنسيق: Online
اللغة:الإنجليزية
منشور في: Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) 2026
الموضوعات:
الوصول للمادة أونلاين:ONIX_20260415T184305_9781350284418_33
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author Wagner, Meike
author_browse Wagner, Meike
author_facet Wagner, Meike
author_sort Wagner, Meike
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description This open access book proposes a revision of 19th-century theatre history and examines the contribution of amateur theatre practice to European theatre, by shifting the focus to theatre as a cultural, social and aesthetic practice. Non-professional theatre practice has been largely neglected due to deeply rooted prejudice about its aesthetic standards: a prejudice whose origins can be traced back to influential thinkers in the 18th century. Although it was a massive phenomenon in Europe around 1800, amateur theatre has been overshadowed by professional theatre through a privileging of literary and canonical perspectives in the writing of history. This book argues that amateur theatricals contributed to mainstreaming key concepts of aesthetic education and identity building, as well as establishing educative and aesthetic concepts of bourgeois theatre. Amateur theatres not only provide their audiences with an aesthetic experience, they also give their members the opportunity to become involved in social gatherings and performative schemes of self-learning and self-education. During the late Enlightenment, amateur theatres became an important medium to practice and promote concepts of citizenship and the idea of theatre as a key educational factor in society. Focusing on German-speaking amateur theatricals, with regard to a larger frame of European cultural history, this study investigates how citizen identities were shaped and consolidated through amateur performance practices on page, on stage and behind the scenes. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1756932026-04-20T08:13:21Z Performing Citizenship and German Amateur Theatricals Wagner, Meike Utopia Utopianism Bourgeois society Feminism Queer theory August von Kotzebue Urania August Wilhelm Iffland Schiller Goethe Dilettantism French Revolution Adolf Freiherr Knigge Adolph Müllner Bourgeoisie thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AT Performing arts::ATD Theatre studies thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AT Performing arts::ATY History of Performing Arts thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history This open access book proposes a revision of 19th-century theatre history and examines the contribution of amateur theatre practice to European theatre, by shifting the focus to theatre as a cultural, social and aesthetic practice. Non-professional theatre practice has been largely neglected due to deeply rooted prejudice about its aesthetic standards: a prejudice whose origins can be traced back to influential thinkers in the 18th century. Although it was a massive phenomenon in Europe around 1800, amateur theatre has been overshadowed by professional theatre through a privileging of literary and canonical perspectives in the writing of history. This book argues that amateur theatricals contributed to mainstreaming key concepts of aesthetic education and identity building, as well as establishing educative and aesthetic concepts of bourgeois theatre. Amateur theatres not only provide their audiences with an aesthetic experience, they also give their members the opportunity to become involved in social gatherings and performative schemes of self-learning and self-education. During the late Enlightenment, amateur theatres became an important medium to practice and promote concepts of citizenship and the idea of theatre as a key educational factor in society. Focusing on German-speaking amateur theatricals, with regard to a larger frame of European cultural history, this study investigates how citizen identities were shaped and consolidated through amateur performance practices on page, on stage and behind the scenes. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. 2026-04-20T08:13:20Z 2026-04-20T08:13:20Z 2026-04-16T09:06:18Z 2025 book ONIX_20260415T184305_9781350284418_33 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/112288 9781350284418 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/175693 eng Cultural Histories of Theatre and Performance open access Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) Methuen Drama b7fec79e-c133-4cb3-9544-88060a4d4e06 9781350284418 Methuen Drama 264 London open access
spellingShingle Utopia
Utopianism
Bourgeois society
Feminism
Queer theory
August von Kotzebue
Urania
August Wilhelm Iffland
Schiller
Goethe
Dilettantism
French Revolution
Adolf Freiherr Knigge
Adolph Müllner
Bourgeoisie
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AT Performing arts::ATD Theatre studies
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AT Performing arts::ATY History of Performing Arts
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
Wagner, Meike
Performing Citizenship and German Amateur Theatricals
title Performing Citizenship and German Amateur Theatricals
title_full Performing Citizenship and German Amateur Theatricals
title_fullStr Performing Citizenship and German Amateur Theatricals
title_full_unstemmed Performing Citizenship and German Amateur Theatricals
title_short Performing Citizenship and German Amateur Theatricals
title_sort performing citizenship and german amateur theatricals
topic Utopia
Utopianism
Bourgeois society
Feminism
Queer theory
August von Kotzebue
Urania
August Wilhelm Iffland
Schiller
Goethe
Dilettantism
French Revolution
Adolf Freiherr Knigge
Adolph Müllner
Bourgeoisie
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AT Performing arts::ATD Theatre studies
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AT Performing arts::ATY History of Performing Arts
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
topic_facet Utopia
Utopianism
Bourgeois society
Feminism
Queer theory
August von Kotzebue
Urania
August Wilhelm Iffland
Schiller
Goethe
Dilettantism
French Revolution
Adolf Freiherr Knigge
Adolph Müllner
Bourgeoisie
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AT Performing arts::ATD Theatre studies
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AT Performing arts::ATY History of Performing Arts
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
url ONIX_20260415T184305_9781350284418_33
work_keys_str_mv AT wagnermeike performingcitizenshipandgermanamateurtheatricals