Carmen, a gypsy geography
By: Ninotchka Devorah Bennahum
Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
Published: 2013
Language: eng
Number of pages: 269
ISBN-13: 9780819573537
Subjects: Historiography; Social life and customs; Carmen (Fictitious character); Material culture; Romanies; Flamenco
Description: "The figure of Carmen has emerged as a cipher for the unfettered female artist. Dance historian and performance theorist Ninotchka Bennahum shows us Carmen as embodied historical archive, a figure through which we come to understand the promises and dangers of nomadic, transnational identity, and the immanence of performance as an expanded historical methodology. Bennahum traces the genealogy of the female Gypsy presence in her iconic operatic role from her genesis in the ancient Mediterranean world, her emergence as flamenco artist in the architectural spaces of Islamic Spain, her persistent manifestation in Picasso, and her contemporary relevance on stage. This many-layered geography of the Gypsy dancer provides the book with its unique nonlinear form that opens new pathways to reading performance and writing history. Includes rare archival photographs of Gypsy artists."--Publisher's website.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 245-261) and index.
Table of contents: title: Theoretical Introduction; title: Inventing Carmen: Prosper Merimee and the Gypsy Presence in Western Europe; title: Georges Bizet and the Genealogy of Carmen; title: Mythic Space and Ancient Carmen; title: The Gypsy Inside and Outside of History; title: Gypsies in the Dance Cafes of the Islamic Mediterranean; title: Picasso, the Bull, and Carmen; title: Space and Place in Islamic Spain: The Archeology of Flamenco; title: Carmen, a Close Reading of a Nomadic Opera.