Theatre and the dramatic art have been regarded in every historical period as performative instruments of social change. Through the live interaction of its protagonists within specific spatio-temporal contexts, theatre has contributed to the social transformation of both theatre makers and audiences. By applying the concept of ‘space’ to the study of theatre – one of the central cultural and economic phenomena – in the ‘long’ nineteenth century, we seek to transcend the (imaginary) boundaries that have traditionally defined theatre historiography in Central and East-Central Europe. It becomes necessary to reconsider established paradigms in historical theatre studies to reaffirm the autonomy and specificity of the discipline, and to chart new directions oriented towards an interdisciplinary setting, approaching theatre culture primarily in relation to social development.
The Habsburg Empire was a time capsule of European history in which different phases of state formation remained alive in the present. As a multilingual region characterised by complex cultural processes – where the construction of cultural identities of various national and ethnic groups occurred within the same area, or even the same town – the Habsburg Empire offers a rich repository of sources for identifying the key features of the transformation of society occurring in and through the theatre. Such a perspective allows us to understand the performative role of theatre not only in the ‘centres’ (metropolises) but also on the ‘periphery’ (provinces).
The individual contributions in this issue approach the central theme from political, economic, institutional, and sociological perspectives, with the authors investigating previously unexplored aspects of theatre culture. At the same time, they use innovative theoretical processes to interpret familiar objects. Our aim is to outline new directions in cultural historiography within the region – approaches that may enhance the potential for comparative analysis with other European developments.
časopis pre históriu a príbuzné spoločenské vedy ISSN 1337-6861