Le "forestiero" dans le théâtre comique de Carlo Goldoni : l'oeil persan, la lunette d'astronome et le miroir

par Cécile Berger

Thèse de doctorat en Études italiennes

Sous la direction de Françoise Decroisette.

Soutenue en 1998

à Paris 8 .

mots clés

• Goldoni, Carlo (1707-1793)
• Alchimie -- Dans la littérature
• Étrangers -- Venise (Italie)
• Théâtre (genre littéraire) -- Esthétique

Résumé

Apres les recentes manifestations du bicentenaire de la mort de carlo goldoni (1707-1793), aborder son theatre sous un jour nouveau etait rendu difficile par la richesse des derniers travaux. Ils avaient neanmoins permis de montrer la dimension europeenne de goldoni en son temps. Ainsi, l'etude du forestiero pouvait souligner un aspect interessant du theatre goldonien: ce personnage marque en filigrane le lien etroit entre "nous" et les "autres", le "meme" et le "different", entre le "proche" et le "lointain". . . Tout d'abord, le forestiero montre la realite venitienne grace a son oeil persan. Ensuite, il permet de souligner la dialectique dramaturgique goldonienne par sa presence-absence sur la scene et son regard detache sur les autres personnages. Enfin, il est l'autre qui est aussi le meme: il est le masque de goldoni lui-meme, le miroir d'une subtile autobiographie scenique parallele aux memoires ecrits a paris apres 1784. De nombreuses facettes du forestiero proviennent de la culture litteraire personnelle de l'auteur. La figure de l'acteur errant rappelle le roman comique de scarron. L'oeil persan, par son regard exterieur sur venise, est comme un echo des lettres persanes de montesquieu. Goldoni lui-meme, eternel forestiero, a venise egalement, parait ecrire sa propre autobiographie a la maniere des romans de voyage de son siecle. La vision analytique du pelerin errant pourrait bien provenir de l'interet de goldoni pour l'alchimie (son pere etait docteur): le forestiero est comme le medecin de la scene venitienne malade des obscenites de la commedia dell'arte et dont le dramaturge supervise la reforme progressive a travers une serie d'experimentations sceniques entre 1750 et 1753. Enfin, le forestiero est un avatar des nouveaux journalistes du xviiie siecle: il est un precurseur du caffe de l'illuminisme milanais (1764-66) caracterise par sa vision detachee et ironique sur la realite italienne.

Titre traduit

The foreigner in carlo goldoni's comedies : the clear sighted "persian" eyes, the refracting telescope and the mirror

Résumé

After the profusion of goldoni criticism following the 1993 bicentennial of his death, it was not so easy to find new ways of studying the playwright and his work. But these recent studies had shown how much of a european goldoni was at his time (1707-1793). So our choice of the character of the "foreigner" (forestiero in italian) could underline an interesting aspect of the goldonian theatre: the cryptic link between "us" and "them", the "same" and the "different", "here" and "there". . . First, the foreigner's presence would often show the venetian reality through his "persian" eyes. Second, he allows to emphasize the dialectic aspect of goldoni's dramaturgy through his presenceabsence on the stage and his isolated outlook upon the other characters. And finally, he is the "different" one who is also ambivalently the "same": he stands for goldoni himself, when he is turned into the mirror of a subtle stage autobiography, which parallels the memoires written in paris after 1784. Numerous aspects of the foreigner come from goldoni's own literary knowledge. The figure of the wandering actor is a follow-up from scarron's roman comique, the "persian" eyes that look out on venice strongly resemble montesquieu's in the lettres persanes. Goldoni himself forever foreigner - in venice too - seems to write his own autobiography in the manner of his century's travel novels. The errant pilgrim's analytical vision might come from goldoni's interest in alchemy (his father was a doctor): the foreigner is like the doctor of the diseased venetian stage (corrupted by the commedia dell'arte's obscenity) whose progressive transformation the dramatist is to oversee over a series of scenic experiments from 1750 to 1753. And finally, the foreigner is an avatar of the 18 th century new journalists: he is a precursor of the caffe of milan (1764-66) and their outside and ironical vision of italian reality.