Cologne/Weimar/Vienna: Böhlau 2010. 227 pages, numerous black-and-white images, soft cover Series: Literatur – Kultur – Geschlecht, Studien zur Literatur- und Kulturgeschichte [Literature – Culture – Gender, Studies on Literature and Cultural History], full series, Volume 28 ISBN: 978-3-412-20579-9
Information about the book
The novella Carmen from Prosper Merimee, published in 1845, and the opera based on it, Carmen (1873), from Georges Bizet constitute the starting point of the Carmen myth that has persisted into the present. Specific gender identities in the 19th and 20th centuries crystallized in this myth. As a femme fatale, Carmen foreshadows images of femininity at the turn of the century, as a »gypsy woman«, she is integrated into the contemporary debates on ethnicity and gender, as a dancer, she stands at the beginning of a tradition in which femininity and physical performance have entered into a special relationship.
In this book, Carmen isn’t just interesting as a figure who exceeds the boundaries of national language, but also as a figure whose construction has been influenced by a wide variety of media like literature, opera or fine arts and, in particular, film.
A broad spectrum of the original narratives of the myth across the wide range of cinematic discussions through to contemporary Carmen adaptations are reflected on.
Reviews
- WDR3 radio broadcast Tonart [Tonality], see also: http://www.wdr3.de/ton-art/details/artikel/wdr-3-tonart-582270e14f.html.
- Anne-Berenike Binder in: MEDIENwissenschaft [Media SCIENCES], No. 1, 2013.