Theatre in Early Modern Switzerland (1450–1650)

Estelle Doudet

University of Lausanne – Swiss National Science Foundation

Abstract

Studying Switzerland’s theatrical history has long been a challenge. What, indeed, was theatre, and what was Switzerland during the ‘long sixteenth century’ (around 1450–1650), examined here? The introduction aims, first, to establish the book’s conceptual framework by critically reflecting on its object, territory and period. Second, it outlines the research methodology, which interweaves detailed case studies across multiple spatial scales and diverse temporal perspectives.

Keywords: Theatre Historiography; Early Modern Performing Arts; Swiss History; French and German Studies.

In 1944, theatre historian Eugen Müller published Schweizer Theatergeschichte [Swiss Theatre History], the first comprehensive survey of dramatic culture in the Swiss Confederacy, spanning the period from the Roman conquest to Richard Wagner’s exile.1 Drawing on an extensive body of research frequently carried out by local history societies throughout the nineteenth century and during the first half of the twentieth century, this work marked a pivotal shift in Swiss theatre studies, both in terms of its geographical reach and chronological breadth. Its aim was to document theatrical performances across every Swiss region over nearly two millennia and to synthesize the vast amount of sources into a coherent narrative accessible to both scholars and enthusiasts. The timing of the publication and the structure of the book suggest that Müller pursued two key objectives. On the one hand, the long-serving director of the Zürcher Theaterverein [Zurich Theatre Society] sought to confer upon Swiss theatre history the same cultural legitimacy that French, German and other European historians had accorded to the field in their own countries. On the other hand, while war raged beyond Switzerland’s borders, Schweizer Theatergeschichte aimed to highlight the nation’s deep-rooted and enduring cultural cohesion, allowing Switzerland to embrace ‘alle Formen und Typen der europäischen Theatergeschichte’ [‘all the forms and types of European theatre’].2 For anyone browsing through what remains a seminal reference work today, it is evident that the end of the fifteenth, sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth centuries, which Müller described as the ‘Heroic Times’, the ‘Reformation’ and the ‘Counter-Reformation’,3 constitute an essential phase of this history.

A fundamentally different intellectual paradigm underpins the monumental Theaterlexikon der Schweiz [Theatre Lexicon of Switzerland], published in 2005.4 Rather than producing a single, comprehensive synthesis, Andreas Kotte and his team at the Bernese Institut für Theaterwissenschaft [Institute of Theatre Studies] adopted a distinct approach. Driven by a similar ambition to enhance the international visibility of Switzerland’s performing arts history, the Lexicon presents itself primarily as a tool for exploring the many facets of this complex landscape. Its 3,600 entries, written by 230 specialists and available in four languages, map performance venues and dates, trace playwrights and theatrical companies, and highlight both canonical and overlooked works. The network of alphabetically arranged entries enables readers to chart their own paths across different periods and regions. While Müller’s construction of a ‘grand narrative’ was a hallmark of the last century, Kotte’s ‘cartographic’ approach is more emblematic of our time, mirroring the networked logic of our digital tools.

How can historians of the performing arts in the Old Confederacy position themselves in relation to this major paradigm shift? For the contributors of this collective volume, one of the key objectives is to address this question by proposing two complementary methodological approaches. The first involves establishing a precise chronological framework, to move beyond the ‘grand narrative’ while also preserving the coherence and specificities of early dramatic forms – something that is at risk of being lost in the centrifugal method employed by the Theaterlexikon der Schweiz. At the same time, we have drawn inspiration from this recent project by adopting a collective research model, using case studies that operate across multiple spatial scales (local/international) and different temporal perspectives (specific events/broader contexts). Another key source of inspiration for us is the following question: what, if anything, defines Swiss theatre? As Andreas Kotte aptly highlighted,5 the linguistic, religious and cultural diversity of Switzerland has resulted in Swiss theatre being relegated to the margins, often appearing only as a mere footnote in the theatre histories of neighbouring nations. The second approach we propose is to engage with this challenge, one that is both indispensable and intellectually stimulating, yet inherently insoluble for anyone researching the topic. In more specific terms, our aim is to show how a historical perspective not only adds methodological complexity but also enriches the question.

The timeframe under consideration prompts two further critical questions. What defined ‘theatre’ in the ‘long sixteenth century’? And how might this periodization, drawing on Fernand Braudel’s long-standing proposals6 yet still rarely adopted in contemporary theatre studies, enhance our understanding? Our decision to include the terms Theatre, Early Modern and Switzerland in the title of the book is not intended to impose a rigid conceptual framework. On the contrary, we treat these terms as a shared space for critical reflection – one that we hope will also prove valuable for the study of other early theatrical cultures. The introduction will therefore start by examining these three concepts to highlight their complexity, then outline the methodological choices they inform, before explaining how these choices have shaped the structure of this volume.