In general, spectacle refers to an event that is memorable for the appearance it creates. Derived in Middle English from c. 1340 as "specially prepared or arranged display" it was borrowed from Old Frenchspectacle, itself a reflection of the Latinspectaculum "a show" from spectare "to view, watch" frequentative form of specere "to look at."[1] The word spectacle has also been a term of art in theater dating from the 17th century in English drama.
Court masques and masques of the nobility were most popular in the Jacobean and Caroline era. Such masques, as their name implies, relied heavily upon a non-verbal theater. The character lists for masques would be quite small, in keeping with the ability of a small family of patrons to act, but the costumes and theatrical effects would be lavish. Reading the text of masques, such as The Masque at Ludlow (most often referred to as Comus), the writing is spare, philosophical, and grandiose, with very few marks of traditional dramatic structure. This is partially due to the purpose of the masque being family entertainment and spectacle. Unlike The Masque at Ludlow, most masques were recreations of well-known mythological or religious scenes. Some masques would derive from tableau. For example, Edmund Spenser (Fairie Queene I, iv) describes a masque of The Seven Deadly Sins.
Masques were multimedia, for they almost always involved costuming and music as a method of conveying the story or narrative. Ben Jonson, for example, wrote masques with the architect Inigo Jones. William Davenant, who would become one of the major impresarios of the English Restoration, also wrote pre-Revolutionary masques with Inigo Jones. The role of the architect was that of designer of the staging, which would be elaborate and often culminate in a fireworks show.
The Hollywood spectacularEdit
When the zoetrope and nickelodeon technology first appeared, the earliest films were spectacles. They caught the attention of common people. They showed things people would rarely see, and they showed it to the wide audience.
Louis Lumière filmed a train pulling into a station in 1895 (L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat). The camera was in front of the train, and the train "came" directly at the viewer. It astonished people unaccustomed to the illusion created by moving images.
Within industrial and post-industrial cultural and state formations, spectacle has been appropriated to describe appearances that are purported to be simultaneously enticing, deceptive, distracting and superficial. (Jonathan Crary: 2005) Current academic theories of spectacle "highlight how the productive forces of marketing, often associated with media and Internet proliferation, create symbolic forms of practice that are emblematic of everyday situations."[2]
Spectacle can also refer to a society that critics describe as dominated by electronic media, consumption, and surveillance, reducing citizens to spectators by political neutralization. Recently the word has been associated with the many ways in which a capitalist structure is purported to create play-like celebrations of its products and leisure time consumption.
The work of French Marxist thinker Guy Debord is perhaps the best-known example of this critical analysis; see his The Society of the Spectacle (1967). Debord has described the Spectacle as "the autocratic reign of the market economy which had acceded to an irresponsible sovereignty, and the totality of new techniques of government which accompanied this reign."[3]
^Thompson, Alex; Stringfellow, Lindsay; Maclean, Mairi; MacLaren, Andrew; O’Gorman, Kevin (2015-03-24). "Puppets of necessity? Celebritisation in structured reality television" (PDF). Journal of Marketing Management. 31 (5–6): 478–501. doi:10.1080/0267257X.2014.988282. hdl:10871/16559. ISSN 0267-257X. S2CID 56206894.
^Debord, Guy (1988). Comments on the Society of the Spectacle. Verso. p. 3. ISBN1859841694.
External linksEdit
retrieved August 1, 2005.
Milton, John. An online critical edition of Comus retrieved July 30, 2005.
October 15, 2023
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For other uses see Spectacle disambiguation This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Spectacle news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message In general spectacle refers to an event that is memorable for the appearance it creates Derived in Middle English from c 1340 as specially prepared or arranged display it was borrowed from Old French spectacle itself a reflection of the Latin spectaculum a show from spectare to view watch frequentative form of specere to look at 1 The word spectacle has also been a term of art in theater dating from the 17th century in English drama Contents 1 The masque and spectacle 2 The Hollywood spectacular 3 Spectacle and society 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksThe masque and spectacle EditCourt masques and masques of the nobility were most popular in the Jacobean and Caroline era Such masques as their name implies relied heavily upon a non verbal theater The character lists for masques would be quite small in keeping with the ability of a small family of patrons to act but the costumes and theatrical effects would be lavish Reading the text of masques such as The Masque at Ludlow most often referred to as Comus the writing is spare philosophical and grandiose with very few marks of traditional dramatic structure This is partially due to the purpose of the masque being family entertainment and spectacle Unlike The Masque at Ludlow most masques were recreations of well known mythological or religious scenes Some masques would derive from tableau For example Edmund Spenser Fairie Queene I iv describes a masque of The Seven Deadly Sins Masques were multimedia for they almost always involved costuming and music as a method of conveying the story or narrative Ben Jonson for example wrote masques with the architect Inigo Jones William Davenant who would become one of the major impresarios of the English Restoration also wrote pre Revolutionary masques with Inigo Jones The role of the architect was that of designer of the staging which would be elaborate and often culminate in a fireworks show The Hollywood spectacular EditWhen the zoetrope and nickelodeon technology first appeared the earliest films were spectacles They caught the attention of common people They showed things people would rarely see and they showed it to the wide audience Thomas Edison filmed the Eiffel Tower actual Native Americans in a simulated attack and even celebrated beauty queens Louis Lumiere filmed a train pulling into a station in 1895 L Arrivee d un train en gare de La Ciotat The camera was in front of the train and the train came directly at the viewer It astonished people unaccustomed to the illusion created by moving images Spectacle and society EditFor the notion of the spectacle in critical theory see Spectacle critical theory Within industrial and post industrial cultural and state formations spectacle has been appropriated to describe appearances that are purported to be simultaneously enticing deceptive distracting and superficial Jonathan Crary 2005 Current academic theories of spectacle highlight how the productive forces of marketing often associated with media and Internet proliferation create symbolic forms of practice that are emblematic of everyday situations 2 Spectacle can also refer to a society that critics describe as dominated by electronic media consumption and surveillance reducing citizens to spectators by political neutralization Recently the word has been associated with the many ways in which a capitalist structure is purported to create play like celebrations of its products and leisure time consumption The work of French Marxist thinker Guy Debord is perhaps the best known example of this critical analysis see his The Society of the Spectacle 1967 Debord has described the Spectacle as the autocratic reign of the market economy which had acceded to an irresponsible sovereignty and the totality of new techniques of government which accompanied this reign 3 See also EditGuy Debord Entertainment Extravaganza Michel Foucault Opsis Performance The Society of the SpectacleReferences Edit Online Etymological Dictionary Thompson Alex Stringfellow Lindsay Maclean Mairi MacLaren Andrew O Gorman Kevin 2015 03 24 Puppets of necessity Celebritisation in structured reality television PDF Journal of Marketing Management 31 5 6 478 501 doi 10 1080 0267257X 2014 988282 hdl 10871 16559 ISSN 0267 257X S2CID 56206894 Debord Guy 1988 Comments on the Society of the Spectacle Verso p 3 ISBN 1859841694 External links EditHolonet on the Lumiere Brothers retrieved August 1 2005 Milton John An online critical edition of Comus retrieved July 30 2005 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Spectacle amp oldid 1150608955, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
