Au-delà des frontières dramaturgiques et socioculturelles : le théâtre d’enfance américain au XIXe siècle

The essay focuses on the socio-cultural richness of American children’s theatre and traces the origins of its historiographical status during the Nineteenth century. Based on a corpus of pantomimes (Cinderella, or ; the Little Glass Slipper, a Grand Allegorical Pantomimic Spectacle, Humpty Dumpty and Harlequin and Mother Goose ; or, The Fairy Legend of the Golden Egg), which reproduce, with their mixed dramaturgy, the stylistic and thematic ambivalence associated with childhood, our essay aims at casting light on the controversial issues of the relationship between childhood, desire and violence. Finally, the analysis of these repertoires outlines the innovative nature of childhood dramaturgy, which is at the root of the American art theatre movement.