Dances with Darwin, 1875-1910: Vernacular Modernity in France

330 Pages·2008·16.747 MB·English

by  Rae Beth Gordon

DANCES WITH DARWIN, 1875–1910
In memory of Stephen Burton,
whose knowledge of popular music and performance stimulated my ideas
about shaking and gyrating singers, and whose friendship was such an
important source of support.
Dances with Darwin, 1875–1910
Vernacular Modernity in France
RAE BETH GORDON
Professor emerita University of Connecticut, Storrs.
Member of Research Group Littérature et histoires, Université Paris-8 (2008–2009)
R
O
UT Routledge
L
E
D Taylor & Francis Group
G
E
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2009 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © Rae Beth Gordon 2009
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to
infringe.
Rae Beth Gordon has asserted her moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Gordon, Rae Beth
Dances with Darwin, 1875–1910 : vernacular modernity in France
1. Darwin, Charles, 1809–1882 – Influence 2. Popular culture – France – History – 19th
century 3. Gesture in dance – France – History – 19th century 4. Ecstatic dance – France –
History –19th century 5. Dance, Black – France – History – 19th century 6. Body, Human,
in popular culture 7. Blacks in the performing arts – France – History – 19th century
8. Human evolution
I. Title
306’.0944’09034

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gordon, Rae Beth
Dances with Darwin, 1875–1910 : vernacular modernity in France / Rae Beth Gordon.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-7546-5243-4 (alk. paper)
1. Arts, French—France—Paris. 2. Modernism (Aesthetics)—France—Paris. 3. Art and
anthropology—France—Paris. 4. Art and popular culture—France—Paris. 5. Science and
the arts—France—Paris. 6. Darwin, Charles, 1809–1882—Criticism and interpretation.
7. Evolution (Biology). 8. Dance—France—Paris. 9. Cafis—France—Paris. 10. Music-
halls (Variety-theaters, cabarets, etc.)—France—Paris.
I. Title.
NX549.P2G67 2008
306.4’840944—dc22
2008023665
ISBN 978-0-7546-5243-4 (hbk)
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Abbreviations xv
Introduction: An anthropology of gesture: the place and gesture of
movement in evolution theory; The impact of evolution theory and
psychopathology on spectators; Ethnological spectacle and hybrid
performance style 1
1 The Epileptic Singers 11
Dangerous Dances 13
Contagion 19
A New Genre of Entertainer 34
Sex, Vulgarity, and Disease 39
Just For a Laugh 43
Polaire 47
The Cancan 50
The Last Laugh 55
2 Darwinism and Degeneration Theory in Popular Culture 59
Making Order out of Difference 63
The Year 1878 67
Phenomena: from Hybrids to Hottentots 68
What the Spectator Really Wants to See 75
Doubtful Species: The Anthropoid in Our Past and Physical
Anthropology in France 79
Degeneration, Anthropological and Medical 81
Monkey Business 93
Trouble-Makers 99
3 What Is Ugly? 103
Part I: Scientific and Evolutionist Aesthetics 103
The Wild Men of Paris 116
Movement and Creativity 120
The Body: Sex, Pain, and the Ugly 122
Part II: The Making of a New Café-Concert Aesthetic 124
The Ugliness Prize 125
The Grimace 129
The Voracious Mouth: Animals and Cannibals 138
The First Laugh 141
vi Dances with Darwin, 1875–1910
4 Natural Rhythm: Africans and Black Americans in Paris 145
The Music-Hall Helps the Cause of Colonialism 145
Before the Cake-Walk 146
The Black Menace 155
Chocolat and Chocolates 159
Retribution 164
The Minstrels 165
Cake-Walking Babies from Back Home 172
Trading Places 191
Chocolat Redux: An American in Paris 195
5 Epileptic Singers and the Mysteries of the Dark Continent 199
Fashion and the White Savage 202
The Nude and the Naked 211
The Blond and the Black Venus 216
Polaire 221
The Ugliest Woman in the World 226
Hybridity 233
6 Darwin Meets Père Ubu 243
Jarry, Natural Historian 243
Ubu Cocu 253
The Ignoble Double 256
Bergson’s Lesson 261
Epilogue: Darwin’s Avant-Garde: Ubu’s Progeny 265
Dancing the Primitive 270
Josephine Baker and the Danse Sauvage 273
Bibliography 277
Index 295
List of Illustrations
1.1 Albert Guillaume, Mlle Duclerc in “La Revue Déshabillée,”
Courrier Français 19 August 1894. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 12
1.2 Le Bal des Folles et des Hystériques at the Salpêtrière,
Courrier Français 11 April 1886. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 16
1.3 Willette, “Another one of Marianne’s attacks that shows off her
ugly underwear,” Courrier Français 25 June 1899. Courtesy
Bibliothèque Forney 18
1.4 Henri Somm, “Suggestion,” Courrier Français 4 October 1885.
Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 23
1.5 Edgar Degas, “Mlle Bécat aux Ambassadeurs: Three Motifs,”
1876–77. Lithograph transferred from three monotypes.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift of George Peabody Gardner 35
1.6 Polaire aux Ambassadeurs, Iconography dossier Polaire (1).
Courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France 40
1.7 F. Bac, Polaire, La Vie en rose 26 October 1902 Courtesy
Bibliothèque nationale de France 48
2.1 André Gill, “Darwin!” La Lune Rousse 18 August 1878.
Courtesy Pierre Courtet-Cohl 61
2.2 Krao, the Monkey-Woman, Courrier Français 24 October 1886.
Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 70
2.3 Jeftichew, the Dog-Man, Le Trombinoscope, vol. 2, no. 119 (1873).
Courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France 71
2.4 Rosa-Josepha at the Théâtre de la Gaité, poster. Courtesy
Photothèque des Musées de la Ville de Paris 76
2.5 “Mr. Verpillon has one this big,” Courrier Français 12 June 1892.
Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 77
2.6 Consul the chimpanzee, “Reading,” Le Monde illustré 3 October
1903. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 95
2.7 Jacques Villon, “Abduction,” Courrier Français 19 August 1894.
Courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France 102
3.1 Unattributed painting, “Une Soirée dans le désert,” The
Architectural Record, vol. 27, no. 5 (1910). Photo, Courtesy of
University of Connecticut Libraries 119
3.2 “Where do they find such ugly actors?” Le Rire 29 April 1899.
Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 129
3.3 Toulouse-Lautrec, “Café Concert – Mme Abdala.” Courtesy
Bibliothèque nationale de France 133
viii Dances with Darwin, 1875–1910
3.4 Xileff, “Black Laughter from Overseas,” Courrier Français
13 April 1895. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 144
4.1 Amazons from Dahomey at the Casino de Paris (1892).
Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 149
4.2 André Rouveyre, “We have all we need for the moment, we’ll
eat her when we’re in the Sahara,” Le Rire 7 December 1901.
Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 156
4.3 F. Lunel, “Eden Concert – The Fusion of the Races,” Courrier
Français 17 January 1889. Courtesy Bibliothèque nationale
de France 157
4.4 Widhopff, Advertisement for Kola Marque, Courrier Français
22 July 1900. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 158
4.5 Toulouse-Lautrec, “Chocolat dancing in a Bar,” Le Rire 28 March
1896. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 161
4.6 Willette, Advertisement for Pihan Chocolate, Courrier Français
17 January 1889. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 162
4.7 J. Raffaelli, “The English Minstrels,” Courrier Français, special
supplement for flood victims, 1886.
Courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France 167
4.8 Widhopff, The Cake-Walk at the Olympia Music-Hall. Courrier
Français 8 February 1903. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 176
4.9 The Cake-Walk interpreted by Eugenie Fougère, Iconography
Dossier Per 9996, Department Arts du Spectacle, Bibliothèque
nationale de France 179
4.10 “Cake-Walk de salon,” composite for sheet music, taken from two
separate images in L’Illustration 10 January 1903. Courtesy
Bibliothèque Forney” 181
4.11 George Edward, “The Cake-Walk: How the Parisienne insists
on demonstrating that we descend from the ape,”Le Rire 7 January
1903. Courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France 183
4.12 Willette, “How the French are perceived abroad,” Courrier Français
10 September 1899. Courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France 184
4.13 A. Willette, “Parisians deprived of the Comédie Française return to
the life of savages,” Courrier Français 8 December 1901.
Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 185
4.14 Henriot, “The Inferiority of Man,” Le Monde illustré 7 February
1903. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 186
4.15 Rodriguez, “President Loubet awards a medal to the sole monkey
of the Chiffa Falls (North Africa), creator of our national Cake-Walk;
Who said that the Cake-Walk was American in origin?” Le Rire
7 February 1903. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 187
5.1 Lucien Métivet, “Civilisation!” Le Rire 23 January 1897.
Courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France 203
List of Illustrations ix
5.2 Ferdinandus, “The Zulus in a box at the Folies-Bergère,” Le Monde
illustré 22 November 1879. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 204
5.3 “The Art of Raising a Sagging Neckline,” Fantasio
15 December 1906. Courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France 206
5.4 Willette, “The Undressed Revue at the Ambassadeurs Concert,”
Courrier Français 29 July 1894. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 210
5.5 At-home Attire of a Bambara Woman from Soudan, Fantasio
1 September 1906. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 213
5.6 Lucien Métivet, “Censorship and the Nude,” Le Rire
14 December 1901. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 215
5.7 A. Marie, “La Vénus Noire, Voyage en Afrique centrale,” Le Monde
illustré 13 September 1879. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 219
5.8 Polaire, “The Lady the most ugly of the world!” Femina 15
September 1910. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 228
5.9 English School, “Miss Julia Pastrana. The Embalmed
Nondescript, exhibited at 191 Piccadilly” (1862). Courtesy
Bridgeman-Giraudon, Paris 229
5.10 Sem, caricature of Polaire, Album du Vrai et faux chic (1914).
Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 231
5.11 The Darling Girls, Paris qui Chante 12 May 1907. Collection of
author 240
6.1 La Mère Ubu in blackface, Fantasio 15 April 1908. Courtesy
Bibliothèque Forney 260