Subjects of Affection: Rights of Resistance on the Early Modern French Stage

247 Pages·2022·14.059 MB·English

by  Anna Rosensweig

Subjects of Affection
Rethinking the Early Modern
Series Editors
Marcus Keller
Ellen McClure
Feisal Mohamed
Subjects of Affection
Rights of Resistance on the
Early Modern French Stage
Anna Rosensweig
northwestern university press
evanston, illinois
Northwestern University Press
www.nupress.northwestern.edu
Copyright © 2022 by Northwestern University. Published 2022 by
Northwestern University Press. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN 978- 0- 8101- 4446- 0 (cloth)
ISBN 978- 0- 8101- 4445- 3 (paper)
ISBN 978- 0- 8101- 4447- 7 (e- book)
Cataloging-in-Publication data are available from the Library of Congress.
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Note on Translations xi
Introduction
The Right of Resistance 3
Chapter One
Affective Evidence 21
Chapter Two
The Mourner 55
Chapter Three
The Rebel 91
Chapter Four
The Hero 123
Chapter Five
The Savior 159
Conclusion
The Subject of Rights 185
Notes 191
Bibliography 217
Index 227

Acknowledgments
A central argument of this book is that what often seems to be an individ-
ual endeavor is, in fact, collective. This book simply would not exist were
it not for the contributions of others. My first thanks go to Juliette Cher-
buliez, whose graduate seminar on early modern tragedy at the University
of Minnesota introduced me to the period and the genre. The seminar
paper I wrote for that class contained the initial idea for what eventually
became my dissertation and has now become this book. Conversations
with Juliette have shaped my thinking in countless ways. I am so grateful
for her advice and friendship, her intellectual rigor and generosity, and
her provocations to write— and rewrite.
I am grateful to the members of my dissertation committee at the
University of Minnesota: Daniel Brewer, Mária Brewer, Nancy Luxon,
J. B. Shank, and Margaret Werry. Individually and collectively, they have
offered much guidance and support. Work on my dissertation was greatly
facilitated by a doctoral dissertation fellowship from the University of
Minnesota and a Charlotte W. Newcombe Fellowship from the Woodrow
Wilson Foundation.
During my graduate studies, I had the good fortune to attend Bonnie
Honig’s seminar, “Antigone in Contexts: Humanism and the Challenges
of Democratic Theory,” at the Cornell School of Criticism and Theory,
which helped me begin to articulate the interdisciplinary stakes of my
project. I am grateful to Bonnie for her work and her example, as well
as for fostering such a lively community. I am also grateful to colleagues
from that seminar, especially Glenn Mackin and Stephanie Youngblood,
for all their insight and good cheer.
I conducted much of the research for chapter 1 of this book as a
Provost’s Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Southern California
(USC). Natania Meeker and Antónia Szabari welcomed me to the Depart-
ment of French and Italian at USC, helped me navigate Los Angeles, read
drafts of my work, and shared ideas over innumerable cups of coffee. I
am honored to have been their colleague. I am also thankful to have been
part of a writing group with Carrie Hyde and Anna Krakus, which began
during those years in Los Angeles. And I thank Jessica Rosenberg and
Matthew Goldmark for being excellent travel companions and for their
general camaraderie.
vii
viii Acknowledgments
At the University of Rochester, I thank the faculty, staff, and students
in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures, the Graduate
Program in Visual and Cultural Studies, and the Susan B. Anthony Insti-
tute for Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies for all their support and
encouragement. Special thanks to Hsin-Y un Cheng, Carrie Heusinkveld,
June Hwang, Ryan Prendergast, and Chenchen Yan, who read drafts of
chapters and patiently talked through ideas. A semester- long fellowship
at the University of Rochester’s Humanities Center provided space and
time to think and write. I thank Joanie Rubin for championing these
fellowships for junior faculty at Rochester. I am also thankful to Joanie
for facilitating a manuscript workshop that allowed me to get timely
and concentrated feedback from senior scholars in my field. Katherine
Ibbett, Ellen McClure, and Phillip John Usher made time in their very
full schedules to read my manuscript, travel to Rochester, and spend two
days offering their insight and advice. I thank them for being so generous
with their time and ideas, and for their many other acts of collegiality and
kindness.
One of the best parts of studying early modern France is the vibrant
intellectual community at SE17, the North American Society for
Seventeenth- Century French Literature (NASSCFL), and beyond. I am
especially grateful to Faith Beasley, Hélène Bilis, Elizabeth Black, Jean-
Vincent Blanchard, Hall Bjørnstad, Alison Calhoun, Andrea Frisch, Claire
Goldstein, Sylvaine Guyot, Larry Kritzman, Michael Meere, Jennifer Row,
Christophe Schuwey, Jennifer Tamas, Anne Theobald, Ellen Welch, Toby
Wikström, and Kathleen Wine for being such wonderful friends, mentors,
and collaborators. Special thanks to Kathrina LaPorta and Ashley Wil-
liard for reading chapters and providing feedback at crucial moments.
Joy Palacios has read countless pages of my writing over the past few
years. I am so grateful for her keen observations throughout our writing
exchanges, as well as for her friendship.
Kelly Condit- Shrestha, writing partner par excellence since graduate
school, has witnessed much of this long journey.
Josh Boydston and Danielle Genevro helped immensely with copy-
editing and formatting and Lia Swoope Mitchell provided invaluable
assistance with translations. I thank them for the great care they put into
their work.
Many thanks to Ellen McClure, Elissa Park, Trevor Perri, Maia Rigas,
Patrick Samuel, Anne Strother, and everyone at Northwestern Univer-
sity Press. I am also grateful to the two anonymous reviewers whose
thoughtful reading of the manuscript helped me to strengthen its argu-
ments. I thank Renaissance Drama for permission to reprint in revised
Acknowledgments ix
form sections of chapter 4, which initially appeared in my article “Closed
Heart, Open Secret: Exposing Private Liberty in Pierre Corneille’s Last
Tragedy,” Renaissance Drama 46, no. 2 (2018): 231–5 2. Copyright ©
2018 by Northwestern University. All rights reserved.
Friends and family have helped this book become a thing in the world.
I thank my parents and siblings for all of their love and support.
Hélène Brown and Randi Browning have been exemplary teachers and
confidantes. I cannot thank them enough.
My Minneapolis people, Greta Bliss, Laura Burch, Rachel Gibson,
Rebecca Halat, Anaïs Nony, Mira Reinberg, Adair Rounthwaite, and
Tracy Rutler. In many ways my heart belongs to our time together in
that city.
Joel Burges, Lisa Cerami, Josh Dubler, Kristin Doughty, Rachel Haidu,
and Kate Mariner are the best friends and colleagues a person could wish
for. I thank them for everything.
Athene Goldstein welcomed me to Rochester and helped make it home.
My therapists, Carol and Sheila, helped me work through periods
when writing felt impossible.
And finally, I thank John Komdat, whose daily acts of love have sus-
tained this project, and Sadie, whose imminent arrival helped me finish it
up. This book is dedicated to them.