Alex Fulmer 5/23/22 Spectacular Realities One of the key differences between the City of Cinema exhibition and Spectacular Realities book is the focus on panoramas in Spectacular Realities not emphasized as explicitly in the exhibition. While panoramas are integral in understanding the development of mass visual culture in fin-de-siècle Paris, one additional aspect exposed in panoramas not emphasized as clearly in the City of Cinema exhibition is the exploration of French nationalism and French history within panoramas. This is not to say that French culture is not explored within the exhibition, however the French culture that is emphasized is mainly that of a Parisian universal culture that seeks to integrate all nations under the umbrella of “Paris,” like that seen at the Exposition Universelle. I think the main distinction to be made here is one between the universal culture of Paris and the distinct culture of the French. This is not to say it is totally absent from the exhibition. One panorama that touches on this French culture included in the exhibition (or at least in the exhibition catalog) is Castellani’s “Le Tout-Paris,” specifically within its foregrounding of French celebrities. While performers such as Loïe Fuller are emphasized as significant celebrities during the 19th century in Paris, “Le Tout-Paris” utilizes the inclusions of celebrities in order to tell a didactic story about the history of Paris artistically, as well as socially and politically. What is lost by the lack of emphasis on this panorama is understanding the purpose that a majority of these pieces of mass visual culture were meant to serve, that not only of amusement and education, but all in the service of a greater French nationalism. Furthermore, the inclusion of Stevens and Gervex’s “L’histoire du siècle” in Spectacular Realities helps emphasize nationalism one of the major purposes of the panorama through its inclusion of a narrative of French history from Joan of Arc to Victor Hugo. The inclusion of Stevens and Gervex’s panorama does an incredible job to situate the panorama and its content within French historiography, demonstrating the ways that the French viewed themselves at the time and how that was instilled to the public. Another topic briefly mentioned in class and explored in Spectacular Realities, but not explicitly mentioned in the exhibition, is the usage of French victory versus French defeat (or that of any nation) as a method of instilling nationalist sentiments in the viewer of an object. As explained in Spectacular Realities, early panoramas utilized French victories, such as those won by Napoleon, as a way to drum up nationalism. However, revivalist panoramas in the 1880s and 1890s, rather utilized defeat to “cultivate patriotism through collective victimization” (Schwartz, 160). I think this is an insightful detail to understand changes in the larger french culture and strategies of remembrance of French history throughout the 19th century. Additionally, I think this same line of questioning can be applied to displays of defeat in battle within wax museums, as well as in Buffalo Bills’ shows depicting American defeats against Native Americans. This historical context, as well as greater contemplation, is lost in translation through the deemphasis of panoramas in the City of Cinema. While it may not be the most relevant to the overall thesis of the show, I do believe it would assist in understanding the larger French cultural climate from which the visual culture that leads to film was born.
Questions:
How do explorations of French nationalism fare within the exhibition as compared to exploration of French imperialism?
Why is it important to understand French nationalism as an underlying factor within the development of visual mass media in fin-de-siècle Paris?