Documents found
-
1193.
-
1194.
-
1199.
-
1200.More information
To mark a milestone on the research path opened by the body of female music criticism, this article examines the trajectory of Judith Gautier, not to highlight a feminine manner of writing about music, but to identify a set of clues that can serve to envision this singular occurrence in the history of music criticism by women. The daughter of Théophile Gautier, Judith was distinguished by her passion for the works of Wagner, describing herself as his “best disciple” and becoming, as a result, one of his most ardent defenders in France. Thanks to her relationship to her father, and to break free from her unhappy marriage to Catulle Mendès, she managed to establish her legitimacy by developing a poetic and impressionistic approach to criticism, an approach informed, however, by a thorough knowledge of Wagner's works and expressed in her articles as a counterpoint dialogue. This positioning allowed her not only to bypass gender boundaries in a traditional male profession, but also to actively contribute to the reception and promotion of Wagner's works in France. From this perspective, the present article proposes to reflect on the empowerment strategies of a female music critic and examine gender relations in the construction of a female critical authority in a period that established and institutionalized the function of music criticism in the review.
Keywords: Critique musicale, Femmes et écritures de presse, Judith Gauthier, Wagner et wagnérisme, Music criticism, Women and press writings, Judith Gautier, Wagner and Wagnerism