Where did the boulevards come from and how shameful were tabloid novels and tabloid plays before

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Boulevards appeared long before the fashion for leisurely walks around the city. But the tabloid theater and tabloid literature are relatively young phenomena, but widespread in the culture of the century before last, the past, and now even the present century. There is no doubt about the tabloid art of being. Another thing is that the works written for the idle crowd, not so rarely passed into the category of highly artistic, and their authors received not only profit, but also honor.

Boulevards in fortifications and in peacetime

The first boulevards were not at all like streets buried in greenery, whose purpose is to provide a pleasant walk on a weekend and generally to entertain the townspeople. Despite the fact that the word came to the Russian language from French, it comes from the German bollwerk and its Dutch form bulwerke, and these are the terms of military science. Yes, and the boulevard was once called a defensive structure, an earthen rampart along the borders of the city, and even earlier - a redoubt, a fortification for a circular defense from the enemy.

It was later, when the need for fortifications disappeared and the ramparts became part of the city, they were turned into streets. In some cities, you can still see the remains of former defensive structures, such as, for example, in Italian Lucca, where a four-kilometer ring of the old fortress wall that adorns modern boulevards has been preserved.

Boulevards - streets along which trees were planted, appeared in different cities, but still France, or rather the French capital, is rightly considered their homeland. The famous Grands Boulevards, a string of streets from the Madeleine Church to Place de la République and further to Place de la Bastille, appeared on the site of the fortress wall built in the 14th century under King Charles V. organize wide streets. It happened under Louis XIV.

So from the lexicon of the military, the word "boulevard" passed into a "peaceful" speech, becoming a part of the everyday life of Parisians, primarily those who loved walks and knew a lot about simple entertainment. The boulevards were frequented not only by those who walk, but also those who made money on them - some a couple of livres, some a fortune. It's about spiritual food - tabloid theaters, tabloid novels and tabloid press.

When too many people can read

These "bourgeois" entertainment called "boulevard" began with theaters, open especially for ordinary people, an undemanding audience. The Royal Comedie Française staged the best dramatic works on its stage, small theaters got the rest. In city theaters, plays were performed more simply, and it was possible to see them in theaters on the boulevards.

One of the first Parisian boulevard theaters was opened by the actor and puppeteer Jean-Baptiste Nicollet. Things quickly went uphill - the audience liked the theater's repertoire, cheerful and varied, and the playwrights who proposed their works for performances were not translated either.

The record for the number of theaters belonged to the Boulevard du Temple, which once bore the nickname "Boulevard of Crimes."It's not that it was the most criminal place in Paris - it's just that the repertoire of numerous theaters, cabarets, café-concerts on the boulevard included a huge number of performances in which they were robbed, killed and in other ways violated the law - on stage. In real life, Boulevard du Temple was a rather peaceful and pleasant place where people came to relax, unwind, laugh.

Following the tabloid theaters, the tabloid press with tabloid novels arrived in time. Their goal was simple - to entertain, cheer, and therefore the reader, like the spectator of tabloid plays, found himself immersed in the world of love intrigues, criminal atrocities, and obscene jokes.

The tabloid (or yellow) newspapers were distinguished by the low quality of the paper on which they were printed (hence, according to one version, the name). Such press was intended not so much to inform the reader about the news or to reliably cover the event, but to shock, amuse, surprise, and awaken other vivid emotions. If at the same time it was necessary to sacrifice the truth for the sake of an imaginary sensation, they would sacrifice it, if only the main goal was achieved.

For this reason, “in the basement” of yellow newspapers, that is, at the bottom of the pages, they began to publish fragments of works of art, stories with continuation. From issue to issue, stories about robbers and women of easy virtue, detectives and superheroes were printed, and Parisians walking along the boulevards could sit on a bench and enjoy a pleasant reading.

It soon became clear that a new literary genre had appeared, and, moreover, it was in great demand, and tabloid novels began to turn into separate independent works. Those who took up the pen for the undemanding tastes of the urban public received not only a grateful reader, but also large fees.

It is believed that the first who began to write tabloid novels was Xavier de Montepin, who, incidentally, turned out to be an incredibly popular author in Russia in the mid-19th century. But the founder of the genre was Eugene Sue, the author of the novels "Parisian Mysteries" and "The Eternal Jew", who made quite good money on the works of mass literature.

Among those whose work once aroused the condescending grin or even indignation of eminent writers and readers with refined taste, one can find truly famous surnames now: Balzac, Georges Sand, and Jules Verne once began with the humble title of tabloid novelists., and even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who wrote his Sherlock Holmes more as entertainment and easy money than aspiring to the heights of literary Olympus. As you know, Doyle considered historical novels to be his truly significant works - they could not be attributed to pulp fiction.

That is why the trait of "anti-artistic", which for centuries they tried to impose on everything that was produced "for boulevards", can be recognized for creativity of this kind only with a lot of reservations, or, at least, after a noticeably long period of time.

Boulevard and boulevard

The world is also obliged to Paris by the term "flâneur", or "boulevard" - it is about someone who strolls along the boulevards without being burdened with any business. The type of "walking city dweller" became very common in art in the 19th century - art not only on a "tabloid" scale. Despite attempts to ridicule flannerers as idlers or people without special intellectual or artistic demands, someone who slowly strolls along the Parisian boulevard, observing city life and spending time in light thoughts, can hardly be considered harmful to society or an unnecessary person.

Charles Baudelaire once wrote about the flannere: "".

Throwing boulevardism out of the history of art will never work, its connection with great masters and great works is too close. Looking at the French, the fashion for boulevards and boulevards was picked up in other countries, and now alleys decorated with lindens or palms, pines or elms can be found in almost any city. Boulevard books themselves often became bestsellers, and brought, to that same, income in a derived form of art - cinema. The writings of Ian Fleming on James Bond, or of Anne and Serge Golon on Angelica, the Marquis of Angels, could hardly be considered serious literature. But, having appeared on the screens, these plots have also gained recognition from film critics, not to mention the love of moviegoers for several generations.

A serious alteration awaited the Parisian boulevards during the reforms of Baron Haussmann - this is how capitals were rebuilt in the past.