French Literature Reviews - 2026
T. Picard, La Civilisation de l'Opéra
Theatre and Performance
Review published in Acta Fabula (March 2017, vol. 18, no. 3): “The Song of Buried Voices”: Horrors & Wonders of Opera by Thomas Le Colleter
Timothée Picard, La Civilisation de l'Opéra (Sur les traces d'un fantôme), Fayard, 2016.
EAN13: 9782213681825.
760 p.
EUR 35
Opera, a major civilizational phenomenon in our societies, is examined through the lens of what Walter Benjamin called "one of the great novels of the 19th century": Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera. Numerous cinematic adaptations range from grandiose studio productions (Universal, Hammer) to cult auteur films (Brian de Palma, Dario Argento), often treading the fine line of kitsch. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical shatters all records for attendance and longevity, putting the finishing touch on an enduring myth.
What conceptions and representations of opera emerge when we transition from the novel to its illustration, from cinema to the musical, and from ballet to fan fiction? And what happens when we move from the grand operatic repertoire to rock or heavy metal, from fantasy to horror, from adults to teenagers, from men to women, and from one century to the next? Or again from France to the United States and China, and from Great Britain to Italy and South America? This essay explores the future of entertainment in the West, from the rise of Romantic spectacle to the triumph of the globalized culture industry. It demonstrates that while opera as a genre and practice may seem to be gradually fading, its spirit endures in other forms and through other means: opera and its derivatives address deeply rooted human aspirations that people cannot live without and to which they alone hold the key.
More broadly, this book focuses on what Nietzsche termed the "civilization of opera," for which the Palais Garnier—the quintessence of "Paris, Capital of the Nineteenth Century" and of bourgeois culture in its golden age—stands as the figurehead. Drawing on a diverse array of sources, the author explores the entire edifice of its imaginary to identify, in the pairing of the fabulous opera house and its monstrous Phantom, an allegory of ambiguous modernity. Finally, he addresses our relationship with this civilization, which remains a surprisingly vibrant ghost haunting contemporary cultures and societies.
Timothée Picard is a Professor of General and Comparative Literature at the University of Rennes and a member of the Institut Universitaire de France. He specializes in the concepts and representations of music through literature, the arts, and the history of ideas—a field to which he has dedicated numerous award-winning works.
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Opera holds a unique position at the intersection of music, literature, and visual culture, frequently serving as a mirror for modern societal transformations. As a composite art form that brings together staging, orchestral performance, and dramatic narrative, it has long engaged writers, philosophers, and theorists seeking to understand the dynamics of Western entertainment. Readers interested in the evolution of cultural mythologies and the afterlife of nineteenth-century artistic forms in contemporary media may find this volume relevant.
This essay examines the enduring legacy of Gaston Leroux’s novel The Phantom of the Opera across diverse media, including cinema, musicals, and fan fiction. The author explores how operatic motifs persist through globalized entertainment and popular culture, connecting the Palais Garnier with broader themes of modernity. Drawing on sources from various artistic domains, the book investigates the complex relationship between high culture and mass entertainment in contemporary societies.