Pierre Rémond de Sainte-Albine

Pierre Rémond de Sainte-Albine (born May 29, 1699 in Paris ; † October 9, 1778 ibid) was a French historian and dramatic writer. He wrote for the La Gazette (1733-1749 and 1751) and for Mercure de France , where he was editor for a while.

Le Comédien and the translation by Lessing

Sainte-Albine published the work "Le Comédien" in 1747, in which he explained the acting theory of the emotional actor. He insisted on the natural rendering of the game and on the actor's complete identification with his role. The actor should take in the feelings and sensations of the role and thereby feel them. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing translated this theory in 1754. Lessing himself commented on his translation activities as follows: “For a long time I intended to translate this work by Herr von Sainte Albine. But reasons that I want to cite at the end have finally moved me to turn the translation into an excerpt. I will try to teach him as much as possible. ” So there is a subjective comment by Lessing in the translation and he also expresses criticism of Saint-Albine's theory of acting. According to Lessing, only those who are really inspired by “a noble enthusiasm” can act naturally as stage heroes. That means that they know how to act convincingly. Like the act of rhetoric, the art of acting also converts to the principle of natural-involuntary expressivity. First of all, he emphasizes that Sainte-Albine is only a scholar and not an actor himself; H. also has no practical experience. But Lessing also criticizes other aspects: "In all of his work, Mr. Remond von Sainte-Albine tacitly presupposes that the external modifications of the body are natural consequences of the inner nature of the soul, which arise naturally without any effort." a person who indulges in his feelings carelessly, the actor has to take care that the characters are clearly visualized. While Sainte-Albine demands that the actor feel, Lessing demands that the actor communicate the feelings. The significant difference between Lessing and Sainte-Albine is that the path does not go from inside to outside , but from outside to inside . It is not inner nature that governs expression and sets the signs, but rather the actor is first introduced into the world of signs, familiarized with their ascriptions of meanings, of which one knows from experience, and "in a certain mechanical way" in the production of characteristic signs practices.

Publications (selection)

• The actor. A dogmatic work for the theater. From the French by Mr. Remond de Sainte Albine. 2 parts in 1 volume. Richter, Altenburg 1772.

Honors

In 1755 he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Prussian Society of Sciences .

literature

• Gloria Höckner: The emotional actor - An acting theory by Pierre Remond de Sainte-Albine. GRIN Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-640-11731-4
• Gotthold Ephraim Lessing: Excerpt from the "Actor" by Mr. Rémond von Sainte Albine. , In: Theatralische Bibliothek, 1st item, Berlin: Christian Friederich Voss, 1754.
• Pierre Rémond de Sainte-Albine: Le Comédien , in two parts, Paris, 1747.
• Peter Heßelmann: Purified theater? - Dramaturgy and Schaubühne in the mirror of German-language theater periodics of the 18th century (1750–1800) , Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann GmbH, 2002.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Dictionnaire des lettres françaises. Le xviiie siècle, nouvelle édition revue et mise à jour sous la direction de François Moureau, Paris, Fayard, 1995.
2. ^ "Le Comédien", in two parts, Paris, 1747.
3. ^ ^{A b} "Excerpt from the" Actor "of Mr. Rémond von Sainte Albine", in: Theatralische Bibliothek, 1st piece, Berlin: Christian Friederich Voss, 1754.
4. ^ Members of the previous academies. Pierre Rémond de Sainte-Albine. Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences , accessed on June 4, 2015 .