Zanni (theater figure)
The Zanni [ˈdzanni] (Venetian dialect form of Italian Gianni , diminutive of Giovanni ; also: Zani ) is the archetypal figure of the servant in the Commedia dell'arte or, as the Zanni (singular: Zane), an umbrella term for various servant figures of this very theatrical form. The term is derived from the first name, which was very common in the valleys of the province of Bergamo and from the rural exodus of the farmers who moved to the cities of Venice , Genoa and Naples and thus spread it, also from the Sanniones, the Roman grimace-tailors.
While Zanni was still an independent figure in the early days of the Commedia, later various characters (e.g. Arlecchino , Brighella etc.) replace him, while Zanni himself gradually disappears. The word Zanni becomes a collective term for the male servant figures, but it is not used in this form in Italy.
The early Zanni represented a person of the lower class who is usually in an employment relationship with one of the higher-ranking characters of the Commedia dell'arte, mostly Pantalone . He is poorly educated, but devious and above all intent on his own advantage, which automatically puts him in opposition to his master. In addition, he was "a stupid, voracious and insolent fool in lovemaking, who could only get in line when it was his own skin". He had his role model in the farmers who went to the port cities to seek their fortune there, first as porters and dock workers, and later as servants.
The later Zanni are considered to be the real soul of the Commedia dell'arte. Usually two of them appeared in one play: The first Zane was skillful, active, more or less intelligent and the leader and head of an intrigue, while the second was clumsy, passive and a fool. However, both complement each other in their gestures, looks and language. In the beginning they were dressed in rather coarse peasant clothes, but in the course of the development of the commedia they got their typical livery.
The sometimes occurring female Zagna, for example as Arlecchina, Colombina , Fantesca, Franceschina or Smeraldina, was often played by men and “did not necessarily have positive and charming features”. She too had ended up as a farmer in the city, where she was often the victim of her own naivete. There she had to defend herself as ruler in and over the kitchen with wit and cheeky remarks, but also with the most filthy insults and slaps in the face of the intrusions of both her masters and the servants.
Individual evidence
- ^ Nils Jockel: Commedia dell'arte between streets and palaces, Hamburg 1983
- ^ Nils Jockel: Commedia dell'arte between streets and palaces, Hamburg 1983
literature
- Nils Jockel: Commedia dell'arte between streets and palaces, Hamburg 1983
- Henning Mehnert: Commedia dell'arte, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 978-3-15-017639-9
- Ingrid Ramm-Bonwitt: Commedia dell'arte , Frankfurt 1997, ISBN 978-3-922220-84-8