Saturday, January 2, 2010

vaudeville


Okay, I know what it means. Not that I've ever seen an actual vaudeville show, but it's referred to in countless movies and tributes to the American theatre ad nauseum. I like the song and dance, the jokes seem almost purposely tedious. Ba-da-boom.

So, no, that's not the ignorance I'm talking about in this case. What I'm referring to is a kind of lack of depth of vision, which I would say is a peculiarly American trait. Because, though we reach back to vaudeville, it turns out that vaudeville reaches back a good deal further than that.

Thanks to this interesting post I, am reading (at a very leisurely pace) From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultures by Jacques Barzun. And learned, in one of his countless throwaways that vaudeville, as "a storytelling song in many stanzas", was invented by the French in the sixteenth century.

A moment's thought would have revealed the word as French, but of course I never did take a moment's thought about it. Until now. Let's take a little closer look and see what can be learned about how a very old French word crossed the Atlantic and made a form of American theatre.

...Well, it's all quite fascinating, really. At least to me. There are actually two possibilities of the word, at least as it's been passed along to us: a corruption of the phrase voix de ville, or 'voice of the city'--which I assume would be referring to the city of France, Paris. The other option is that it is a corruption of Vau de Vire a Normandy valley noted for its distinctive songs. No, make that three--vaux de ville or 'worth of the city' was one other promulgated possibility when it first hit our shores.

Corruption, I think, would be the key here. Because apparently this word came into vogue here in the mid 1800's for two 'uplifting' reasons. First, the Frenchified name was meant to distinguish it from the working class shows billed under the name of 'variety', and second, it was supposed to be a kind entertainment that appealed to that great American ideal, 'self-betterment'.

From the Free Dictionary reference, it seems safe to assume that the actual word made its way into the country via New Orleans, where French was entirely legit, but then became part of a veneer of psuedo-sophistication for parts general.

As one Albert McLean suggests, the name was merely selected "for its vagueness, its faint, but harmless exoticism, and perhaps its connotation of gentility."

Now that's American.

15 comments:

  1. Very cool post. Who would ever guess that the name vaudeville, which today sounds amusingly low, may have been chosen for its "vagueness, its faint, but harmless exoticism, and perhaps its connotation of gentility."?

    I don't know what my v-word is, but it sounds like something that cures headaches and should be taken in excess of the recommended dosage without calling your doctor: adaverin
    ================
    Detectives Beyond Borders
    "Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
    http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

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  2. Er, I know what the word is (or was); I didn't know what it meant.

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  3. Peter, now that you have been recognized for your titling flair, maybe you should give a call to Pfizer and see if they are needing a new name for something. This one is vague enough that they could probably use if for almost anything.

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  4. Hmmm, so I make up a nifty name, then the scientists work on a drug to match it? What would one call such a profession?
    ==============
    Detectives Beyond Borders
    "Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
    http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

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  5. OK first of all I love that photo. Second, great post.

    But I can only think about slapstick right now, because perhaps I have never seen vaudeville either? So I'm then thinking slapstick and French (French what, French I don't know) and then I settle upon Jerry Lewis.

    And then thoughts lead to 8 years ago when my partner and I were getting into my car in Montreal. We had stopped for one of those slavic sandwiches (not Slovenia, but some local place in our Mile End neighborhood). I mentioned, totally off-hand, something about what was it with the French and Jerry Lewis. Next things out of partner's mouth were...I can't recall a single word...other than her saying a few choice sentences to me that made me so mad that I slammed my car door repeatedly, and yelled at the top of my lungs until my voice broke. People came out of their shops to see. Partner adjusted her hat, ran over to my side of the car, and used lots of gesticulations to get me to 'settle down' while also saying with smoker's advantaged voice (deep, can cut through pipsqueak voices like mine with half a breath, and no it's not fair), "I don't know what's got into you." Rinse, repeat.

    Anyway, somehow it ended without any bloodshed.

    But now that I am safely away from that one-time event, I can say that what happened was slapstick.

    Slapstick because of France. Because of Americans wanting to shellac the veneer. Because I am too young to have seen vaudeville.

    So thank you, Seana.

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  6. Neological pharmicist, Peter? No, not exactly catchy. Unfortunately, or maybe not, you will also have to name your new profession.

    Sheiler,I think the fact that your partner took the time to adjust her hat is what elevates it to the level of Laurel and Hardy style slapstick.

    A question, arises, though. I believe you've mentioned your partner's Algerian ancestry. I'm quite surprised that her relatively brief exposure to France made her exactly like the kind of Jerry Lewis fans that all the Gallic race appear to be. At the risk of another volatile exchange, you might ask her if she ever watched a Jerry Lewis telethon. That should cure anyone.

    However, in the interest of peace and harmony, which should really be my goal at the beginning of a new year, I'll mention a movie that my sister and brother-in-law turned me on to called Funny Bones. It might be the happy medium you both are looking for. Put briefly, it's Lewis being Joseph Levitch.

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  7. I thought Algeria finally rose up against France when the French tried to foist Jerry Lewis on them.
    ==============
    Detectives Beyond Borders
    "Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
    http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

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  8. I prefer "pharmacological neologist." "Neological pharmacist" rolls too easily off the tongue.

    A superb v-word this time, though I hope one can never say that any of my comments does it: grates

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  9. Yep, your version is better, Peter.

    As to your French/Algerian joke, I can only repeat a term from my post.

    Ba-da-boom.

    But even so, it doesn't grate.

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  10. No Peter, it great.

    How about pharmalogical phonologist?

    Seana, Algeria was France. As far as the French were concerned, for something like 200 + years.

    A funny thing I've learned carpooling loads of people up and back from Boston (to Montreal): Arab-style Algerians (because the Berbers were/are the natives and not the Arabs but who knows who is what) born back when Algeria was France - some of them consider themselves to be French.

    They have French passports. But in France, if they look Arab they are stopped on the street to show their IDs. The one French (born in the south of France) woman of Arab descent from Algeria I drove said she didn't fit in either country. Her Algerian cousins told her she was too French; she kept getting stopped by the gendarme in Paris for looking too Arab. She came to Montreal, and despite the harsh winters, loves it and feels at home.

    Oh my gosh, what a slapstick response.

    I will check out the movie though. Thanks.

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  11. Sheiler, I get it--French culture, even right down to Jerry Lewis idolotry, had a foothold in Algeria. Makes sense. They were French, at least until they got to France. I got that sense from that Jane Kramer essay on the pied noir I mentioned to you before--the neither fish nor fowl feeling. Makes sense that the Francophile part of Canada would feel more comfortable than France itself. I'm glad there is such a place.

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  12. Yes Seana, I'd forgotten about the book recommend. I have put it on my wishlist at amazon (sorry it's handy for keeping lists...I buy locally when I can). Merci!

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  13. It would be pretty unrealistic of me to try and keep people from shopping on Amazon. Shopping locally when you can is good enough for me.

    I find your commuting carpooling life quite intriguing and wonder that you find the time to post on anyone's blog at all.

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  14. Seana,

    I do it when the other cubicle mice start chattering around me. I can't work when they start but want to look busy so they won't involve me in all of their chumminess. I am a much kinder person in 2-D rather than live sometimes.

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  15. Oh, I think we all are. Except that sometimes I'm not that kind in 2-D either.

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