{"product_id":"9781350236929","title":"PRE-ORDER NOW Text as Dance : Walter Benjamin, Louis Marin and Choreographies of the Baroque by Mark Franko","description":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e PRE-ORDER NOW - Published: 23\/07\/2026 \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis book offers a groundbreaking investigation into issues of  gender, power and the representation of sovereignty in  French Baroque court ballet - and in today's performances  that recall them. Mark Franko uses powerful interpretive tools derived from  historiography and critical theory, especially the work of  German-Jewish philosopher Walter Benjamin, to offer the  reader both a historical and a theoretical interpretation of this  genre of dance in France (c. 1615-1654), as well as its  aftermath and legacy today. Through doing so, he reaches conclusions about how  sovereignty and power were both perceived by viewers at the  time and how they were represented through dance, given  that it was the noble class who devised and performed court  ballets. He enquires into the role of choreography and  theatricality as potentially critical forces operating at the heart  of sovereignty. Franko places the work of Louis Marin on power,  representation and movement in French Baroque painting  and performance in juxtaposition to that of Benjamin on  theater. Other historians whose work is prominent in this  study are Ernst Kantorowicz, Michel Foucault and Jos?  Antonio Maravall. With wide breadth in the work of historians, philosophers,  political scientists, critical theorists, musicologists and dance  historians, this is the culmination of a career's-worth of  scholarship and research in the field. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eBinding: Paperback \/ softback","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56368678797685,"sku":"9781350236929","price":28.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781350236929.jpg?v=1763550419","url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/products\/9781350236929","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}