Journalism and Theatre in the Age of Enlightenment: Elisabetta Caminer’s reviews for L’Europa Letteraria

This paper focuses on the figure of Elisabetta Caminer, at the beginning of her experience as a journalist and intercultural mediator. The analysis of some examples of her theatrical reviews for the Venetian journal L’Europa Letteraria (1768-1773) shows how Caminer’s work was not only journalistic and theatrical but also intercultural and conceived as a means of social commitment. In the mid-eighteenth century, the discussion on dramaturgy also evolved in a debate on society; therefore, Elisabetta Caminer decided to spread and promote in Italy a very specific kind of dramatic genre: the new bourgeois French-style drama. This is proven by the choice to select pieces in which real-life situations, moral behavior, and civil matters come to the fore. The article proposes some trajectories that exemplify her work and her ideology: the introduction of French works that fall within the larmoyante genre, still not very widespread in the Italian peninsula; the presentation of works by Italian authors inspired by French dramaturgy; the clear opposition to works still tied to the old tradition and without moralizing purpose. Her favorable opinion towards a theatre more sensitive to civil and moral aspects, which can nevertheless be effectively staged and performed, highlights the interconnection promoted by Elisabetta Caminer between journalism, theatre, and society and between Italy and France.