Description
In the early modern age, urban phonospheres of the Catholic western Mediterranean were defined within the ceremonial framework of civil religion. Hence the homogeneity of the rituals in which they were generated and of the institutions that produced them. The hegemony, or direct rule, of the Spanish monarchy contributes to the composition of a uniform image. Does this necessarily imply the predictability or equality of the phonospheres in the different cities?
This study session proposes to approach the topic by comparing four cities - Barcelona, Naples, Palermo and Valencia - that are being studied by the participants of the project "Sounding Cities. Mediterranean Urban Phonospheres (1500-1900)". The session will explore these cities through two journeys that symbolize Hispanic monarchical power: the material journey of Francisco Benavides, Count of Santisteban (1640-1716), and the symbolic journey of the devotion to the Immaculate Conception.
After being viceroy of Sardinia, Sicily and Naples, Santisteban returned to Madrid in 1696, with short stops in Rome, Venice, Milan, Turin, Genoa, Marseilles and Barcelona. The study of the ceremonies that greeted him in each city allows a comparative reconstruction of the respective phonospheres. Earlier, in Palermo, Santisteban transformed the city's seafront to create a specific theatrical space for the performance of serenades. We will examine how these nocturnal celebrations were integrated with new theatrical spectacles (opera) and traditional practices (processions and luminarias). These data will be contrasted with the nocturnal entertainments typical of the civic ceremonies celebrated in Barcelona. In particular, the luminarias were usually accompanied by the music of different instrumental groups that played from the top of towers and high parts of buildings.
The kings Philip III (†1621) and Philip IV (†1655) strongly supported the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. Between 1618 and 1619 this cult was imposed in Naples with ceremonies that shook the city, in particular the landing of the Virgin and her procession from the port to the centre: a founding event that consolidated this devotion as part of Neapolitan history to the present day. The same monarchical commitment had very different results in Valencia. The devotion to the Immaculate was traditionally very popular, and its proclamation became a means of expressing dissent in public ceremonies: at various times in the 17th century, in the Valencian phonosphere, the sonorous image of conflict replaced that of festive concord.
These case studies provide the methodological foundation for future systematic work. On the one hand, we aim to investigate the effective equality of sound production and the relevance of differences in the four cities surveyed and beyond. On the other hand, the communicative processes of which they are part will be examined in order to understand the purposes for which these resources are manipulated, and the reception and decoding of the messages: thus going beyond a strictly factual reconstruction and delving into symbolic construction. On this basis, comparative objects not considered here can be integrated into the research, with a primary interest in the urban phonospheres of the southern and eastern Mediterranean.
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