Postdoc: WYNANTS Nele (ULB) | Supervisor: VANHAESEBROUCK Karel (ULB)
Cultural exchange between European cities in the 18th and 19th centuries contributed greatly to the legacy of the magic lantern. Itinerant entertainers (Savoyards) carried across borders lanterns and hand-painted slides in a box strapped to their backs. By the second half of the 19th century, they were replaced by men with scientific knowledge, eager to astonish, amuse and instruct their audience. Mass production started slowly after 1830: the Briton Philip Carpenter began to transform the lantern trade along organized industrial lines. In its heyday, the most established companies were situated in London (Carpenter & Westley), Paris (Duboscq, Molteni) and Germany (Liesegang); they produced slides on a large scale and sold them all over Europe. Not being one of the main producing countries, in Belgium the slides shown were often imported. This subproject deals with the magic lantern as a medium of cultural exchange. Since the history of the lantern is an international one, its role and impact as a mass medium in Belgium needs to be considered from a transnational point of view. Where did slide series shown in Belgium originate? Did Flemish and Walloon audiences see the same images or were imports from France, Britain and Germany distributed differently in the two communities? How were slides appropriated by performers and adapted for national audiences?