The transformation of the phenomenon of artistic consecration in French theatre field, 1950-1990
The aim of this article is to understand, through the analysis of thecareers of the signatories of the “Déclaration deVilleurbanne” in 1968, the evolution of the consecrationcriterions for directors of French public theatre between 1950 and1990. In view of the transformations of the theatre field and of itsorganization into a hierarchy, some directors have been able to adaptthemselves because of the moment and the way they entered the theatrearena and because of their aptitudes and their relational resources,while others, for opposite reasons, have not been able to adaptthemselves so as to keep a dominant position. Thus, the transformationof socializations, the growing interdependance between members oftheatre field, the transformation of recognition criterions and thegrowing importance of political and institutional positioning weremajors factors of the disrepute of careers made of troupes experienceand based on popular education principles, while, on the opposite,those phenomenons contributed to the emergence of two majorfigures : the stage director and the theatre director.