Abstract

Between Panegyric and Factual Report. Structure and Purpose of “Media Events“ at the Time of Maria Theresa

This paper examines three decisive historical events that took place during the reign of Maria Theresa of Austria. It considers them as “media events“ comprising the birth of Joseph, the heir to the throne (1741), the Battle of Kolín (1757) and Maria Theresa’s recovery from smallpox (1767). In general, media events during the early modern period point to the construction of messages not merely confined to imparting information. The intrinsic aim of this paper is to analyse the political and historical dimension and both the structure and dynamics of the three media events in terms of their visual and textual genres. Furthermore, the paper refers to performative practices and examines the public information strategies of the players involved. The birth of Archduke Joseph, the first son of Maria Theresa, is remarkable given the public’s wide involvement in the celebrations. In particular, the involvement was organized with the use of aphorisms and ephemeral festive architectures. The birth itself served as an event intended to promote a feeling of community and shared unity. Its ulterior purpose was to exert a stabilising influence in the difficult early stages of Maria Theresa’s rule. The Battle of Kolín marked the first victory over the Prussian King in the Seven Years’ War and became the subject of a significantly personalised form of commemorative journalism in which the role of the heroic redemptress or redeemer was on occasion ascribed to Maria Theresa or to Field Marshal Daun. This indicates that while wars were especially prone to a superficially simple exercise in communications, their coverage in the media had an enormous impact on the overall population. On the other hand, Maria Theresa’s convalescence from smallpox was characterised by the population’s religious anxieties regarding the fate of their sovereign. Church sermons served as a pivotal means of imparting information, of interpreting the event and of describing how it had transpired. Moreover, these three types of events display a deep divide concerning their respective degrees of “Präsenzöffentlichkeit“ – meaning the public as recipients of Habsburg propaganda – and “Medienöffentlichkeit“ – which refers to those imparting such propaganda (cf. Harriet Rudolph). In the case of dynastic events such as births or recoveries from serious illness, there was no “Präsenzöffentlichkeit“ to witness what had happened. Consequently, performative rituals such as church services and contemporary mises en scene were the sole means of ensuring that such news was understandable and accessible among the public. Hence, while structural continuities became evident in the exercise of Habsburg representation under the rule of Maria Theresa, they were also accompanied by substantial realignments: in general, the conventional and universally accepted topoi of paying homage to male rulers proved inadequate in regard to the case of transfer to a female sovereign.