French Cultural Debates

This collection of essays considers some of the most important and lively cultural debates in contemporary France. Debates on gender, same-sex relationships, the culture of business practices, food, cinema, intellectuals, science, popular culture, and popular music are all dealt with in the context of the tradition of French Republicanism.

Since the foundation in 1959 of the Ministry of Culture, cultural policy in France has enjoyed a profile unparalleled in any other country. French Cultural Policy Debates: A Reader makes available the key contributions to a debate which has not only focused on the precise modes of political intervention in cultural production, but has also provided a forum for the discussion of much wider social and political issues.

This volume, which gathers contributions presented at the annual conferences of l'Association pour le développement de l'histoire culturelle (ADHC), questions the subjects and boundaries of cultural history in France – with regard to neighboring approaches such as cultural studies, media studies, and gender studies – to elaborate a "social history of representations." Historians, philosophers and sociologists address a large variety of topics and methodological proposals. Definitions, objects and actors, memories and cultural transfers: this book depicts the major questions that underlie the historical debate at the beginning of the 21st century.

The first full-length treatment of the operatic querelles in eighteenth-century France, placing individual querelles in historical context and tracing common themes of authority, national prestige and the power of music over popular sentiment.

This study considers contemporary policies for the arts in France and the cultural and political issues they have raised. The author concentrates mainly on the Mitterrand years and the various influences which marked them.

Eleven major issues are encapsulated for students of French language and culture, providing an informed platform for critical thinking and engaged discussion.

Collating key texts at the forefront of new research and interpretation, this updated second edition adds new articles on the Terror and race/colonial issues, and studies all aspects of this major event, from its origins through to its consequences.

Designed to cater for the growing interest in French studies, this volume assembles contributions about various aspects of change in a number of contemporary French-speaking societies. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the book expands on the traditional concepts of French studies focusing on language and literature and embraces politics, economics and cultural studies. The volume is divided into four parts and includes contributions from leading European specialists. Collectively, the contributions span the broad fields of Politics and Society, Arts and Culture, the French Language, and Francophone Literatures. Individual chapters review and analyse contemporary issues, debates and developments in the contributors' specialist areas. The contributions address the many requirements of undergraduate and postgraduate students in French Studies which makes this collection of essays of considerable value to the specialist reader as well as to those looking for a more general understanding of key contemporary issues in French Studies.