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Zusatztext This book should prove enormously useful to undergraduate readers who are seeking to gain an overall orientation within the field of French culture. An excellent resource to the general academic reader who might wish to decipher and interpret the complex and polyphonic text of French culture.European Journal of CommunicationBoth editors and contributors are to be congratulated on producing a book that works both as an undergraduate introduction and as a series of critical essays on French culture on the cusp of the twenty-first century.Journal of European Area Studies Informationen zum Autor William Kidd, Siân Reynolds Klappentext The study of French culture has long ceased to be purely centred on literature. Undergraduate French courses now embrace all forms of cultural production and consumption, and students need to have a broad knowledge of everything from day-time TV and the latest detective novels to debates about national identity and immigration policies.This stimulating text is an introduction to the full range of contemporary French culture. Written by a group of leading academics both within and outside France, each chapter focuses on a topic from the French cultural scene today. Starting with an overview of resources for further information (both in print and online), the text discusses the varied forms of French cultural expression and looks critically at what 'Frenchness' itself means. The book also explores examples of cultural production ranging from sport, media and literature to theatre, cinema, festivals and music. An essential resource for students and scholars alike, this text provides detailed material and analysis, as well as a launch-pad for further study. Zusammenfassung Stating that the study of French culture has long ceased to be purely centred on literature, this book provides an introduction to a range of contemporary French culture. Written by a group of leading academics both within and outside France, it contains chapters that focus on various topics related to the French cultural scene. Inhaltsverzeichnis Part 1 Introduction and Sources Introduction France @ your fingertips Part 2 The Background to French Cultural Exceptionalism How the French present is shaped by the past: the last 100 years in historical perspective French cultural policy: the special role of the state French education: equal or elitist? Part 3 Cultural Differences and Identity Politics in France Today Social differences: age and place Sexual fault lines: sex and gender in cultural context The challenge of multiculturalism: regional and religious differences in France today French political culture: homogenous or fragmented? Part 4 Frenchness Revisited: Forces for Cultural Unity If it isn't clear it isn't French: language and identity French public culture: spaces and places Frenchness constructed and reconstructed Part 5 French Cultural Production at the turn of the Twenty-First Century Sport and identity in the new France No Coca-cola please, we're French! The advertising culture in France A night out: theatre and opera Cinema in a nation of filmgoers Festivals and fetes populaires The changing French media: press barons, NRG and digital TV From Messian to MC Solaar: music in France in the late twentieth century Reading books in France: la culture du livre Intellectuals in French culture: where to look today A guide to contemporary cultural analysis: the French contribution ...
