Publisher Description

The 1950s and 1960s were a key moment in the development of postwar France. The period was one of rapid change, derived from post-World War II economic and social modernization; yet many traditional characteristics were retained. By analyzing the eruption of the new postwar world in the context of a France that was both modern and traditional, we can see how these worlds met and interacted, and how they set the scene for the turbulent 1960s and 70s. The examination of the development of mass culture in post-war France, undertaken in this volume, offers a valuable insight into the shifts that took place. By exploring stardom from the domain of cinema and other fields, represented here by famous figures such as Brigitte Bardot, Johnny Hallyday or Jean-Luc Godard, and less conventionally treated areas of enquiry (politics [de Gaulle], literary [Françoise Sagan], and intellectual culture [Lévi-Strauss]) the reader is provided with a broad understanding of the mechanisms of popularity and success, and their cultural, social, and political roles. The picture that emerges shows that many cultural articulations remained or became identifiably "French," in spite of the American mass-culture origins of these social, economic, and cultural transformations.

Author Biography

John Gaffney is Professor of Politics at Aston University. He is the author and editor of a dozen books on French and British politics and culture.

Table of Contents

Introduction
John Gaffney and Diana HolmesChapter 1. Stardom in Theory and Context
John Gaffney and Diana HolmesChapter 2. 1950s Popular Culture: Star-Gazing and Myth-Making with Roland Barthes and Edgar Morin
Susan WeinerChapter 3. 'A Girl of Today': Brigitte Bardot
Diana HolmesChapter 4. Rock 'n' Roll Stardom: Johnny Hallyday
Chris TinkerChapter 5. Stardom on Wheels: Raymond Poulidor
Philip DineChapter 6. The Auteur as Star: Jean-Luc Godard
Alison SmithChapter 7. The Intellectual as Celebrity: Claude Lévi-Strauss
Christopher JohnsonChapter 8. 'Starlette de la Littérature': Françoise Sagan
Heather LloydChapter 9. The Only Act in Town: Charles de Gaulle
John GaffneyConclusion
John Gaffney and Diana HolmesBibliography
Notes on Contributors
Index

Review

"…an excellent volume, original and instructive, for researchers as well as for students, be it in cultural anthropology, sociology of culture or French Studies. For anthropologists adopting a comparative approach, here is an opportunity to find out how Anglo-Saxon colleagues perceive a hexagonal culture from outside." · Anthropologie et Sociétés"This strong collection, through its insistence on the import of stardom beyond an array of one-dimensional incarnations of a zeitgeist to consider complex embodiments of specific contemporary tensions and dynamics, succeeds in expanding successfully the consideration of star identities in French studies and provides both fascinating case studies and valuable models for future analysis." · French Studies"This highly enjoyable and provocative book convincingly demonstrates that celebrities are pivotal sites for the historical analysis of national identity.  Those figures that attracted public attention were all able to incarnate the aspirations and anxieties that shaped France in the postwar moment.  And it is through examining icons like Bardot, Hallyday, Poulidor, and de Gaulle, the authors insist, that we gain insight into the social concerns of the day. Why the post '68 era failed, in their view, to produce a similar gamut of stars, remains an intriguing point of departure for future research." · H-France

Review Quote

"...an excellent volume, original and instructive, for researchers as well as for students, be it in cultural anthropology, sociology of culture or French Studies. For anthropologists adopting a comparative approach, here is an opportunity to find out how Anglo-Saxon colleagues perceive a hexagonal culture from outside." Anthropologie et Socits "This strong collection, through its insistence on the import of stardom beyond an array of one-dimensional incarnations of a zeitgeist to consider complex embodiments of specific contemporary tensions and dynamics, succeeds in expanding successfully the consideration of star identities in French studies and provides both fascinating case studies and valuable models for future analysis." French Studies "This highly enjoyable and provocative book convincingly demonstrates that celebrities are pivotal sites for the historical analysis of national identity. Those figures that attracted public attention were all able to incarnate the aspirations and anxieties that shaped France in the postwar moment. And it is through examining icons like Bardot, Hallyday, Poulidor, and de Gaulle, the authors insist, that we gain insight into the social concerns of the day. Why the post '68 era failed, in their view, to produce a similar gamut of stars, remains an intriguing point of departure for future research." H-France

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