Modern Languages

An introduction to the history of France, discussing its leaders, revolutions, artists and more.

The essays that comprise this volume center on 20th- and 21st-century French literature, politics, memory, and history, and problematize the contemporary as a critical position with respect to the current moment.

In Encyclopedia of French Film Directors, Philippe Rège identifies every French director who has made at least one feature film since 1895. From undisputed masters to obscure one-timers, nearly 3,000 directors are cited here, including at least 200 filmmakers not mentioned in similar books published in France.

n this wide-ranging guide to twentieth-century French thought, leading scholars offer an authoritative multi-disciplinary analysis of one of the most distinctive and influential traditions in modern thought. Unlike any other existing work, this important work covers not only philosophy, but also all the other major disciplines, including literary theory, sociology, linguistics, political thought, theology, and more.

The Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism since 1450 provides students and researchers with a much-needed, comprehensive resource on the subject of colonialism and expansion. From a global perspective, the set traces many facets of colonial growth and imperialism, including Europes overseas expansion into the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Pacific, beginning in the 15th century; the collapse of empires; race relations in decolonized regions; and current examples of continuing dependence by much of the developing world on Western nations (often former colonial powers themselves). In addition, a number of articles address the ideology and theories behind colonialism and imperialism, as well as the major and controversial issues at the core of the debate on colonialism and its consequences, such as Apartheid in South Africa, the Maji Mahi Revolt, and the Minas Gerais Conspiracy. The breadth and depth of coverage offered in this title will cover substantial geographic, historical, political, economic, social, and cultural history, providing an invaluable interdisciplinary tool.

Included are several hundred alphabetically arranged entries for authors; literary genres, such as the novel, poetry, and the short story; literary movements, such as classicism, realism, and surrealism; life-cycle events particular to women, such as menstruation and menopause; events and institutions which affected women differently than men, such as revolutions, wars, and laws on marriage, divorce, and education. The volume spans French literature from the Middle Ages to the present and covers those writers who lived and worked mainly in France. The entries are written by expert contributors and each includes bibliographical information.

Beginning with the French Revolution and its aftermath, Stovall traces the definitive establishment of universal manhood suffrage and the abolition of slavery in 1848. Following this critical time in France's history, Stovall then explores the growth of urban and industrial society, the beginnings of mass immigration, and the creation of a new, republican Empire.

A Companion to the French Revolutioncomprises twenty-nine newly-written essays reassessing the origins, development, and impact of this great turning-point in modern history. Examines the origins, development and impact of the French Revolution Features original contributions from leading historians, including six essays translated from French.Presents a wide-ranging overview of current historical debates on the revolution and future directions in scholarship. Gives equally thorough treatment to both causes and outcomes of the French Revolution.

Debates about the legacy of colonialism in France are not new, but they have taken on new urgency in the wake of recent terrorist attacks. Responding to acts of religious and racial violence in 2005, 2010, and 2015 and beyond, the essays in this volume pit French ideals against government-sponsored revisionist decrees that have exacerbated tensions, complicated the process of establishing and recording national memory, and triggered divisive debates on what it means to identify as French. As they document the checkered legacy of French colonialism, the contributors raise questions about France and the contemporary role of Islam, the banlieues, immigration, race, history, pedagogy, and the future of the Republic. This innovative volume reconsiders the cultural, economic, political, and social realities facing global French citizens today.

The Black Populations of France is a study of Black peoples and their history in France and the French Empire during the modern era, from the eighteenth century to the present. The contributors to this collection explore three main axes. The first addresses circulations—the ways Black populations have moved through the spaces of metropolitan France and the empire—and focuses on the actors themselves and the margins of maneuver available to them, particularly as soldiers, sailors, immigrants, or political militants. The second considers legacies and the ways the past has informed the present, addressing themes such as the memory of slavery, the histories of Black women and gender, and the historical influence of African Americans on Blacks in France. The final axis considers racial policy and the ways the state has shaped racial discourses through the interactions between state policies and ideas of race developed by individuals, organizations, and communities.

Over the past three decades, neither France's treatment of Muslims nor changes in French, British, and German immigration laws have confirmed multiculturalist hopes or post nationalist expectations. Yet analyses positing unified national models also fall short in explaining contemporary issues of national and cultural identity. Immigration, Islam, and the Politics of Belonging in France: A Comparative Framework presents a more productive, multifaceted view of citizenship and nationality. Political scientist Elaine R. Thomas casts new light on recent conflicts over citizenship and national identity in France, as well as such contentious policies as laws restricting Muslim headscarves. Drawing on key methods and insights of ordinary language philosophers from Austin to Wittgenstein, Thomas looks at parliamentary debates, print journalism, radio and television transcripts, official government reports, legislation, and other primary sources related to the rights and status of immigrants and their descendants.

The Jews of Modern France: Images and Identities focuses on the shifting boundaries between inner-directed and outer-directed Jewish concerns, behaviors and attitudes in France over the course of the late eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries.

Mixing reminiscence and analysis, the author revisits a history of French intellectuals that, from the Dreyfus Affair through to Charlie Hebdo, seems to him that of a long decline. As a long-time admirer of Zola, Sartre and Camus, Sand is staggered to see what the French intellectual has become today, in such characters as Michel Houellebecq, Éric Zemmour and Alain Finkielkraut. In a work that gives no quarter, and focuses particularly on the Judeophobia and Islamophobia of the 'elites', he casts on the French intellectual scene a gaze that is both disabused and sarcastic.

France has long been engaged in a very active cultural and scientific diplomacy. It aims both at ensuring and valorising the international presence of France in the domains of language, culture, communication, or higher education and research. This diplomacy is backed by a network of cooperation services in embassies and cultural institutions, as well as by numerous operators and specialised agencies in various sectors. This book asks whether cultural diplomacy, invented by France in the 18th century, is in danger. It asks whether the present system, aimed at helping artists and creators, professionals of teaching and culture, researchers and intellectuals, can be improved. And it argues that a diplomacy of influence needs coherent foreign policy connecting sectors and promoting partnerships.

From Revolution to Ethics demonstrates that intellectuals and activists turned to ethics as the touchstone for understanding interpersonal, institutional, and political dilemmas. In absorbing and scrupulously researched detail Bourg explores the developing ethical fascination as it emerged among student Maoists courting terrorism, anti-psychiatric celebrations of madness, feminists mobilizing against rape, and pundits and philosophers championing human rights.

Deals with the dilemmas of early French social scientists inclined to stress either heredity or environment, but forced to concede the influence of both. The prevailing assumption has been that French ethnographers highlighted the cultural and social environment while anthropologists emphasized the scientific study of head and body shapes. Martin Staum shows that the temptation to gravitate towards one pole of the nature-nurture continuum often resulted in reluctant concessions to the other side. Psychologists Théodule Ribot and Alfred Binet, for example, were forced to recognize the importance of social factors. Non-Durkheimian sociologists were divided on the issue of race and gender as progressive and tolerant attitudes on race did not necessarily correlate with flexible attitudes on gender. Recognizing this allows Staum to raise questions about the theory of the equivalence of all marginalized groups. Anthropological institutions re-organized before the First World War sometimes showed decreasing confidence in racial theory but failed to abandon it completely. Staum's chilling epilogue discusses how the persistent legacy of such theories was used by extremist anthropologists outside the mainstream to deploy racial ideology as a basis of persecution in the Vichy era.

Outside France, French anthropology is conventionally seen as being dominated by grand theory produced by writers who have done little or no fieldwork themselves, and who may not even count as anthropologists in terms of the institutional structures of French academia. This applies to figures from Durkheim to Derrida, Mauss to Foucault, though there are partial exceptions, such as Levi-Strauss and Bourdieu. It has led to a contrast being made, especially perhaps in the Anglo-Saxon world, between French theory relying on rational inference, and British empiricism based on induction and generally skeptical of theory. While there are contrasts between the two traditions, this is essentially a false view. It is this aspect of French anthropology that this collection addresses, in the belief that the neglect of many of these figures outside France is seriously distorting our view of the French tradition of anthropology overall. At the same time, the collection will provide a positive view of the French tradition of ethnography, stressing its combination of technical competence and the sympathies of its practitioners for its various ethnographic subjects.

Belles Lettres compiles the original manuscripts of more than 100 famous French writers from the 13th to the 20th century, and in doing so offers a comprehensive look at the country's major literary and intellectual movements. Scholars and dilettantes alike will delight in the rationalism of René Descartes, symbolist verse of Charles Baudelaire, crystalline prose of Marcel Proust, romantic intrigue of Colette, and stark existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre. Because many of the manuscripts are rare, this volume--from the editors of Abrams' Brilliant Beginnings and Illustrated Letters--provides the first English translation of several of the works.

A Companion to Contemporary French Cinema presents acomprehensive collection of original essays addressing all aspectsof French cinema from 1990 to the present day. Features original contributions from top film scholarsrelating to all aspects of contemporary French cinema Includes new research on matters relating to thepolitical economy of contemporary French cinema, developments incinema policy, audience attendance, and the types, building, and renovation of theaters Utilizes groundbreaking research on cinema beyond the fiction film and the cinema-theater such as documentary, amateur, and digit.

The Dynamics of Gender in Early Modern France adds a new dimension to the field of early modern French literary and cultural studies by incorporating dynamic, shifting notions of gender and engaging with contemporary critical theory in an effort to gauge the specifics of textual conformity and resistance to norms. This book emphasizes the central importance of historical context and close reading from a feminist perspective, which it also interrogates as practice.

An exploration of how French culture during the reign of Louis XIV has had an enduring influence on modern traditions and style cites the French origins of such practices as haute cuisine, interior design, and the consumption of celebratory champagne.

Taking on the myth of France's creative exhaustion following World War II, this collection of essays brings together an international team of scholars, whose research offers English readers a rich and complex overview of the place of France and French artists in the visual arts since 1945.Addressing a wide range of artistic practices, spanning over seven decades, and using different methodologies, their contributions cover ground charted and unknown.

French Cycling: a Social and Cultural History aims to provide a balanced and detailed analytical survey of the complex leisure activity, sport, and industry that is cycling in France. Identifying key events, practices, stakeholders and institutions in the history of French cycling, the volume presents an interdisciplinary analysis of how cycling has been significant in French society and culture since the late nineteenth century. Based on a very wide range of primary and secondary sources, the volume aims to present in clear language an explanation of the varied significance of cycling in France over the last hundred years.

Why did the passion for food -- gastronomy -- originate in France? The key, it turns out, is France itself. In its climate, diversity of soils, abundant resources, and varied topography lie the roots of France's food fame. Pitte masterfully reveals the ways in which cultural phenomena surrounding food and eating in France relate to space and place.