Stardom in Postwar France

Published by Berghahn Books 2008

Stardom in Postwar France

Edited by: John Gaffney and Diana Holmes

Volume 12 in the series Polygons: Cultural Diversities and Intersections

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780857450098

Overview
Contents

About this book

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 / Editor information

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.

Diana Holmes is Professor of French at the University of Leeds. She is the author of many books and articles on women writers in 19th and (mainly) 20th century France, including Colette (1991), French Women’s Writing 1848-1996 (1998), Rachilde: Decadence, Gender and the Woman Writer (2001). In film studies, she has co-authored a book on the cinema of François Truffaut, and co-edits a major series on French Film Directors (Manchester University Press). She is currently at work on a study of female-authored romance in 20th century France, and working on gender in Hollywood and New Wave film in the 50s/60s.

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.

Reviews

“…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

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Introduction John Gaffney and Diana Holmes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Stardom in Theory and Context John Gaffney and Diana Holmes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	7
2. 1950s Popular Culture: Star-Gazing and Myth-Making with Roland Barthes and Edgar Morin Susan Weiner Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	26
3. ‘A Girl of Today’: Brigitte Bardot Diana Holmes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	40
4. Rock ’n’ Roll Stardom: Johnny Hallyday Chris Tinker Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	67
5. Stardom on Wheels: Raymond Poulidor Philip Dine Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	94
6. The Auteur as Star: Jean-Luc Godard Alison Smith Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	126
7. The Intellectual as Celebrity: Claude Lévi-Strauss Christopher Johnson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	152
8. ‘Starlette de la Littérature’: Françoise Sagan Heather Lloyd Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
9. The Only Act in Town: Charles de Gaulle John Gaffney Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	199
Conclusion John Gaffney and Diana Holmes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	219
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	223
Notes on Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	234
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	236

Language: English
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 248
Keywords: History: 20th Century to Present; Film and Television Studies; Cultural Studies (General)

eBook

Published: February 1, 2008
ISBN: 9780857450098