Post-War French Popular Music: Cultural Identity and the Brel-Brassens-Ferré Myth

Post-War French Popular Music: Cultural Identity and the Brel-Brassens-Ferré Myth PDF Author: Adeline Cordier
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317077148
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 188

Get Book

Book Description
Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens and Léo Ferré are three emblematic figures of post-war French popular music who have been constantly associated with each other by the public and the media. They have been described as the epitome of chanson, and of 'Frenchness'. But there is more to the trio than a musical trinity: this new study examines the factors of cultural and national identity that have held together the myth of the trio since its creation. This book identifies the combination of cultural and historical circumstances from which the works of these three singers emerged. It presents an innovative analysis of the correlation between this iconic trio and the evolution of national myths that nurtured the cultural aspirations of post-war French society. It explores the ways in which Brel, Brassens and Ferré embody the myth of the left-wing intellectual and of the authentic 'Gaul' spirit, and it discusses the ambiguous attitude of post-war French society towards gender relations. The book takes an original look at the trio by demonstrating how it illustrates the popular representation of a key issue of French national identity: the paradoxical aspiration to both revolution and the maintenance of the status quo.

Post-War French Popular Music: Cultural Identity and the Brel-Brassens-Ferré Myth

Post-War French Popular Music: Cultural Identity and the Brel-Brassens-Ferré Myth PDF Author: Adeline Cordier
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317077148
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 188

Get Book

Book Description
Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens and Léo Ferré are three emblematic figures of post-war French popular music who have been constantly associated with each other by the public and the media. They have been described as the epitome of chanson, and of 'Frenchness'. But there is more to the trio than a musical trinity: this new study examines the factors of cultural and national identity that have held together the myth of the trio since its creation. This book identifies the combination of cultural and historical circumstances from which the works of these three singers emerged. It presents an innovative analysis of the correlation between this iconic trio and the evolution of national myths that nurtured the cultural aspirations of post-war French society. It explores the ways in which Brel, Brassens and Ferré embody the myth of the left-wing intellectual and of the authentic 'Gaul' spirit, and it discusses the ambiguous attitude of post-war French society towards gender relations. The book takes an original look at the trio by demonstrating how it illustrates the popular representation of a key issue of French national identity: the paradoxical aspiration to both revolution and the maintenance of the status quo.

From the chanson française to the canzone d'autore in the 1960s and 1970s

From the chanson française to the canzone d'autore in the 1960s and 1970s PDF Author: Rachel Haworth
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317131673
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 222

Get Book

Book Description
The similarities between the chanson française and the canzone d'autore have been often noted but never fully explored. Both genres are national forms which involve the figure of the singer-songwriter, both experienced their golden age of production in the post-World War II period and both are enduringly popular, still accounting for a large proportion of record sales in their respective countries. Rachel Haworth looks beyond these superficial similarities, and investigates the nature of the relationship between the two genres. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, encompassing textual analysis of song lyrics, cultural history and popular music studies, Haworth considers the different ways in which French and Italian song is thought about, written about and constructed. Through an in-depth study of the discourse surrounding chanson and the canzone d'autore, the volume analyses the development of the genres' rules and rhetoric, identifying the key themes of Authority, Authenticity and Influence. The book finally considers the legacy of major artists, looking at modern perspectives on Georges Brassens, Jacques Brel, Léo Ferré, Fabrizio De André and Giorgio Gaber, ultimately affording a deeper understanding of the notions of quality and value in the context of chanson française and the canzone d'autore.

Engagement in 21st Century French and Francophone Culture

Engagement in 21st Century French and Francophone Culture PDF Author: Helena Chadderton
Publisher: University of Wales Press
ISBN: 1786831198
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 248

Get Book

Book Description
In the face of the contested legacy of engagement in the Francophone context, this interdisciplinary collection demonstrates that French and Francophone writers, artists, intellectuals and film-makers are using their work to confront unforeseen and unprecedented challenges, campaigns and causes in a politically uncertain post-9/11 world. Composed of eleven essays and a contextualising introduction, this volume is interdisciplinary in its treatment of engagement in a variety of forms, as it reassesses the relationship between different types of cultural production and society as it is played out in the twenty-first century. With a focus on both the development of different cultural forms (Part 1) and on the particular crises that have attracted the attention of cultural practitioners (Part 2), this volume maps and analyses some of the ways in which cultural texts of all kinds are being used to respond to, engage with and challenge crises in the contemporary Francophone world.

The Mediating of Chanson

The Mediating of Chanson PDF Author: Adeline Cordier
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : National characteristics
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book

Book Description
Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens and L?o Ferr? are three emblematic figures of post-war French song, who have been seen by critics, journalists, and the public, as the epitome of chanson, and more generally of?Frenchness?. The starting point of this study is the observation that the legacy of the systematic association of Brel, Brassens, and Ferr?? crystallised in Cristiani?s 1969 interview and in Jean-Pierre Leloir?s photograph of the interview? has enjoyed a prosperity which seems disproportionate to the actual relevance of the comparison between the three artists. In 1969, the three singers were significant figures of French song, but they were not the only ones. Bringing them together was therefore a promise of media success, but it was in no way expected to start a legend; and yet, the myth of the interview has today taken over its reality, to the extent that the Com?die Fran?aise is presently, almost thirty years later, turning it into a play which was staged in May 2008. The photograph of the three singers smoking and drinking around a table is, today, and for a vast majority of people, the only thing that they know about the famous interview, if not about the singers. The lack of obvious grounds to justify the exclusivity of the trio suggests that there is more to it than a musical trinity. By taking into consideration the oral dimension of song, the socio-cultural context in which the trio emerged, and the mediation of their celebrity, this study aims to identify the factors of cultural and national identity that have held together the myth of the trio since its creation. Besides shedding new light on the significance of the three artists individually, this study proposes to demonstrate that each singer embodies qualities with which the French people likes to be associated, and that the trio Brel-Brassens-Ferr? can therefore be seen as an arbitrary sketch of a certain?Frenchness?. In particular, this thesis focuses on the trio illustrating the popular representation of a key issue of French national identity: the paradoxical aspiration to both revolution and the status quo. By taking the cultural icon?Brel-Brassens-Ferr?? as a case study through which to address questions of popular and national identity, this study contributes to cultural studies in two different ways. Firstly, through theorising the implications of the oral dimension of songs, it demonstrates the necessity of taking into consideration factors such as performance, the media, and the socio-historical context, when studying artists as societal phenomena. Secondly, it evidences the importance of the study of forms of popular culture, such as iconic singers or music, when investigating the ways in which a society perceives its own national identity.

Modern France

Modern France PDF Author: Michael F. Leruth
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1440855498
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 540

Get Book

Book Description
This volume offers perspective on modern French society and culture through thematic chapters on topics ranging from geography to popular culture. Ideal for students and general readers, this book includes insightful, current information about France's past, present, and future. France is the country most visited by international tourists. Aside from clichéd images of baguettes and the Eiffel Tower, however, what is French society and culture really like? Modern France is organized into thematic chapters covering the full range of French history and contemporary daily life. Chapter topics include: geography; history; government and politics; economy; religion and thought; social classes and ethnicity; gender, marriage, and sexuality; education; language; etiquette; literature and drama; art and architecture; music and dance; food; leisure and sports; and media and popular culture. Each chapter contains an overview of the topic and alphabetized entries on examples of each theme. A detailed historical timeline covers prehistoric times to the presidency of Emmanuel Macron. Special appendices offer profiles of a typical day in the life of representative members of French society, a glossary, key facts and figures about France, and a holiday chart. The volume will be useful for readers looking for specific topical information and for those who want to develop an informed perspective on aspects of modern France.

The Singer-Songwriter in Europe

The Singer-Songwriter in Europe PDF Author: Isabelle Marc
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 131701605X
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Get Book

Book Description
The Singer-Songwriter in Europe is the first book to explore and compare the multifaceted discourses and practices of this figure within and across linguistic spaces in Europe and in dialogue with spaces beyond continental borders. The concept of the singer-songwriter is significant and much-debated for a variety of reasons. Many such musicians possess large and zealous followings, their output often esteemed politically and usually held up as the nearest popular music gets to high art, such facets often yielding sizeable economic benefits. Yet this figure, per se, has been the object of scant critical discussion, with individual practitioners celebrated for their isolated achievements instead. In response to this lack of critical knowledge, this volume identifies and interrogates the musical, linguistic, social and ideological elements that configure the singer-songwriter and its various equivalents in Europe, such as the French auteur-compositeur-interprète and the Italian cantautore, since the late 1940s. Particular attention is paid to the emergence of this figure in the post-war period, how and why its contours have changed over time and space subsequently, cross-cultural influences, and the transformative agency of this figure as regards party and identity politics in lyrics and music, often by means of individual case studies. The book's polycentric approach endeavours to redress the hitherto Anglophone bias in scholarship on the singer-songwriter in the English-speaking world, drawing on the knowledge of scholars from across Europe and from a variety of academic disciplines, including modern language studies, musicology, sociology, literary studies and history.

Sound Alignments

Sound Alignments PDF Author: Michael K. Bourdaghs
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 1478013141
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 196

Get Book

Book Description
In Sound Alignments, a transnational group of scholars explores the myriad forms of popular music that circulated across Asia during the Cold War. Challenging the conventional alignments and periodizations of Western cultural histories of the Cold War, they trace the routes of popular music, examining how it took on new meanings and significance as it traveled across Asia, from India to Indonesia, Hong Kong to South Korea, China to Japan. From studies of how popular musical styles from the Americas and Europe were adapted to meet local exigencies to how socialist-bloc and nonaligned Cold War organizations facilitated the circulation of popular music throughout the region, the contributors outline how music forged and challenged alliances, revolutions, and countercultures. They also show how the Cold War's legacy shapes contemporary culture, particularly in the ways 1990s and 2000s J-pop and K-pop are rooted in American attempts to foster economic exchange in East Asia in the 1960s.Throughout, Sound Alignments demonstrates that the experiences of the Cold War in Asia were as diverse and dynamic as the music heard and performed in it. Contributors. Marié Abe, Michael K. Bourdaghs, Paola Iovene, Nisha Kommattam, Jennifer Lindsay, Kaley Mason, Anna Schultz, Hyunjoon Shin, C. J. W.-L. Wee, Hon-Lun (Helan) Yang, Christine R. Yano, Qian Zhang

Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Volume 11

Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Volume 11 PDF Author: David Horn
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1501326104
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 937

Get Book

Book Description
See:

Édith Piaf

Édith Piaf PDF Author: David Looseley
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
ISBN: 1781384258
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 264

Get Book

Book Description
The world-famous French singer Édith Piaf (1915-63) was never just a singer. This book suggests new ways of understanding her, her myth and her meanings over time at home and abroad, by proposing the notion of an ‘imagined’ Piaf.

Sounds French

Sounds French PDF Author: Jonathyne Briggs
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199377065
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 249

Get Book

Book Description
'Sounds French' reveals how French society mediated the challenges of globalization through the consumption and production of popular music, itself increasingly an expression of globalized culture. As recorded music became more commonplace and crossed national boundaries in the second half of the twentieth century, French musicians and their audiences articulated new types of communal identities around popular music genres that reflected the impact of social, political, economic, and cultural transformations after the 1950s.