Fragmented France: Cultures and Identities in Transition

Learning Outcomes

This option will examine the relationship between French identity and culture since 1981 with the elections of François Mitterrand by exploring the ways in which identities of different social groups are expressed within the economic, political and cultural contexts of contemporary France. The beginning of the 1980s witnessed the emergence of a cultural debate about what it means to be French. Indeed much of the period was characterised by the ‘crisis of French identity’ as intellectuals and the political classes attempted to make sense of French identity in the light of challenges posed by broader global forces such as immigration, feminism, European integration and globalisation. France entered the new millennium with a reframing of the cultural identity debate in nationalistic and political terms. The course proposes to examine the construction of Frenchness through the debates redefining traditional key cultural markers of French identity in the context of increased fragmentation and recomposition. The introductory lectures will familiarize students with various theoretical approaches to the study of both culture and identity. Students will then examine the economic, political, social and cultural frameworks for thinking about the question of what it means to be French today. Seminars and case studies will explore themes such as language, education, sport, popular culture, heritage and museums, memory and the past, food and wine, family and ethnicity. You will be encouraged to think critically and independently about how French cultural identity is conceptualised and how its future has been debated in response to both Europeanisation and globalisation.

Teaching methods include - Weekly lectures and seminars. - A set of weekly questions to guide you in your reading. - Discussions arising from student-led seminars with the convenor acting as a guide and learning facilitator. - Informal feedback from the convenor and students on oral presentations. Learning activities include - Directed and undirected reading in both English and French. - Preparation of cogent and well-founded arguments for oral presentations and group discussions. - Reviewing other students’ presentations. - The research and completion of written assignments.