This book is the first to offer a cultural history of French
literature from its very beginnings, analysing the relationship
between French literature and France's evolving power
structures from the Middle Ages through to the present day. It
shows the political connections between the elite literature of
France and other aspects of its culture, from racism, misogyny,
tolerance and liberal reform to song, street performance,
advertising and cinema. The nation's literature contributed
to these and was shaped by them.
The book highlights the continuities and the unique fault-lines in
the society that, over a millennium, has produced 'French
culture'. It looks at France's early and continuing
struggle for a national identity through both its language and its
literature, and it shows that this struggle co-exists with openness
to other cultures and a bawdy or subtle rebelliousness against the
Church and other forms of authority. En route it takes in cuisine,
gardens and the French tradition in mathematics. The survey
provides an accessible approach to key issues in the history of
French culture as well as a wide context for specialists.
