France on display : peasants, provincials, and folklore in the 1937 Paris World's Fair / Shanny Peer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Peer, Shanny, 1960-

Series:

SUNY series in national identities

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

France--Civilization--1901-1945.

France.

Civilization.

Exposition internationale (1937 : Paris, France).

Exposition internationale.

National characteristics, French.

Folklore--France.

Folklore.

Regionalism--France.

Regionalism.

France--Cultural policy.

Cultural policy.

Exhibitions.

Physical Description:

xiv, 265 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, [1998]

Summary:

The 1937 Paris World's Fair presented a traditionalist image of France as a rural, provincial country, faithful to its folk traditions and to its Old World heritage. France's attachment, well into the twentieth century, to its traditionalist roots has often been interpreted by scholars as a reactionary impulse, a desire to resist modernization or a wish to return to the past. However, in this book Peer argues that this enduring attachment in Third Republic France to peasants, provincials, and folklore was not inherently reactionary or anti-modernist. Instead, these aspects of France's "traditional" heritage were refashioned in new ways to allow France to modernize while still retaining its distinctive identity.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Shaping the Exposition 21

Chapter 2 Unity in Diversity: The French Regions 53

Chapter 3 Peasants in Paris: Images of Rural Society 99

Chapter 4 Folklore and the Reinvention of Tradition 135

Conclusion: France in the World of Tomorrow 167.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 235-254) and index.

ISBN:

0791437094

0791437108

OCLC:

37432791