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

Abstract

Reviews 281 compromise destined to become an encore of the divided Third Republic, blamed by many for the debacle of 1940.After leading the provisional government (1944–46), de Gaulle withdrew into the political wilderness to contemplate his next move but would have to wait until 1958, when his nation, embroiled in a bitter civil war in Algeria, once again called upon l’homme providentiel to assume the reins of government. De Gaulle created a new constitution ideally suited for his own leadership style, one that even the Socialist Mitterrand, author of the highly critical book Le coup d’état permanent, effortlessly would mold to his own persona, just like every other president ever since. In Bouchet’s work, de Gaulle emerges as the father of modern France, as the single most significant Frenchman of the twentieth century, his reputation largely unscathed, thanks as much to the solidity of the institutions he created as to the lessthan -providential nature of his six successors, who have been unable to resolve the problems that have plagued France ever since the end of the Trente Glorieuses: massive unemployment, growing social inequality, and loss of economic clout and stature in the concert of nations. De Gaulle had what he fondly called “une certaine idée de la France,” a nation of modest grandeur, which appears much diminished today. This work is highly persuasive, never prone to oversimplification, admirably neutral politically speaking, and well argued throughout; and, what is more, it is a pleasure to read. As such it is eminently suitable for the classroom and will be much appreciated by students everywhere. St. Norbert College (WI) Tom Conner Cordier, Adeline. Post-War French Popular Music: Cultural Identity and the BrelBrassens -Ferré Myth. Farnham: Ashgate, 2014. ISBN 978-1-4094-2606-6. Pp. 188.£60. The chanson trio of Brel, Brassens, and Ferré has long been considered representative of French postwar authenticity and cultural identity. Cordier’s fascinating book explores the origins and popularity of the artists who, despite no personal or professional collaboration (save one well-publicized radio interview), symbolize the “trinity of chanson” (2) in the collective memory and, as such, represent the cultural climate and attitudes of 1950s and 1960s France. Through a methodical analysis of the media profiles of these “reluctant celebrities” (66), Cordier depicts the trio of twentieth-century troubadours as symbolizing a “manufactured representation of Frenchness”(21). Cordier examines“Frenchness”through a historical and theoretical lens, describing a culture of conflict between revolt and authority (exemplified by Rioux and Sirinelli), where the paradox between a desire for modernity and a return to the status quo characterized the“collective French identity”(87) of the postwar era. Cordier asserts that the singers’ stylistic differences were actually complementary and formed “three poles that provide a triangle within which Frenchness can be defined” (69). Cordier applies Barthes’s theory of myth to explain the success of the media image (both Leloir’s iconic photo from the radio interview, one still found on postcards , and the interview itself) in reinforcing the trio’s public persona as representative of authenticity, left-wing intellectual revolt, and poetry. Cordier explores each aspect— authenticity, revolt, and poetry—in detail. By comparing the singers’individual songs, she establishes their commonality as a trio within the context of their status as myth representing a French cultural heritage shared with their listeners. The lyrics’common themes—war, death, nostalgia, love—include cultural touchstones, involving the listeners in the narrative. Reinforcing the idea that these artists’ work represents the postwar era, Cordier also discusses their oft-mentioned misogyny, since the gender climate at that time indicates a“tacit acceptance of sexism in postwar French society” (123). Cordier insists upon the authenticity and mass appeal of these auteurs of chanson, who resisted the influence of Anglophone rock and French yéyé during the 1950s and 1960s. Privileging their lyrics over the musicality or danceability of their songs, they wrote and performed their music (with a passion and physicality that connected them viscerally to their fans), and bridged the gap between Bourdieu’s high and low culture and between oral and written genres (134). The artists reached a mostly Francophone audience and rendered poets...