The Representation of Literary and Cultural Paris in Olympia Review (1961–1963)

Abstract

Between 1961 and 1963, Maurice Girodias’ Olympia Press published four issues of Olympia Magazine, an English-language magazine published from Paris. Largely left unstudied so far, this article argues that Olympia Magazine was representative of Girodias’ unique reconceptualization of Paris for an anglophone and largely foreign readership. Employing Bruno Latour’s notion of the cultural mediator and John Urry’s idea of the tourist gaze, the article argues that Olympia Magazine functioned as a travel guide though its selling of Paris to a foreign readership, but also significantly contributed to the global 1960s as a transnational, urban cultural movement.