Aesthetico-cultural Cosmopolitanism Research Articles

Aesthetico-Cultural Cosmopolitanism and French Youth: The Taste of the World, written by Vincenzo Cicchelli and Sylvie Octobre (2018)

Aesthetico-Cultural Cosmopolitanism and French Youth: The Taste of the World, written by Vincenzo Cicchelli and Sylvie Octobre (2018)

Aesthetico-Cultural Cosmopolitanism and French Youth: The Taste of the World by Vincenzo Cicchelli, and Sylvie Octobre

Reviewed by: Aesthetico-Cultural Cosmopolitanism and French Youth: The Taste of the World by Vincenzo Cicchelli, and Sylvie Octobre Virginie Ems-Bléneau Cicchelli, Vincenzo, and Sylvie Octobre. Aesthetico-Cultural Cosmopolitanism and French Youth: The Taste of the World. Palgrave Macmillan, 2018. ISBN 978-3-319-66310-4. Pp. 405. This sociological study of France's youth maps out the intricate correlation between patterns of cultural consumption and degrees of cosmopolitanism. In this context, aesthetico-cultural cosmopolitanism refers to the level of interest and awareness that French youth show regarding (inter)national aesthetic products (literature, film, music, news, architecture, etc.), and the manner in which these products impact their understanding, or imaginary, of the world. Through their analysis of both a large-scale quantitative survey and of qualitative interviews, the authors have identified five aesthetico-cultural profiles. The majority of French youth falls within one of three types of cosmopolitanism: inadvertent cosmopolitans (34%) indiscriminately consume a variety of foreign contents dubbed or translated into French; specific cosmopolitans (32%) on the other hand are more selective as they seek out particular contents of a [End Page 209] culture or genre; like inadvertent cosmopolitans, cosmopolitan fans (17%) consume an array of cultural products, but this group is more likely to do so in the original language. What distinguishes these three types of cosmopolitanism is therefore the individual's intent to consume, as well as their level of engagement with foreign cultural products. By contrast, a smaller number French youth voiced a strong rejection of international contents (the national fans, 11%), or a lack of taste for cultural materials in general (the impossible cosmopolitans, 6%). Interestingly, the survey reveals that familiarity compels appreciation, as young people usually voiced dislike toward things they did not know, and appreciation for things they did. Even though this book is a sociological study of French Youth, many of its findings will resonate in other societies and disciplines. Language educators for example will find it interesting that"the desire to learn a foreign language is overwhelmingly linked to the joy of discovery" (143), and not to utilitarian objectives such as finding a job or passing a class. The authors did observe however that when the consumption of cultural products in their original language "becomes too onerous, [it] conflict[s] with the pleasure expected out of the activity" (141) and brings one to lose interest. Although this survey finds that French youth greatly derive their knowledge and understanding of the world from cultural media, interviewees often expressed their concerns as to the accuracy of representation, with certain forms considered more realistic (television series), and other more artistic or escapist (independent films, plastic arts, music). The authors note that those who possess the greatest cultural resources tend to question the veracity of aestheticocultural contents and become more critical of products they see as "disingenuously serv[ing] the interests of global capitalism, [...] or because [they are] deemed insufficient and overly one-dimensional" (262). Finally, while many young people see aesthetico-cultural cosmopolitanism as a means to"transcend one's social and cultural horizons" (269), this unbridled multiplication of cultural models can foster tensions and divisions, especially for individuals with a weak sense of cultural identity. The danger lies in pushing these fragile individuals to retreat into the national, have psychological breakdowns, or reject all forms of otherness. Virginie Ems-Bléneau Georgia Southern University Copyright © 2019 American Association of Teachers of French

A tale of three cities: Aesthetico-cultural cosmopolitanism as a new capital among youth in Paris, São Paulo, and Seoul

This article adds to the literature on the consequences of cultural capital at the age of cultural globalization by analyzing the ways youth engage in globalized cultural consumption in three cities – Paris, São Paulo, and Seoul. Drawing on cosmopolitanism as an aesthetic and cultural stance of openness and on global cultural consumption as providing youth with cosmopolitan skills, we compare the uses of aesthetico-cultural cosmopolitanism in three contexts. We offer an original account of different uses of cosmopolitan cultural skills, which, to varying degrees in the three contexts, signal generational belonging, social distinction, educational and professional success, and personal eruditeness and fulfillment. Analysis of recent interviews with 80 youth in each city reveals distinct uses of aesthetico-cultural cosmopolitanism: as a vehicle for self-development (either empowerment or Bildung) in Paris, as a means for the cultivation of social capital for personal status in São Paulo, and as human capital serving for labor market entry and attainment in Seoul. Our findings accentuate that even with the prevalence of cultural globalization in global cities, the functions of cosmopolitan skills remain highly dependent on educational, institutional, cultural, and political contexts at the national level, which create different incentives and opportunities or barriers to experiencing otherness and developing new types of cultural capital.

Aesthetico-Cultural Cosmopolitanism Among French Young People: Beyond Social Stratification, The Role of Aspirations and Competences

Based on a French survey designed to understand how young people appropriate internationally disseminated cultural products, this article explores the social stratification of everyday aesthetico-cultural cosmopolitanism in France among them. Using two classification techniques (ascending hierarchical classification and k-means clustering) and a polytomic logistic regression, we demonstrate that this cosmopolitanism can be viewed along a continuum of configurations rather than in a number of pure types. We identify five configurations: inadvertent cosmopolitans, specific cosmopolitans, cosmopolitan fans, national fans and impossible cosmopolitans. These configurations are not uniformly distributed across society: socio-demographic factors do not have a single, unambiguous effect, but are in fact combined with individual resources (experiences, competences and aspirations).