Nottingham French Studies Special Issues – serie

As part of the recent turn towards visual culture in French studies, photography has begun to receive increased attention from scholars in the field. This volume of eight orignial essays and an interview with the Director of one of France's leading photographic institutions (the Maison européenne de la photographie) provides a broad and inclusive account of the multiple manifestations of photography in contemporary French and francophone societies and cultures. Broad topics such as the cultural institutionalisation of photography, its connections to post-conceptual art, the tradtion of tableau, city photography, photography and cultural identity, and photobiography are considered. Reflecting a diverse array of  scholarly approaches and methodologies, the volume will appeal to visual culture specialists in French studies and cognate disciplines. It brings together art historical, socio-cultural, political, postcolonial and literary perspectives on the medium, spanning trends and developments from the 1970s to the present day.Key FeaturesA wide-ranging treatment of the multi-faceted reality of photography in French and francophone contextsAddresses individual photographers and writers (including Bruno Boudjelal, Stéphane Couturier, Raymond Depardon, Valerie Jouve and Roland Barthes, Sophie Calle, J.M.G. Le Clézio, Annie Ernaux, Hervé Guibert, Denis Roche)Includes an original interview iwht Jean-Luc Monterosso, Director of the Maison européenne de la photographie, ParisIncludes 15 colour and black/white illustrations

In a provocative 1985 cover story featuring the face of Marianne obscured by an Islamic veil, Le Figaro Magazine asked: "Serons-nous encore français dans trente ans?". With those thirty years now spanned, where does France stand in relation to the fears, challenges and opportunities associated with changing perceptions of ethnic and cultural diversity within and beyond the nation’s borders? Is the France of 2015 still French in the same way or to the same degree as the France of 1985? Where do the most significant challenges to "Frenchness" now lie? In Islamism? In the "banlieues"? In European integration? In American hegemony? Is "Frenchness" itself, championed by political elites under the banner of "l’exception culturelle", an outmoded concept, destined to wither in the face of transnational forces? These are among the issues addressed by contributors to this volume, spanning a wide range of topics and disciplinary approaches including politics, literature, film and sport.

The invited contributions will reflect the disciplinary scope of UK-based research in the field of Francophone Canadian Studies as well as highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of much of this research. While many of the contributions focus on contemporary issues and contemporary culture, there is also an awareness of the historical development of francophone culture in Canada and the distinctive demographic, political and linguistic factors which continue to shape it.

Explores the entwinement of early modern text, knowledge and wonder, and their connections in FranceA triple nexus of text, knowledge, and wonder permeated much literary, learned, and ceremonial culture in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century France. There were endless variations on the combination, often with two of the three elements predominating. This volume tracks some of those variations as they appeared in collections of natural wonders, pedagogical situations, a family, an alchemical romance, a carnival festivity, a learned society, and poetry.Key FeaturesContent written in English and French.The contributors to this volume are leading specialists in early modern French studies, from France and the UK.Considers the development of natural wonders, monsters and mythical animals, alchemical symbols and concepts of friendship and rivalry.