Keith Reader

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the work of Robert Bresson, one of the most respected and acclaimed directors in the history of cinema. Bresson's unique use of "models" (he refuses the term "actors"), his sparse and elliptical editing style, his rejection of conventional psychological realism make his work all but unique and instantly recognizable. This is the first monograph on his work to appear in English for many years, and deals with his thirteen feature-length films and his short treatise "Notes on Cinematography."

Robert Bresson

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the work of Robert Bresson, one of the most respected and acclaimed directors in the history of cinema. Bresson's unique use of “models” (he refuses the term “actors”), his sparse and elliptical editing style, his rejection of conventional psychological realism make his work all but unique and instantly recognizable. This is the first monograph on his work to appear in English for many years, and deals with his thirteen feature-length films and his short treatise “Notes on Cinematography.”

Rachel Edwards

The 1933 killing by the Papin sisters of their mistress and her daughter was an act of unexampled violence by women against women, whose repercussions have been felt in French culture ever since. It received wide journalistic coverage at the time, and subsequently prominent literary figures such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Genet have dealt with the case, which has also formed the basis of a stage play (by Wendy Kesselmann) and films by Nico Papatakis, Nancy Meckler and Claude Chabrol. The case casts fascinating light on French provincial life between the wars, the role of women (especially unmarried ones) in French society, and French views of the criminal outsider. Its impact on psychoanalytic discourse, through the work first of Jacques Lacan, then of Francis Dupré and Marie-Magdeleine Lessana, has also been considerable, notably in its contribution to the development of the key notion of the mirror-phase. The almost obsessive recurrence of the case makes of it a fascinating prism through which to examine multiple aspects of recent French culture.

The Papin Sisters

The 1933 killing by the Papin sisters of their mistress and her daughter was an act of unexampled violence by women against women, whose repercussions have been felt in French culture ever since. It received wide journalistic coverage at the time, and subsequently prominent literary figures such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Genet have dealt with the case, which has also formed the basis of a stage play (by Wendy Kesselmann) and films by Nico Papatakis, Nancy Meckler and Claude Chabrol. The case casts fascinating light on French provincial life between the wars, the role of women (especially unmarried ones) in French society, and French views of the criminal outsider. Its impact on psychoanalytic discourse, through the work first of Jacques Lacan, then of Francis Dupre and Marie-Magdeleine Lessana, has also been considerable, notably in its contribution to the development of the key notion of the mirror-phase. The almost obsessive recurrence of the case makes of it a fascinating prism through which to examine multiple aspects of recent French culture.

Alex Hughes

An international team of scholars contribute over 700 entries on contemporary French culture that range from Art, Gender, Politics and Literature to Media and the Economy. It is a vital companion for anyone interested in the culture of modern France.

Encyclopedia of Contemporary French Culture

This book addresses representations and constructions of masculinity in crisis in contemporary French culture by way of two important concepts – the phallus (largely but not solely in (a) Lacanian sense(s)) and abjection (Kristeva). Scrutiny of these concepts informs readings of a number of texts – literary (Bataille, Adamov, Doubrovsky, Houellebecq, Rochefort, Angot) and cinematic (Ferreri, Eustache, Godard, Noé, Bonello) – in which the abject phallus is a significant factor. The texts chosen all describe or stage crises of masculinity and mastery in ways that suggest that these supposedly beneficent qualities – and the phallus that symbolizes them – can often be perceived as burdensome or even detestable. Abjection is a widely-used concept in contemporary cultural studies, but has not hitherto been articulated with the phallus as emblem of male dominance as it is here. The volume will be of interest to those working in the areas of French, gender and film studies.

Avatars of the Phallus in Contemporary French Theory, Literature and Film

The Abject Object

Keith A Reader

Alexandra Hughes

More than 700 alphabetically organized entries by an international team of contributors provide a fascinating survey of French culture post 1945. Entries include: * advertising * Beur cinema * Coco Chanel * decolonization * écriture feminine * football * francophone press * gay activism * Seuil * youth culture Entries range from short factual/biographical pieces to longer overview articles. All are extensively cross-referenced and longer entries are 'facts-fronted' so important information is clear at a glance. It includes a thematic contents list, extensive index and suggestions for further reading. The Encyclopedia will provide hours of enjoyable browsing for all francophiles, and essential cultural context for students of French, Modern History, Comparative European Studies and Cultural Studies.

Epicentre of the Revolution of 1789, erstwhile bastion of the skilled working-class and centre of radical agitation, along with Pigalle and Montmartre a focus for popular and raffish night-life in the early twentieth century, the Bastille area of Eastern Paris (also known as the Faubourg Saint-Antoine) is now an ethnically and socially mixed quartier which still bears the traces of its previous avatars. In a fascinating tour, Keith Reader charts the history and cultural geography of this unique area of Paris, from the fortress and prison that gave the area its name to the building of the largest and costliest opera house in the world.

The Story of a Quartier

The Place de la Bastille

From the bustling Marché d’Aligre market to the comparatively new Opéra Bastille, the Place de la Bastille is among the Paris’s most richly protean areas. Also known as the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, the Bastille quarter has long been a bastion of working-class solidarity and a regular site of political agitation—such as the infamous storming of the Bastille. Home to a popular and sometimes raffish nightlife scene in the early twentieth century, it now serves an ethnically and socially mixed community while bearing many traces of its vibrant past. From the earliest days to the present, Keith Reader offers here a fascinating look at the rich historical and cultural geography of the Place de la Bastille. For readers keen to explore this remarkable area firsthand, the book also includes a map and walking tour.

A cultural history of one of Paris's most fascinating and variegated areas, whose history can be summarized as 'from riches to rags and back again.' From beating heart of fashionable Paris in the Middle Ages to run-down, largely Jewish neighbourhood and post-restoration chic gay habitat, the Marais has probably undergone more major changes in its identity than any other Paris quartier.

The Marais

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the work of Robert Bresson, one of the most respected and acclaimed directors in the history of cinema.. The first monograph on his work to appear in English for many years dealing not only with his thirteen feature-length films but also his little-seen early short Affaires publiques and his short treatise Notes on cinematography.. The films are considered in chronological order, using a perspective that draws variously on spectator theory, Catholic mysticism, gender theory and Lacanian psychoanalysis.. The major critical responses to his work, from the adulatory to the dismissive, are summarized and analyzed.. The work includes a full filmography and a critical bibliography.

Keith Reader

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