Radio and the Politics of Sound in Interwar France, 1921-1939 PDF
Preview Radio and the Politics of Sound in Interwar France, 1921-1939
Radio and the Politics of Sound in Interwar France, 1921–1939 InDecember1921,Francebroadcastitsfirstpublicradioprogramfrom a transmitter on the Eiffel Tower. In the decade that followed, radio evolvedintoamassmediacapableofreachingmillions.Crowdsflocked to loudspeakers on city streets to listen to propaganda, children clus- teredaroundclassroomradios,andfamiliestunedinfromtheirliving rooms. Radio and the Politics of Sound in Interwar France examines the impactofthisemergingauditorycultureonFrenchsocietyandpolitics, revealinghowbroadcastingbecameanewplatformforpoliticalengage- ment, transforming the act of listening into an important, if highly contested,practiceofcitizenship.Rejectingmodelsofbroadcastingas a weaponof totalitarian regimes or a tool for forging democracy from above,thebookoffersamorenuancedpictureofthepoliticsofradioby uncoveringthecompetinginterpretationsoflisteninganddiverseusesof broadcastsoundthatflourishedbetweentheworldwars. rebecca p. scales is an assistant professor in the Department of HistoryattheRochesterInstituteofTechnology. CambridgeSocialandCulturalHistories Serieseditors: MargotC.Finn,UniversityCollegeLondon ColinJones,QueenMary,UniversityofLondon RobertG.Moeller,UniversityofCalifornia,Irvine CambridgeSocialandCulturalHistoriespublishesworksoforiginalscholarship thatlieattheinterfacebetweenculturalandsocialhistory.Titlesintheseriesboth articulate a clear methodological and theoretical orientation and demonstrate clearly the significance of that orientation for interpreting relevant historical sources. The series seeks to address historical questions, issues or phenomena which – although they may be located in a specific nation, state or polity – are framedsoastoberelevantandmethodologicallyinnovativetospecialistsofother fieldsofhistoricalanalysis. Alistoftitlesintheseriescanbefoundat: www.cambridge.org/socialculturalhistories Radio and the Politics of Sound – in Interwar France, 1921 1939 Rebecca P. Scales UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge. ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof education,learningandresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence. www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107108677 ©RebeccaP.Scales2016 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2016 PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyClays,StIvesplc AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata Scales,Rebecca,1976– RadioandthepoliticsofsoundininterwarFrance,1921–1939/ RebeccaScales. Cambridge,UnitedKingdom:CambridgeUniversityPress,2016. |Series:Cambridgesocialandculturalhistories|Includes bibliographicalreferencesandindes. LCCN2015039572|ISBN9781107108677(hardback) LCSH:Radiobroadcasting–Politicalaspects–France–History–20th century.|Radiobroadcasting–Socialaspects–France–History–20th century.|Sound–Politicalaspects–France–History–20thcentury.|Sound– Socialaspects–France–History–20thcentury.|Massmedia–Political aspects–France–History–20thcentury.|Massmedia–Social aspects–France–History–20thcentury.|Politicsandculture– France–History–20thcentury.|France–Politicsandgovernment– 1914–1940.|France–Sociallifeandcustoms–20thcentury. |BISAC:HISTORY/Europe/General. LCCHE8697.85.F8S342016|DDC384.540944/09042–dc23 LCrecordavailableathttp://lccn.loc.gov/2015039572 ISBN978-1-107-10867-7Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof URLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication, anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain, accurateorappropriate. Contents Listofillustrations pagevi Acknowledgments vii Introduction 1 1 Radiobroadcastingandthesoundscapeofinterwarlife 21 2 Disabledveterans,radiocitizenship,andthepoliticsof nationalrecovery 64 3 Cosmopolitanismandcacophony:static,signals,andthe makingofa“radionation” 111 4 Learningbyear:schoolradio,partisanpolitics,andthe pedagogyoflistening 158 5 Dangerousairwaves:propaganda,surveillance,andthe politicsoflisteninginFrenchcolonialAlgeria 207 Conclusion.Paris-Mondial:globalizingthevoiceof France 258 Bibliography 269 Index 291 v Illustrations 1.1 “TheoldestradiostationinFrance,”Jesaistout(1923). ImagecourtesyoftheBibliothèqueNationaledeFrance. page28 1.2 AdvertisementforCréationRadiomuse,Radio-Magazine (1926).ImagecourtesyoftheBibliothèqueNationalede France. 42 2.1 RadiofortheBlindpostagestamp(1938).©JulesPiel/La Poste 77 2.2 Blindhospitalpatientlisteningtotheradio,Annuairedela radiodiffusionnationale(1933).Imagecourtesyofthe BibliothèqueNationaledeFrance. 80 2.3 Schemasforconvertingradiosintohearingaids,LaNature (1932).ImagecourtesyoftheBibliothèqueNationalede France. 101 3.1 “AsinglemaneuverwiththeSFERRadiola20,”Radio- Magazine(1926).ImagecourtesyoftheBibliothèque NationaledeFrance. 119 3.2 “Map”oftheradiodial,Monprogramme(1932).Image courtesyoftheBibliothèqueNationaledeFrance. 120 3.3 MapofEuropemarkedwiththeprincipalradiostations, Radio-Magazine(1930).ImagecourtesyoftheBibliothèque NationaledeFrance. 122 3.4 Post-LucerneConference“map”oftheradiodial,Mon programme(1934).ImagecourtesyoftheBibliothèque NationaledeFrance. 146 4.1 StudentsinSaint-Ouenlisteningtoradioscolairebroadcasts, Manuelgénéraldel’instructionprimaire(1937).Imagecourtesy oftheBibliothèqueNationaledeFrance. 191 5.1 “Jeannot,”Magazine(1936).ImagecourtesyoftheArchives Nationalesd’Outre-Mer. 223 5.2 “El-MoutribiaOrchestra,”Alger-RadioMagazine(1936). ImagecourtesyoftheArchivesNationalesd’Outre-Mer. 227 vi Acknowledgments Although writing is very much a solitary endeavor, many institutions, organizations,andindividualscontributedtothelaborcontainedwithin the covers of this book. Grants and fellowships from the Social Science Research Council, the Embassy of France in the United States, the American Philosophical Society, and the Western Society for French History supported multiple years of archival research in France. A Paul and Francena Miller Fellowship from the College of Liberal Arts at the Rochester Institute of Technology provided me with critical teaching release time to complete a final draft of the manuscript. Archivists and staff at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the Centre des Archives Nationales, the Centre des Archives d’Outre-Mer in Aix-en-Provence, theServiceHistoriquedelaDéfense,andtheParisPréfecturedePolice provided invaluable assistance in tracking down sources and making reproductions. I would also like to thank the editors of the Cambridge SocialandCulturalHistorySeries,andparticularlyColinJones,fortheir supportofthisbook,aswellasElizabethFriend-Smith,RebeccaTaylor, andAmandaGeorgeatCambridgeUniversityPressforshepherdingthe manuscript through each stage of the review and production process. Earlier versions of Chapters 2 and 5 appeared in French Historical Studies, 31, 4 (2008), Comparative Studies in Society and History, 52, 2(2010),andMediaHistory(2013).Ithanktheeditorsofthesejournals forallowingmetoreprintthesematerialshere. During my academic career, I have had the privilege of working with manytalentedhistorianswhoseinfluencecontinuestoshapemythinking. At the University of Georgia, where I began graduate school, Joshua Cole’s inspired teaching and intellectual generosity first compelled me to think seriously about becoming an historian. I am reminded of his courseseverytimeIsitdowntoprepareanassignmentordraftasyllabus, andIhopetopassontomystudentsevenafewofthelessonsIlearned from him about critical textual analysis. Many of the ideas in this book grew out of Michael Adas’s comparative history seminars at Rutgers University, where our conversations about the global circulation of vii viii Acknowledgments technologies, ideas, and people challenged many of my preconceptions aboutEuropeanhistory.Inverydifferentways,MattMatsudaandJoan Scott each taught me a great deal about writing, the performance of teaching, and the immense pleasure to be derived from intellectual labor.BonnieSmithhaschampionedthisbookfromitsinception,always encouragingmetothinkbetterandwritefaster.Herrelentlesscheerful- ness, indefatigable work ethic, and consummate professionalism con- tinue to inspire me. I am so fortunate to have been her student, and I cannotthankherandDonKelleyenoughfortheircontinuedsupportof my career, as well as for many wonderful dinners on both sides of the Atlantic. This book has also benefited from the transformative insights of a number of colleagues, including Caroline Campbell, Jeffrey Jackson, Catherine Kudlick, and Rosemary Wakeman, all of whom commented onearlierportionsofthemanuscriptorthebookproposal.KeithWailoo andthemembersofhismedicalhistoryresearchgroupatRutgers–Greg Swedburg, Julie Livingston, Richard Mizelle, Marc Matera, Michal Shapira, and Melissa Stein – also provided invaluable suggestions for revisions to early chapter drafts. Conversations with colleagues at the annual meetings of the Society for French Historical Studies, the FrenchColonialHistoricalSociety,andtheWesternSocietyforFrench History deepened my analysis and refined my arguments. Jennifer Sessionsdeservesspecialthanksforreadingmultipleversionsoftheentire manuscript, from its earliest iteration through the final revisions. I am gratefulforherincisivequestionsandherwillingnesstoengageinlengthy conversations about a research topic so different from her own. I never wouldhavecompletedtheresearchforthisbookwithoutthesupportof TeresaDelcorso,whoseguidanceinwritinggrantproposalsmadeevery trip to France possible. Her friendship and professional guidance con- tinue to sustain me. Finally, I thank my colleagues in the History Department at the Rochester Institute of Technology for providing a welcomingenvironmentinwhichtobeginmyteachingcareerandfinish thisbook. In New York, Washington, DC, and Paris, many friends supplied deliciousmeals,goodhumor,andstimulatingconversationsthatbuoyed my spirits after long days in the library and the snow. Special thanks to JoshuaArthurs,JonathyneBriggs,TamarCarroll,ClaireEldridge,Sarah Ellermanand Brad Smith, Darcie Fontaine, Amy Freund, Carmen and Ed Gitre, Gillian Glaes, Jessica Anderson Hughes, Laura Kalba, Kate Keller, Jennifer Knight, Lisa Hermsen, Rob Lewis and Cathy Carlisle, JoelRevill,LouisaRice,DanielleMcGuireRosh,KarenRoutledge,Erin Slattery-Duda, Jennifer and Mark Tharp, Sarah Thompson, Corinna Acknowledgments ix Schlombs,andNickandElizabethWolf.Asthisprojectcametoaclose and a newone began, Zina Weygand welcomed me intoher family and scholarlynetworks,makingParisfeellikehome. Finally,Icouldnothavewrittenthisbookwithouttheloveandsupport ofmyfamily.Mygrandmother,JeanetteScales,wasthefirstpersoninher family to go to college. She worked hard to make sure her husband, children, and grandchildren all had the same opportunity, and her monthly checks kept me afloat for many years of graduate school. I am sad that she did not get to see me cross the finish line, but I hope she wouldhavebeenproudoftheworkIhaveaccomplished.MyauntPathas playedmanyrolesinmylife,fromfamilyfeministtopoliticalprovocateur. Mostimportantly,shemadesurethatakidgrowingupwithoutalibrary orbookstorenearbyalwayshadsomethingtoread.Eventhoughweeach read different types of books these days, her influence can be seen throughout these pages. My parents, Larry and Sandra, have always believedthatIcouldachieveanythingIsetouttodo,evenwhenIdoubted itmyself.Theyfirstinspiredmyloveofhistoryandmyinterestindifferent cultures, and I am immensely grateful for my adventurous childhood spenttravelingthroughairportsanddowndirtroads.Forgivingmethe world,andforlovingmeenoughtoalwaysletmego,Idedicatethisbook tothem.
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