The Cultural and Intellectual Rebuilding of France after the Second World War

243 Pages·2004·2.277 MB·English

by  Michael Kelly (auth.)

The Cultural and Intellectual Rebuilding of France after
the Second World War
Also by Michael Kelly
FRENCH CULTURE AND SOCIETY
PIERRE BOURDIEU: LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND EDUCATION (editor)
FRENCH CULTURAL STUDIES: AN INTRODUCTION (editor)
FRANCE: NATION AND REGIONS (editor)
HEGEL IN FRANCE
MODERN FRENCH MARXISM
PIONEER OF THE CATHOLIC REVIVAL: THE IDEAS AND INFLUENCE
OF EMMANUEL MOUNIER
The Cultural and
Intellectual Rebuilding of
France after the Second
World War
Michael Kelly
© Michael Kelly 2004
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2004 978-1-4039-3376-8
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Patents Act 1988.
First published 2004 by
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PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave
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ISBN 978-1-349-51684-1 ISBN 978-0-230-51116-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230511163
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managed and sustained forest sources.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kelly, Michael, 1946–
The cultural and intellectual rebuilding of France after the Second World
War / Michael Kelly.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. France–Civilization–1945- 2. National characteristics, French. 3. Social
change–France. I. Title.
DC33.7.K44 2004
944.083–dc22
2004045801
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04
For Jo, Tom and Paul
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Contents
List of Illustrations viii
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
1. Contexts for Rebuilding 12
2. Inventing a Language 33
3. Finding the Symbols 59
4. Workers and Intellectuals 84
5. Regendering the Nation 106
6. The Humanist Moment 127
7. The Battle of Ideas 155
Conclusion 180
Notes 188
Bibliography 211
Index 225
vii
List of Illustrations
1. Phili (Philippe Grach), Libération, 1944. Reproduced
with the kind permission of the Centre d’études
Edmond-Michelet, Brive, France 39
2. René Brantonne, Paris se libère, 1944 copyright holder
not located 40
3. Paul Colin, Libération, August 1944 © ADAGP, Paris and
DACS, London 2004 72
4. Francis Gruber, Job, 1944 © ADAGP, Paris and DACS,
London 2004 75
5. Raymond Gid, Retour à la France, retour à la vie, 1945
© ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004 77
6. Cropping at Gisors, 1944. Photograph courtesy of the
Imperial War Museum, London, negative no. B9818 111
7. André Fougeron, Renaissance française, July 1945
© ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004 125
8. Georges Rouault, Homo homini lupus, 1944–5 © ADAGP,
Paris and DACS, London 2004 132
9. Denis Thébault, Depuis un an ça va déjà mieux, 1945
© ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004 134
10. Denis Thébault, Retroussons nos manches ça ira encore
mieux,1945 © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004 135
viii
Acknowledgements
The research and writing of this book is the result of a dialogue with
many academic colleagues, students, friends and family, stretching
over several years. It began in the colloquia and discussions that led
up to the launching of the journal French Cultural Studies, which con-
tinues to inspire my reflection, and of which I am proud to be an
Associate Editor. The dialogue was enriched through the production
of French Cultural Studies: an Introduction, which I co-edited with Jill
Forbes, and the help of over a dozen contributors. It continued in
two courses I taught at the University of Southampton, in which stu-
dents contributed numerous insights, and in numerous conferences
at which I presented one or other aspect of the research. I should like
to pay particular tribute to four colleagues who are no longer here to
share my gratitude: Donald Charlton, who was a pathfinder in
French studies; Jill Forbes, whose energy and strategic sense shaped
French cultural studies from the beginning; Claire Duchen, whose
insights brought a cutting edge to French women’s studies; and
Richard Sacker, whose work on the French Communist Party was a
model of lucidity. I am grateful for the generous assistance of the
British Academy, the Leverhulme Trust and the University of
Southampton in providing support for periods of research leave. The
book has been enriched by more people than I can hope to mention
by name, but I hope the following will recognise traces of their assis-
tance and accept my thanks for it: Margaret Atack, Nick Atkin,
Rodney Ball, Alan Bance, Rosemary Böck, Bill Brooks, Christophe
Campos, Jackie Clarke, Martyn Cornick, David Coward, Robert
Crawshaw, Máire Cross, Ceri Crossley, Hannah Diamond, Philip
Dine, David Drake, Hélène Eck, Elizabeth Fallaize, Chris Flood, John
Flower, Hilary Footitt, Joe Golsan, Bert Gordon, Claire Gorrara, David
Hanley, Alec Hargreaves, Nicholas Hewitt, Diana Holmes, Alice
Kaplan, Roderick Kedward, Bill Kidd, Corran Laurens, Michel
Leymarie, Sylvie Lindeperg, David Looseley, Bill Marshall, Pascal Ory,
Keith Reader, Brian Rigby, Kristin Ross, David Scott, Michael Scriven,
Naomi Segal, Max Silverman, Jean-François Sirinelli, Michel
Trebitsch, Steven Ungar, Cécile Velu, Susan Weiner, Sarah Wilson,
Nancy Wood. None of this work would have been possible without
the love, support and encouragement of my family, in particular my
ix