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| Intercultural
differences! (#8) |
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And
also :
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Harriet
Welty Rochefort and webmaster Philippe Rochefort doing what the
French love to do most - earnestly discussing |
life with a French friend,
over a cup of coffee on the terrace of a Parisian bistro. |
| French Artists no one
knows outside France ! |
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The American artists
the French like the best ... |
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Language is very important
for the French and, in many cases, it does not translate easily
because the themes are so deeply rooted in French culture that
they would not touch a non-French listener or reader. For example
:
- The most largely read French author of
the 20th century was San-Antonio : under this pseudonym,
Frédéric Dard wrote around 200 books, each of them
selling an average 400,000 copies. They illustrate the Rabelaisian
side of the French perfectly (from François Rabelais 1494-1553)
: sex, scatology and puns ; they are clearly impossible to translate
but very funny indeed.
- One
of the most cherished singers of the 1950s-1980s is Georges
Brassens who, accompanied only by his guitar and
a bass, sang wonderfully poetic (and often off color) songs ;
everything is in the words, sometimes from the most famous French
poets (Victor Hugo, François Villon, Lamartine, Jacques
Prévert, etc).
- The most successful (in France)
French films did not have
a brilliant career (or had no career at all) in the USA : the
films that attracted the largest audience are "Bienvenue
chez les Ch'tis (2008), followed by "La Grande Vadrouille"
(1966) and "Les Visiteurs" (1992). The first
two were not exported and the third one was a total flop in the
US.
- Other very famous (in France)
French artist include Johnny
Hallyday (rock singer), Isabelle Adjani (movie star), Coluche (comedian), Maurice
Pialat (film maker), etc...
- More about French singers
- More to come
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Of course the French know and
like most major American artists but, not to mention Jerry
Lewis, the French love some American artists who do not seem
to be as widely appreciated in the U.S.A..
| A typical example
is Woody Allen, who is probably one of the most popular
film-makers in France ; Michael Moore and Clint Eastwood
are also very well regarded. |
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- Some American artists living
in Paris - singer Dee Dee Bridgewater, orchestra conductor
William Christie, pianist Jay Gottlieb, dancer
Carolyn Carlson, comedian Django Edwards, actor
John Malkowich (in Provence), writers Douglas Kennedy
and Nancy Huston (Canadian, in Berry), etc...-are also
very popular
- In the past, the French loved
Nina Simone, Mort Shumann, Man Ray, Josephine Baker (before
WWII), Eddie Constantine (in the 1950s), Sidney Bechet
and Kenny Clarke among many Afro-American
jazzmen, Richard Wright, James Baldwin and Chester
Himes, among many Afro-American
writers, etc ... who lived in Paris in the 1950s
- See the choice of American artists
by a very respected left-wing
magazine
- More to come ...
See a
list of American artists and writers having resided in France
and American writers more
popular in France than in the USA ; for the most popular
French personalities, click
here
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| To related pages : intercultural
(#1), anti-Americanism (#2),
intercultural
management (#3), France and the French in the
US Press (#6), etc... |
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To table
of contents
To top of the page
Back to home
page
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For more on intercultural
differences, order Harriet Welty Rochefort's books :
- "French Toast, An American in Paris
Celebrates The Maddening Mysteries of the French", St.Martin's Press,
New York, 1999
- "French Fried, The Culinary Capers
of An American in Paris", St.Martin's Press, New York, 2001
More on Harriet's books (excerpts, upcoming
events, testimonials, etc..)
Together or separately, Philippe
and Harriet speak about Intercultural
Differences : click here
for information.
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