French Cultural History: From the Beautiful Era to Our Days by Pascale Goutchel, Emmanuel Lauwaille

Author: Pascale Gauchille and Emmanuelle Lauyeh Publisher: National Center for Translation This book is authored by two contemporary French scholars specializing in the cultural history of France, Pascale Gauchille and Emmanuelle Lauyeh. Its publication has been well deserved, as it is a valuable addition to the science of modern culture, its principles, methodologies, and applications, due to its coverage of French culture and its history from the nineteenth century (the Belle Époque) to the present era, including the renewal of culture by Jall Lang and his peers...; the book also points to areas for comparison that enable us to better understand our culture and establish stronger communication with other cultures. In the introduction, the authors explain their approach based on synthesis and comprehensive coverage of all that modern scholars have said about culture. Thus, thanks to the efforts of reformist historians, a branch of general history has emerged — cultural history — which has renewed the field of historical research, encompassing contemporary events, cognitive issues, research assumptions, and their relationship with relevant social sciences. It also addresses the dimensions of culture and differing opinions on its scope, ranging from the cultural essence confined to "educational culture" to culture as a subject studied by anthropologists. Additionally, the book covers phenomena of dissemination, media usage, reception, and literary creativity in deconstruction.