1. How did French culture and the relationship between the state evolve?
France has always had a tradition of embracing high culture in part due to the pomp and circumstance of the ruling elite. The grand scale and scope of art, architecture, music, and literature was a hallmark of France’s desire and reputation for being the center of culture going back to the days of Charlemagne and the courts of numerous “King Louie’s”. For example, the ambitions construction of Versailles and the many museums and boulevards that dot Paris, illustrate the desire of the state to merge political power and prestige with all things cultural. Also, you can see examples in the state supported textile industries of the 20th century, which still exist today, and shows a marriage between politics, economics, and art.
With the separation of church and state, large scale commissions for art projects and educational systems by the Catholic Church, was not dominant as it had been during the early centuries of the second millennium. However, the tradition of state intervention continued, and is generally accepted by historians to have formally begun with the court of Francois I (1515-1547).
Instead of the Church commissioning artists to produce art, architecture and engineering projects, the state took on the role as benefactor and supported activities meant to enhance the prestige of the monarchy both at home and abroad!
2. What is “Mecent d’Etat”?
Mecenat d’Etat is the French term to describe the practice of state funded commissions to create artwork and monuments. This practice is done to enhance the prestige of France throughout the world.
3. What is the role of education in forming the French national identity?
The role of education in France was not to only teach children how to read and write, but to instill a sense of a homogeneous concept of French culture. This Franco-centric focus was to integrate a “French National Identity” with general studies. It is considered very important by the state that students become intimate with France’s cultural history and its contribution to the world community.
4. What was done to democratize and decentralize culture? By whom?
When de Gaulle came into power he chose Andre Malraux as France’s first “Minister of Cultural Affairs”. Malraux was popular and had a national identity as a writer and Resistance supporter. His main goal was to implement programs that would make available to ordinary French citizens, the world’s great art, and in particular, France’s cultural heritage. His approach was on a dual track. In addition to preserving French subsidies for “high art”, he also wanted to include the Avant-Garde, and instituted the construction of “cultural cathedrals” throughout France’s countryside. He wanted performance venues that were not only in Paris but also in smaller cities to attract more of France’s regular folks. His hope was to promote French culture abroad, instill a sense of French national identity and highlight in a positive way the cultural role of the state.
5. Who is Jack Lang? What role did he play in the “Grand’s Projects” of Paris? What were these projects?
After the election of Francois Mitterrand a new Minister of Culture was nominated in May of 1981. His name was Jack Lang. He was a flamboyant and gregarious administrator and his legacy included bringing cultural policy to the forefront of the political landscape.
Some of his contributions include (1) doubling the budget of the Minister of Culture, (2) broadened the definition of art to include, not only “high art”, e.g. painting, architecture, and literature, but also ‘les arts mineurs’, like jazz, rock, rap, tag, cartoon strips, the circus, fashion, photography, and gastronomy. Another innovation of Lang’s was his skillful use of the media to keep his agenda in the spotlight. He also supported cinema, book publishing, video and other multi-media. He was also pivotal in the “presidentializing” French cultural policy, thus elevating Culture to parity with business and foreign policy.
This link between Mitterrand, who wanted his legacy to accentuate his support of French culture, and Lang’s own “can do” attitude, led to several ambitious architectural projects. This included the construction of several buildings meant to return France to it’s role as the “Mecca” of Cultural Tourism and the epicenter of culture in Europe. These projects were The Opéra Bastille, The Arche de la Défense, The Grand Louvre, The Musée d'Orsay, The Institut du Monde Arabe, The Cité des Sciences at La Villette, and The Bibliothèque nationale de France.
6. What is the cultural policy in contemporary France?
Cultural policy in contemporary France has come about, not only to enhance and promote French culture abroad, thus elevating France’s status as a cultural Mecca, but also to counteract the “cultural imperialism of America and the of diluting of French national identity by massive waves of immigrants.
Some recent state policies sought to reduce the social inequities of access to culture in three ways, (1) making fees cheaper to gain access to cultural venues, (2) introducing policies that blended art projects and/or visits within an educational framework, and (3) decentralizing art venues by coming to the people and empowering local politicians to create family friendly policies within their own municipalities. Another goal of this cultural mission was to promote the French language at home and abroad.
An important facet of contemporary cultural policies in France is the perpetuation of the notion of “L’exception culturelle”, the idea that France is different than its partners within the European Union (EU). Advocating for subsidies continued especially for cinema.
EDUCATION
1. What were the two sets of principals of the French Educational System?
The first principal is equal access to quality education. The second principal is “le savoir liberateur” (knowledge is the key to freedom). These were policies that created the “aspiration for educational excellence”, as a way to secure higher paying government jobs with its system of exams and “competitive entry”.
2. How did education evolve through time?
France’s education system evolved with state sponsorship in the 1880’s by Jules Ferry, who was the Minister of Education at that time. By the 1920’s a large segment of the general population was literate. No longer was education the exclusive domain of the wealthy and elite of society. Despite the growing pains, girls programs were finally subsidized by the 1930’s and the minimum age to leave school went up to 14 instead of 12. From the 1920’s and the 1930’s, however, the system was not perfect. Those students from a higher class, income, or breeding continued to have advantages until after 1945 and World War II.
The 1960’s and 1970’s witnessed major changes too. For example, kindergartens were more accessible and abundant. School age minimums went up to 16 from 14. The two educational systems of college and Lycée were merged as a three-tiered approach to education. They were (1) general, (2) technologique, and (3) professional, each with their own curriculum for their specific emphasis. Students received a baccalauréat certificate. Our own four-year degree culminates in the borrowed French term, baccalaureate. By the 1990’s the minimum age for school children was 17-18 and 19 years old.
3. Summarize French education now. Compare with the United States.
Overall, France, with all its faults, puts its money where its mouth is. Public, state education is better than the United States, although, in this world economy, academic achievement is still tempered by a lack of creativity and personal initiative. The same criticism is here in the United States where teachers are demanded to get test scores up, so that becomes the goal, rather than to teach critical thinking and the reasoning process. Students become crammed with lots of dates and names and sometimes at the expense of understanding the relevance of those names and dates.
Both in France and the United States, affluent cities have better schools. Urban cities, having to assimilate growing numbers of immigrants, along with a lower level of income from a larger segment of the population, have schools that sometimes are not as challenging as their more affluent neighbors.
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