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Overview
The French today contend with national history and identity and the tensions brought on by changes such as immigration, European integration, and postcolonialism. This book encapsulates 11 major issues for students of French language and culture, providing an informed platform for critical thinking and engaging discussion. The topics, including the trial of Maurice Papon, the Headscarf Affair, José Bové and McDonald's, Quebec separatism, and the democratization movement in the Ivory Coast, are overviewed in individual chapters. Pro and con positions on the issues are then presented so that students can debate the points. Helpful French vocabulary, questions and activities, and a resource guide accompany each issue to round out the unit.
The authors are careful to tie in the French issues to American society and culture. Comparisons are probed so that students will broaden their understanding not only of French-speaking societies but also their own society and history as well. Written in a dramatic style, the unique approach of this content-rich resource is sure to bring new energy to the study of French culture, language, and history.
Synopsis
The authors (both professors of French at Dickerson College) present a college-level textbook designed to serve in classes teaching cultural competency within French departments beyond the relatively superficial areas such as food and dress. They take a thematic and issue-based approach to the material, providing four separate sections on history and memory, the challenge of competing voices to social cohesion, issues of equality, and the effects of globalization and Americanization. Respective examples of the 11 different issue-based chapters include discussions of the construction of Joan of Arc as a French national heroine, questions of language and power in Quebec, the debate over discrimination positive (or affirmative action) at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris, and agricultural activist Jose Bove's resistance to McDonalds and the Americanization of French food. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR