‘L’exception culturelle’

Abstract

In what ways can France be considered ‘different’ in terms of its approach to ‘culture’? Apart from the pervasive and — to the French at least, attractive — idea that French culture is somehow inherently ‘superior’, perceptions within France have traditionally been — at least during the Fifth Republic — that French culture is different to that of, say ‘Anglo-Saxon’ countries, by virtue of its privileged relationship with a voluntarist and culturally interventionist State, which promotes and encourages culture. The reverse view, from more ‘liberal’ countries, is that French culture is ‘protected’, ‘subsidised’ and manipulated by government. In terms of ‘popular music’ for example, the perception amongst French commentators has generally been that whereas creativity in France is both encouraged and constrained by public cultural policies, in the UK, the ‘Britpop’ phenomenon is a pure product of the free-market, although recent comparative research on music in France and the UK (Dauncey and Le Guern 2008) suggests that as British governments have recently become increasingly interested in the earning power of the ‘cultural industries’, the interventionist/protectionist versus free-market/laissez-faire framework for understanding France’s ‘difference’ in approach to culture is being undermined by developments outside France, as much as by any changes in French policies.