La puissance française sous le Front populaire : le regard des Belges francophones L'opinion belge francophone, intimement liée à la France, a-t-elle perçu un déclin de la puissance française à l'époque du Front populaire ? Aux attaques incendiaires mais parfois nuancées des plus conservateurs répondent les analyses pondérées voire bienveillantes des centristes et les désillusions de la gauche socialo-communiste, hors les socialistes nationaux. Ces jugements sont conditionnés par le tournant d'octobre 1936 : non-intervention dans le conflit espagnol, amélioration de la situation intérieure française, adoption par la Belgique d'une politique extérieure dite d' « indépendance ». Cependant, presque tous constatent que Paris démarque la diplomatie britannique et atteint le paroxysme de l'inexistence politique en mars 1938 : au moment de l' Anschluss, elle est en effet sans gouvernement.
Did the French-speaking Belgian opinion, in close contact with France, perceive a decay of the French power under the Popular Front? Well-meaning analyses from a balanced point of view are met with inflammatory - though sometimes full of nuances - attacks from the most conservative wing and with the bitter disappointment of the socialist-communist fold (except the « socialistes nationaux »). Those judgements are conditioned by the turning point of October 1936: non-intervention in the Spanish conflict; improvement of the French internal conditions; Belgian choice for an independent foreign policy. However, one is aware that Paris is now blindly following the steps of the British diplomacy and will reach a climax of political non-existence: in March 1938, at the time of the Anschluss, France had no government. ; L'opinion belge francophone, intimement liée à la France, a-t-elle perçu un déclin de la puissance française à l'époque du Front populaire ? Aux attaques incendiaires mais parfois nuancées des plus conservateurs répondent les analyses pondérées voire bienveillantes des centristes et les désillusions de la gauche socialo-communiste, hors les socialistes nationaux. Ces jugements sont conditionnés par le tournant d'octobre 1936 : non-intervention dans le conflit espagnol, amélioration de la situation intérieure française, adoption par la Belgique d'une politique extérieure dite d'« indépendance ». Cependant, presque tous constatent que Paris démarque la diplomatie britannique et atteint le paroxysme de l'inexistence politique en mars 1938 : au moment de l'Anschluss, elle est en effet sans gouvernement. ; Peer reviewed
The French-speaking right wing in Belgium has always granted a paramount place to France in its ideological cosmography. The concept of everlasting France, of her "mission", of the part she could play on the international scene are topics wondered about constantly in intellectual and middle-class circles. The thirties and mostly the Popular Front era provide the Conservatives with a splendid opportunity to describe the future of their cultural icon with awe: the more the international context is threatening, the more France seems to have become fragile, isolated and going down the slope. Using the news given by the national papers or the widely circulated Parisian press, right-wing Belgians brood, of course, about the eclipse of France's might, but point chiefly to the moral crisis as its cause. Very often they feel some nostalgia for the "Ancien Régime" and see the origin of the worrying current phenomenon in the hated French Revolution. Lot of factors are intertwined in the definition of the moral decay, but some are particularly highlighted. France is accused to be invaded by foreigners (their Jewish origins and Marxist creeds being stressed); Free-Masonry has a bad influence, as well as laic teaching, perverting youth by its pacifist and internationalist leanings. The degeneration of the religious spirit is lamented on account of its influence on the birth rate: the "Elder Daughter of the Church" gets emptier and emptier, whereas the populations of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany are blooming. Opposition to parliamentary system is to the fore, as the politico-financial scandals, the governmental instability, the disreputable ways of the politicians themselves contribute all to the idea of the moral crisis. A cultural decline is parallel, with a loss of spirituality in the French society, engulfed in materialism and coarseness. Their stinging attacks, their bombastic style show how deeply rooted is the "decay of France" thesis among Belgian Conservatives. Beyond the French case, they fear a possible contamination of Belgium and the disappearance of their own traditional but vanishing values. Their fears and frights have certainly played a part in the 1936 turn-around towards the so-called Belgian "politique d'indépendance" in foreign affairs. ; De tout temps, la droite belge francophone a accordé à la France une place primordiale dans son univers idéologique. Les concepts de France éternelle, de sa « mission », de son rôle sur la scène internationale sont autant de sujets sur lesquels l'opinion bourgeoise et intellectuelle s'interroge de façon récurrente. Les années trente, et surtout l'époque du Front populaire, donnent aux conservateurs plus d'une occasion de se pencher avec anxiété sur l'avenir de leur référent culturel parce que le climat international est menaçant, parce que la France semble fragilisée, isolée, déclinante. Confrontés à l'actualité française à longueur de colonnes de leurs journaux nationaux et par l'intermédiaire d'une presse parisienne très répandue chez eux, les Belges de droite déplorent évidemment l'éclipse de la puissance française mais stigmatisent avant tout la profonde crise morale qu'ils estiment en être la cause. Souvent nostalgiques de l'Ancien Régime, ils voient dans la Révolution abhorrée l'origine de ce phénomène inquiétant. Si de nombreux facteurs se conjuguent dans la définition de cette crise morale, certains sont particulièrement mis en exergue. On dénonce une France envahie par les étrangers, en insistant sur leur origine sémite et leur marxisme. On vilipende l'influence néfaste de la franc-maçonnerie et cet enseignement laïque dont le pacifisme et l'internationalisme pervertissent la jeunesse. On déplore la déliquescence de l'esprit religieux qui se répercute sur la natalité: la « Fille aînée de l'Eglise » se dépeuple tandis que l'Italie fasciste et l'Allemagne nazie jouissent d'une démographie florissante. A l'heure où l'antiparlementarisme est monnaie courante, les scandales politico-financiers, l'instabilité ministérielle, les mœurs des députés elles-mêmes viennent renforcer l'idée d'une crise morale. Enfin, celle-ci se double d'un déclin culturel, d'une perte de substance spirituelle de la société française, embourbée dans le matérialisme et la trivialité. La virulence de leurs attaques, le lyrisme de leur style prouvent combien les conservateurs belges sont persuadés d'une réelle décadence de la France. Derrière chacun de leurs mots perce la peur d'une contamination de la Belgique, l'angoisse d'y voir disparaître des valeurs traditionnelles déjà bien écornées. Cette angoisse a sans nul doute joué un rôle dans l'évolution de 1936 vers une politique d'indépendance. ; Peer reviewed
Seit 1945 beobachteten die französischsprachigen Belgier ängstlich aber zugleich auch hoffnungsvoll die Entwicklung der "Saarfrage" , einer der Stolpersteine des europäischen Aufbaus. Die Saar wird 1955 zu einem Symbol seines potentiellen Durchbruchs, als die Saarländer aufgefordet werden, sich zu einem Statut zu äußern, welches aus dem Saarland das erste europäisierte Territorium – autonom unter Aufsicht der WEU und unter Beibehaltung der Wirtschaftsunion mit Frankreich – machen würde. Anfangs reflektiert die belgische öffentliche Meinung den Optimismus, der ihr durch die offizielle französisch-saarländische Propaganda eingehaucht wird, wobei allerdings schnell die Einsicht wächst, dass die Zeichen auf eine Rückkehr zu Deutschland stehen. Zur Erklärung des Sehe items des Plebiszits bemühen die belgischen Journalisten und Diplomaten immer wiederkehrende Themen : die innere und äußere Schwäche Frankreichs, das man als übervorsichtig und europafeindlich betrachtet, die Abwesenheit eines fassbaren Europa, die Anziehungskraft des Wirtschaftswunder-Deutschland, Nazi-Nostalgie oder ewiger Nationalismus der Germanen. Infolge ihrer Ablehnung, eine Besonderheit im Europa der Nationen zu sein, verschwindet die Saar in der Versenkung.
SummaryFrom 1950 to 1960, in passing from the time of bullock traction to the tractor, from a subsistence to a market economy, the peasants have re‐modelled their image of society and their relations with other professions. The large farmers, who lived on the fringe of the peasant group, are today their competitors, such as the newly installed repatriates from French North Africa who are threatening their existence as landholders. The peasants are leaving their isolation and becoming conscious of their relations with society in general and particularly with city dwellers. The regions of diversified farming, developing with a relative time‐lag, are organizing a more intensive social life than before. The establishment of associations, the attendance at meetings and the reading of journals bear witness to this fact. The peasant is playing a new role in general society. Thus, he has had to revise his attitude towards those outside his group with whom he maintains new economic relations.RésuméDe 1950 à 1960, en passant de l'ère des boeufs à l'ère du tracteur, de l'économie vivrière à l'économie de marché, les paysans restructurent leur système de représentation de la société et leur mode de relations avec autrui. Les grands propriétaires, qui vivaient en marge du groupe paysan sont aujourd'hui des concurrents qui les menacent, comme les rapatries d'Afrique Française du Nord nouvellement installés, dans leur existence d'exploitants agricoles. Les paysans sortent de leur isolement et ils prennent conscience des rapports qu'ils entretiennent avec la société globale et particulièrement avec les citadins. Les pays de polyculture relativement attardés organisent une vie sociale plus intense que par le passé; la création d'associations, la fréquentation des réunions et la lecture des journaux en témoignent. En jouant un nouveau rôle dans la société globale le paysan ne pouvait que réviser son système de représentation du hors‐groupe avec lequel il entretient de nouveaux rapports économiques.ZusammenfassungVon 1950 bis 1960, während des Übergangs von der Ochsenanspannung zum Traktor und von der Subsistenz‐ zur Marktwirtschaft, haben die Bauern ihre Vorstellung der Gesellschaft und ihre Bezie‐hungen zu anderen Berufen neu strukturiert. Die großen Landwirte, die am Rande der bäuerlichen Schicht lebten, sind heute ihre Konkurrenten, wie auch die neu angesiedelten Rückkehrer aus Französisch‐Nordafrika. Diese Gruppen bedrohen die Existenz der Bauern als Landbewirtschafter. Die Bauern treten aus ihrer Isolierung heraus und werden sich ihrer Beziehungen mit der Gesellschaft im allgemeinen und mit den Stadtbewohnern im besonderen bewußt. Die Gebiete der Polykultur, die sich mit einer gewissen Verzögerung entwickeln, organisieren ein intensiveres soziales Leben als vorher. Die Bildung von Vereinigungen, die Teilnahme an Sitzungen und das Lesen von Zeitschriften bezeugen diese Tatsachen. Der Bauer spielt eine neue Rolle in der Gesellschaft im allgemeinen. Daher mußte er seine Haltung gegenüber den Menschen außerhalb seiner Gruppe revidieren, mit denen er neue wirtschaftliche Beziehungen pflegt.
In this paper, I examine the ways in which Anita Loos's Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby both critique and engage with materialism and consumerism as middlebrow texts. Bill Brown's discussion of the power and meaning of "things" of literature (2003; 16-17) serves as a framework through which I analyze the double "thingness" of the middlebrow as depicted in these novels—that is, the simultaneous investment in and critique of consumer objects. To that end, I analyze both the print culture histories and content of Blondes (which is widely considered a middlebrow text in academic scholarship) in conversation with Gatsby (which is not always thought of as a middlebrow text). I argue that, rather than view middlebrow within a high/low brow paradigm, we should instead consider the ways in which the middlebrow operates with and within mass consumer culture as well as provides a critique of that culture. Because the American middlebrow has a distinct socioeconomic history, I demonstrate how these novels also grapple with the "thingness" of American identity and the Americanness of "things" by centering the protagonists' engagement with material objects in the construction of their identities. Gatsby and Blondes demonstrate the middlebrow American quality of things through their narrative content, and the novels' histories as print objects reflect their circulation as commercial things themselves. This article challenges understandings of the "middlebrow" as a genre unto itself by examining the historical situatedness of the term and its evolving definitions. This article also invites renewed conversation around the middlebrow by proposing a new perspective and an alternative approach to the understanding of middlebrow literature. I argue that these novels present an ideal re-entry into discussion of the middlebrow because of their disparate print culture histories and the cultural capital (or lack thereof) they signify in the present day. This article thus traces the print histories of these two novels alongside analyses of their reception histories and critiques the concept of a middlebrow literature, turning again to contradictory definitions of the term to suggest a more fluid understanding of the middlebrow in scholarship should be able to account both for the continuing appeal of early twentieth-century middlebrow literature and the ways in which the middlebrow itself as an aspirational aesthetic and consumerist ethic has evolved and is ubiquitous in the twenty-first century.
Abstract Thanks to the rise of the internet, the press has been able to grow online. The press has strengthened its place in the Fourth Estate. The aim of this dissertation is to explore headlines, leads, pictures, topics and political views of online newspapers as well as their influence on the readership. After a brief explanation of the main paper characteristics, the study focuses on an analysis of four selected newspapers with the aim of observing the differences between their features on the basis of three current events. Then, the investigation continues with students' opinion of the role of headlines, pictures, leads, topics and political affiliations in the press. In order to conduct our study, two research questions were considered as relevant. The first one deals with an analysis of headlines, leads and accompanying visuals through three particular topics, which come from four online chosen papers. The second is about the political views of newspapers and their potential target readership through the three selected topics. In order to answer these two questions, four different newspapers, available online, were under study, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, Le Figaro and Le Soir and three articles were analysed, namely the meeting between President Donald Trump and the Supreme Leader of North Korea, the Windrush generation and Uber vs. taxis. Other data such as the political affiliation, the country and the influence on readers were taken into consideration. To examine students' opinion of paper features, a survey administered via Google Forms was conducted and posted on social networks. Through this exploration of online newspaper articles, it was found out that one topic can be approached in different ways: some articles are purely informative, and others use techniques to try to draw the reader's attention. It was discovered that some newspapers tended to condemn or praise one party or another, whereas some others prefer to remain neutral in the political sphere. This political orientation is linked to the target readership. One article may attract one specific reader or all readers without distinction. The results of the survey showed that the students in Translation and Multilingual Communication at UCL were in favour of online papers rather than print versions. Besides, they considered that topics and headlines are the two main features that may give them the wish to read an online article. Finally, an overwhelming majority was aware that papers have an impact on their opinions. ; Master [120] en communication multilingue, Université catholique de Louvain, 2018
Abstract Thanks to the rise of the internet, the press has been able to grow online. The press has strengthened its place in the Fourth Estate. The aim of this dissertation is to explore headlines, leads, pictures, topics and political views of online newspapers as well as their influence on the readership. After a brief explanation of the main paper characteristics, the study focuses on an analysis of four selected newspapers with the aim of observing the differences between their features on the basis of three current events. Then, the investigation continues with students' opinion of the role of headlines, pictures, leads, topics and political affiliations in the press. In order to conduct our study, two research questions were considered as relevant. The first one deals with an analysis of headlines, leads and accompanying visuals through three particular topics, which come from four online chosen papers. The second is about the political views of newspapers and their potential target readership through the three selected topics. In order to answer these two questions, four different newspapers, available online, were under study, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, Le Figaro and Le Soir and three articles were analysed, namely the meeting between President Donald Trump and the Supreme Leader of North Korea, the Windrush generation and Uber vs. taxis. Other data such as the political affiliation, the country and the influence on readers were taken into consideration. To examine students' opinion of paper features, a survey administered via Google Forms was conducted and posted on social networks. Through this exploration of online newspaper articles, it was found out that one topic can be approached in different ways: some articles are purely informative, and others use techniques to try to draw the reader's attention. It was discovered that some newspapers tended to condemn or praise one party or another, whereas some others prefer to remain neutral in the political sphere. This political orientation is linked to the target readership. One article may attract one specific reader or all readers without distinction. The results of the survey showed that the students in Translation and Multilingual Communication at UCL were in favour of online papers rather than print versions. Besides, they considered that topics and headlines are the two main features that may give them the wish to read an online article. Finally, an overwhelming majority was aware that papers have an impact on their opinions. ; Master [120] en communication multilingue, Université catholique de Louvain, 2018
