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French culture abroad?
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Submitted by Elboy on September 24, 2024
For the non-French users here: are you familiar with French culture?
By French culture, I'm not just referring to Eiffel Tower or Napoléon. I also mean modern culture like musical artists, movies, sports and so.
In other words, I wonder if and how French culture is exported abroad.
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As a person who is absolutely not French, I can tell you that the French soft-power is super powerful abroad.More seriously, spending this year abroad, I noticed something funny. Many restaurants in Sweden are named after French words - quite often random words which have nothing to do with food - even if these restaurants... are actually not French restaurants at all (and most of the time don't even pretend to be). I was amused of such a thing.
French name > French cuisine > Good cuisine
So Restaurant with French name > Restaurant with good cuisine.
Anyway i can now picture a Swedish restaurant named "Chaise Bonjour": sounds delicious!
For instance, have you heard of 2000s singers? Or major brands/start-up? Or even politics?
Btw, where are you from (if that's not top-secret)?
But the older stuff still absolutely slays here in the U.S. People still love "La Vie en Rose" (1947). And, of course, people interested in history will know all about Napoleon, the French Revolution, the Enlightenment, etc...
I'm sure you have at least heard about
Also, haven't you heard of Aya Nakamura, or Chris & The Queens? These artist have been praised by NYTimes and the Times magazine in the past few years.
Anyway I totally agree with you: US kind of ate the world, and France doesn't make exception to it. We've been eaten a long time ago. Some say it started in 1948.
A relevant example is the predominance of American references in pop culture here in France. Most French people are more familiar with American artists or films/series than with French productions.
French culture to me was the "Routiers" restaurants that served a substantial meal, usually 3 -5 courses, for a very reasonable price. They weren't always the best, but they were undoubtedly well above average.
I used to also buy wine and beer in the supermarkets for friends and family back home, even the cheapest "vin rouge" was far superior to most cheap wine available in the UK at the time. Things are very different nowadays with the finest wines available almost everywhere in Britain.
I miss my time travelling around Europe.
As for politics, the general public typically knows the current president + Le Pen but little else. There were a few more headlines during the last chaotic year though. Some people are also kind of envious of the French willingness to go on big strikes and wish we had something like the Yellow vests.