CULTURE
French culture is derived
from an ancient civilization composed of a complex mix of Celtic,
Greco-Roman, and Germanic elements. Monuments, especially from
the period of Roman occupation, are numerous and include the amphitheatre
at Arles, the arénes in Paris, and the aqueduct at Pont
du Gard. During the Middle Ages a rich culture developed, fostered
in particular by scholars in monasteries and in universities and
encouraged well into the 18th century by a system of royal and
aristocratic patronage. From the early 1700s and with the development
of a middle class, the bourgeoisie, culture became more generally
accessible. This period, extending into the 18th century, was
the age of the Enlightenment, of inquiry and question. Cultural
activity remained largely centred on Paris, though certain provincial
cities such as Aix-les-Bains or Lyon had an active life of their
own. With free primary education compulsory by the late 19th century,
basic literacy ensured that the general cultural level was raised.
The culture of France has
profoundly influenced that of the entire Western world, particularly
in the areas of art and letters, and Paris has long been regarded
as the fountainhead of French culture. France first attained cultural
preeminence in Europe during the Middle Ages; later, the wealth
of the French crown in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries provided
a subsidization of art on a scale comparable to that of the papacy
in Rome, attracting to Paris many of Europe’s most talented
artists and artisans. Wealth also created a leisure class, which
had both the time and the means for developing elegance in dress,
manners, furnishings, and architecture. French styles still pervade
much of Western culture. In the 20th century French cinema assumed
a leading world position, particularly in the 1960s with the nouvelle
vague (“new wave”) group of film directors, such as
Jean-Luc Godard, Alain Resnais, and François Truffaut.
French literature has a long
and rich history. Traditionally it is held to have begun in 842
with the Oath of Strasbourg, sworn to by Louis the German and
Charles the Bald. The Middle Ages are noted in particular for
epic poems such as La Chanson de Roland (The Song of Roland),
the Arthurian romances of Chrétien de Troyes, and lyric
poetry expressing romantic love. In the 16th century the Renaissance
flourished, and figures such as the poet Pierre de Ronsard, the
satirist and humorist Rabelais, and Michel de Montaigne, credited
with inventing the essay, were to become internationally acknowledged.
French Neoclassical drama reached its apotheosis during the next
hundred years in the tragedies of Pierre Corneille and Racine.
During the same period, Molière displayed his vast and
varied talents in the theatre, particularly as a writer of comedies;
Jean de La Fontaine produced moralistic verse in his Fables; and
Mme de La Fayette created the classic La Princesse de Clèves,
generally considered the first French psychological novel. Voltaire,
Denis Diderot, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau dominated the 18th century,
especially with their philosophical writings, but they contributed
in a major way to all genres, Voltaire's novel Candide being singularly
notable. Other authors of the period included the playwright Pierre-Augustin
Caron de Beaumarchais, for works such as Le Mariage de Figaro,
and Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, for his epistolary novel Les Liaisons
dangereuses.
