The 1950s and 1960s were a key moment in the development of postwar France. The period was one of rapid change, derived from post-World War II economic and social modernization; yet many traditional characteristics were retained. By analyzing the eruption of the new postwar world in the context of a France that was both modern and traditional, we can see how these worlds met and interacted, and how they set the scene for the turbulent 1960s and 70s. The examination of the development of mass culture in post-war France, undertaken in this volume, offers a valuable insight into the shifts that took place. By exploring stardom from the domain of cinema and other fields, represented here by famous figures such as Brigitte Bardot, Johnny Hallyday or Jean-Luc Godard, and less conventionally treated areas of enquiry (politics [de Gaulle], literary [Françoise Sagan], and intellectual culture [Lévi-Strauss]) the reader is provided with a broad understanding of the mechanisms of popularity and success, and their cultural, social, and political roles. The picture that emerges shows that many cultural articulations remained or became identifiably "French," in spite of the American mass-culture origins of these social, economic, and cultural transformations.

John Gaffney is Professor of Politics at Aston University. He is the author and editor of a dozen books on French and British politics and culture.

IntroductionJohn Gaffney andDiana Holmes

Chapter 1. Stardom in Theory and ContextJohn Gaffney andDiana Holmes

Chapter 2. 1950s Popular Culture: Star-Gazing and Myth-Making with Roland Barthes and Edgar MorinSusan Weiner

Chapter 3. A Girl of Today: Brigitte BardotDiana Holmes

Chapter 4. Rock n Roll Stardom: Johnny HallydayChris Tinker

Chapter 5. Stardom on Wheels: Raymond PoulidorPhilip Dine

Chapter 6. The Auteur as Star: Jean-Luc GodardAlison Smith

Chapter 7. The Intellectual as Celebrity: Claude Lévi-StraussChristopher Johnson

Chapter 8. Starlette de la Littérature: Françoise SaganHeather Lloyd

Chapter 9. The Only Act in Town: Charles de GaulleJohn Gaffney

ConclusionJohn Gaffney andDiana Holmes

Bibliography Notes on Contributors Index