Music, the muse of the soft power ?

Everyone all around the world knows American music.
Everyone all around the world knows Michael Jackson, Madonna or Elvis Prestley. But have you heard about Francis Cabrel ? No, that’s what I thought ! Well, after this post, you will know that French music is not so out of date !

French singer Francis Cabrel is the typical French artist from the countryside who sings in French about "La Cabane au fonds du jardin" (The hut in the back of the garden) and whose fame does not go beyond borderlines.

Madonna, the pop icon, is famous all around the world.

The American Domination

American music is famous all around the world and plays a huge part in the American soft power.

The music of the United States does not have a long history, but it is rich insofar as there are many different styles that are distributed worldwide. The successive waves of immigration that have shaped the culture of the United States brought with them musical styles that are specific to their home countries. These styles and musical practices, constrained by material or social conditions, have adapted to new instruments. This phenomenon gave birth to different styles of music in the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries: blues, jazz, ragtime, country music, rock, salsa, or rap music. Nearly every one of these styles has been imported to France ! Even country music has a strong existence in France.

Many musical styles in France owe their very existence to the United States. For instance, the emergence of rap music in France goes back to the release of Rapper's Delight, the first world renowned rap title released in September 1979 by the American band: Sugarhill Gang. Let's also note that a lot of French artists sing in English.

USA are also seen as the Eden for artists to record albums, to do tours, in general to make their careers.

Another important fact is that French actual artists are criticized because of their amateurishness. When I watch MTV France, I can tell after just 3 seconds that the musical video is a French one ! If I show you 2 music videos (one American and one French), can you tell me which one is which (without listening to the lyrics) ?

Indeed, you easily can ! The French clip is not very professional compared to the American one.

But France have not yet said its last word on music.

Most of the French artists sing in French, along with some international artists. French music is abounding and renew itself and it has even inspired some of the greatest artists on Earth. For instance, The song "Comme d'habitude" by French singer Claude François was adapted by Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley to become the famous "My Way". Claude François is so famous that a movie about his life was released this year and had a huge success in many countries.

The official poster of the movie "Cloclo"

More recently, some French artists are part of the world pantheon of musical artists. David Guetta is undoubtedly the greatest current DJ in the world. The French Touch is also a proof of the presence of France on the international stage. This is a movement describing the French bands pionners in electronic music in the 90s, such as Daft Punk, Air, St Germain or Cassius. Daft Punk was even asked to make the music for the Disney movie "Tron".

The album cover of "Discovery", the famous signature of Daft Punk

Eventually, American music is much more professional and international than French music. But, French music has been pioneer in some musical styles and inspired some great musics and artists over the past few decades so we cannot talk about its decadence. 

Sources.

www.lemonde.fr www.allocine.fr 

Gastronomy, the national pride

Today, I am going to tackle the very pragmatic subject that obsesses every one of us during an amazing part of our days: food!
Food is vital and is one of our primal needs but much more than that, it reveals so many characteristics of a country, a culture and this subject has been explored and experienced so much that it is even considered as art in some cultures. So what are the differences between American and French gastronomy and their eating habits? What impacts does it have on society? What does it say about our different cultures and history?

Fast food vs. Gastronomy?

The first thing people will tell you about American food is: fast foods.
The first thing that will be on your mind if I say "French food" is gastronomy (or baguette, snails, frog!). But does reality looks (tastes!) like these clichés?

Well, wherever I go in the United States, I am struck by the number of fast food restaurants I see. Moreover, let's notice that the American fast food industry is the world's largest and it pioneered the drive-through format in the 1930s. One of the reasons seems to be the eating habits of Americans who prefer the convenience of eating in front of the television.
On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, French people are more likely to be found eating as a family around the dinner table. Meals are like a ceremony, a celebration for us. We enjoy spending an evening with friends just having dinner for 4 hours and talking around a table. French people can even take a 2 hour lunch break during a working day! If we have just a 15 minutes break, we will be in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

The importance about food for French people can be explained thanks to France's history. French cuisine refers to a diversity of gastronomic styles derived from French tradition. It has evolved in the course of the centuries, following the social and political changes, mainly with Middle Age and the French Revolution. It is so significant that the «Repas gastronomique des Français» (the gastronomic meal of French people) was incorporated to the immaterial cultural heritage of humanity (UNESCO World Heritage) in 2010 (see video below).

American food comes from mixed cultures, due to the American melting pot and, in that extent, it also evolved with American history following the different influxes of immigrants.
American specialties owe their very existence to everywhere else.

Influences from Europe are explained by the early migrations. For instance, British-Americans have developed the New-England cuisine, Cajun, Louisiana Creole cuisines are explained by the French migrations. Influences from Latin America, North America and Asia are due to late migrations, such as Japanese or Chinese food.

All those characteristics explain the difference of obesity issues between France and the United States. In the USA, the number of fast foods and the consumption of food between meals are the major explanations of what public health officials call the American "obesity epidemic".

The diversity of French food, the fact that French people usually don't eat between meals and the quality of food account for the fact that French people are the skinniest people in Europe. What is astonishing is that, when you type "French women" on Google, the first suggestion of typing is "French women don't get fat"!

However, reality is more complex.

Fast foods are vastly contested in America and the healthy food trend has been growing over the past few decades. Cities like San Francisco are pioneers in this field. 

Contrary to the cliches, there are a lot of fast-food restaurants in France (one MacDonald in every district of Paris!) and obesity is becoming a serious issue. Slow food is also important in the United States. We can observe that family dinners are widely practiced for holidays like Thanksgiving.

A Farmers' market in San Francisco

McDonald's restaurants in Paris

Sources

http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/RL/00437

http://www.repasgastronomiquedesfrancais.org/repas-gastronomique-des-francais-unesco/