Remembering the Occupation in French film: National Identity in Postwar Europe (Studies in European Culture and History)

When Collective Memory Is A Source Of National Debate, The Public Representation Of History Quickly Becomes A Locus Of Controversy And Ideological Struggle. Remembering The Occupation In French Film Explores French Identity As It Is Articulated Through Cultural Representations Of Occupied France In French Film. This Work Shows How French Film Has Allowed For A Public Airing Of Current Concerns Through The Lens Of Memory's Recreations Of The Occupation. By Focusing On The Representation Of Women As The Symbol Of A Collective Identity Crisis, The Author Links France's Traditional Female Icon, Marianne, To The Multiple Unresolved Ambiguities That Have Continued To Plague France₂s Historical Reckoning With The War. Film As Memory: A Battleground For Shaping Identity -- Transitions Before The Sorrow: Criticism And Myth In The Late 1950s And Early 1960s -- Identity Politics In Films Of The 1970s -- Occupational Performances In Truffaut's The Last Metro -- Ambiguous National Icons In Chabrol's Story Of Women -- Love Stories, Real/cinematic Heroines, The Postmoderns: The 1980s And Beyond -- In Lieu Of A Conclusion. Leah D. Hewitt. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [231]-242) And Index. This work offers a sweeping, incisive analysis of the problematic ways French national identity in the postwar identity has been portrayed in feature films that dramatize the occupation in WWII. It covers a stunning array of works over six decades and affords a an extraordinarily perceptive cultural and historical examination of the relationships between cinematic representation and a national identity crisis rooted in unresolved conflicts about the meaning of occupation. - Richard J. Golsan, Professor of French and Department Head, Texas A & M University 'In this era in which moving images reign, this far-reaching and crystal-clear study of post-war film on the Occupation is most timely. Remembering the Occupation addresses the way societies remember what has shaken them; it will surely become a new 'must-read' among the ever-growing body of work that investigates the relationship between memory and history.' - Martine Guyot-Bender, author of Memoire en derive 'Hewitt masterfully tracks the important concept of individual and collective guilt and national responsibility in French films. This significant volume convinces by its originality as it offers new perspectives on a rich and ongoing scholarly discourse over France's unsavory past. For every scholar of French and Francophone studies, for specialists in film, gender and European history, but also for the learned people curious to read a compelling argument on how the Occupation is still alive in French culture today, this book is invaluable.' - Eliane DalMolin, Professor of French, Chair, French and Francophone Studies, and Editor, "Contemporary French & Francophone Studies, University of Connecticut When Collective Memory Is A Source Of National Debate, The Public Representation Of History Quickly Becomes A Locus Of Controversy And Ideological Struggle. Remembering The Occupation In French Film Explores French Identity As It Is Articulated Through Cultural Representations Of Occupied France In French Film. This Work Shows How French Film Has Allowed For A Public Airing Of Current Concerns Through The Lens Of Memory's Recreations Of The Occupation. By Focusing On The Representation Of Women As The Symbol Of A Collective Identity Crisis, The Author Links France's Traditional Female Icon, Marianne, To The Multiple Unresolved Ambiguities That Have Continued To Plague France2s Historical Reckoning With The War. Film As Memory: A Battleground For Shaping Identity -- Transitions Before The Sorrow: Criticism And Myth In The Late 1950s And Early 1960s -- Identity Politics In Films Of The 1970s -- Occupational Performances In Truffaut's The Last Metro -- Ambiguous National Icons In Chabrol's Story Of Women -- Love Stories, Real/cinematic Heroines, The Postmoderns: The 1980s And Beyond -- In Lieu Of A Conclusion. Leah D. Hewitt. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [231]-242) And Index. Front Matter....Pages i-viii Film as Memory: A Battleground for Shaping Identity....Pages 1-34 Transitions Before the “Sorrow”: Criticism and Myth in the Late 1950s and Early 1960s....Pages 35-64 Identity Politics in Films of the 1970s....Pages 65-99 Occupational Performances in Truffaut’s The Last Metro....Pages 101-124 Ambiguous National Icons in Chabrol’s Story of Women....Pages 125-153 Love Stories, Real/Cinematic Heroines, the Postmoderns: The 1980s and Beyond....Pages 155-189 In Lieu of a Conclusion....Pages 191-195 Back Matter....Pages 197-254 When collective memory is a source of national debate, the public representation of history quickly becomes a locus of controversy and ideological struggle. This work shows how French film has allowed for a public airing of current concerns through the lens of memory's recreations of the Occupation. This book explores the ways French postwar filmmakers over the last sixty years have represented crises in national identity through representations of the Occupation in World War II