And the show went on: cultural life in Nazi-occupied Paris
(Book)
Author:
Published:
New York : Alfred A. Knopf, c2010.
Physical Desc:
xiii, 399 pages, [16] pages of plates : ill., map ; 25 cm.
Status:
North Highlands-Antelope
944.361 R544 2010
North Natomas
944.361 R544 2010
Description
On June 14, 1940, German tanks rolled into a silent and deserted Paris. Eight days later, a humbled France accepted defeat along with foreign occupation. The only consolation was that, while the swastika now flew over Paris, the City of Light was undamaged. Soon, a peculiar kind of normality returned as theaters, opera houses, movie theaters and nightclubs reopened for business. This suited both conquerors and vanquished: the Germans wanted Parisians to be distracted, while the French could show that, culturally at least, they had not been defeated. Over the next four years, the artistic life of Paris flourished with as much verve as in peacetime. Only a handful of writers and intellectuals asked if this was an appropriate response to the horrors of a world war.
Alan Riding introduces us to a panoply of writers, painters, composers, actors and dancers who kept working throughout the occupation. Maurice Chevalier and Édith Piaf sang before French and German audiences. Pablo Picasso, whose art was officially banned, continued to paint in his Left Bank apartment. More than two hundred new French films were made, including Marcel Carné’s classic, Les Enfants du paradis. Thousands of books were published by authors as different as the virulent anti-Semite Céline and the anti-Nazis Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre. Meanwhile, as Jewish performers and creators were being forced to flee or, as was Irène Némirovsky, deported to death camps, a small number of artists and intellectuals joined the resistance.
Throughout this penetrating and unsettling account, Riding keeps alive the quandaries facing many of these artists. Were they “saving” French culture by working? Were they betraying France if they performed before German soldiers or made movies with Nazi approval? Was it the intellectual’s duty to take up arms against the occupier? Then, after Paris was liberated, what was deserving punishment for artists who had committed “intelligence with the enemy”?
By throwing light on this critical moment of twentieth-century European cultural history, And the Show Went On focuses anew on whether artists and writers have a special duty to show moral leadership in moments of national trauma.
Alan Riding introduces us to a panoply of writers, painters, composers, actors and dancers who kept working throughout the occupation. Maurice Chevalier and Édith Piaf sang before French and German audiences. Pablo Picasso, whose art was officially banned, continued to paint in his Left Bank apartment. More than two hundred new French films were made, including Marcel Carné’s classic, Les Enfants du paradis. Thousands of books were published by authors as different as the virulent anti-Semite Céline and the anti-Nazis Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre. Meanwhile, as Jewish performers and creators were being forced to flee or, as was Irène Némirovsky, deported to death camps, a small number of artists and intellectuals joined the resistance.
Throughout this penetrating and unsettling account, Riding keeps alive the quandaries facing many of these artists. Were they “saving” French culture by working? Were they betraying France if they performed before German soldiers or made movies with Nazi approval? Was it the intellectual’s duty to take up arms against the occupier? Then, after Paris was liberated, what was deserving punishment for artists who had committed “intelligence with the enemy”?
By throwing light on this critical moment of twentieth-century European cultural history, And the Show Went On focuses anew on whether artists and writers have a special duty to show moral leadership in moments of national trauma.
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Status
North Highlands-Antelope
944.361 R544 2010
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North Natomas
944.361 R544 2010
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More Details
Format:
Book
Edition:
1st ed.
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780307268976, 0307268977
Notes
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (p. [353]-378) and index.
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Citations
APA Citation (style guide)
Riding, A. (2010). And the show went on: cultural life in Nazi-occupied Paris. New York, Alfred A. Knopf.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Riding, Alan. 2010. And the Show Went On: Cultural Life in Nazi-occupied Paris. New York, Alfred A. Knopf.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Riding, Alan, And the Show Went On: Cultural Life in Nazi-occupied Paris. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 2010.
MLA Citation (style guide)Riding, Alan. And the Show Went On: Cultural Life in Nazi-occupied Paris. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 2010.
Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
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Grouped Work ID:
26ad9fd4-ecb7-1f5b-660e-23d4946466fb
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Record Information
Last Sierra Extract Time | Aug 29, 2024 12:30:20 AM |
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Last File Modification Time | Aug 29, 2024 12:31:09 AM |
Last Grouped Work Modification Time | Sep 07, 2024 02:15:45 AM |
MARC Record
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003 | OCoLC | ||
005 | 20101101105408.0 | ||
008 | 100420s2010 nyuabf b 001 0 eng | ||
010 | |a 2010016841 | ||
020 | |a 9780307268976 | ||
020 | |a 0307268977 | ||
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050 | 0 | 0 | |a D802.F82 |b P3772 2010 |
082 | 0 | 0 | |a 944/.3610816 |2 22 |
099 | |a 944.361 R544 2010 | ||
100 | 1 | |a Riding, Alan. | |
245 | 1 | 0 | |a And the show went on : |b cultural life in Nazi-occupied Paris / |c Alan Riding. |
250 | |a 1st ed. | ||
260 | |a New York : |b Alfred A. Knopf, |c c2010. | ||
300 | |a xiii, 399 p., [16] p. of plates : |b ill., map ; |c 25 cm. | ||
504 | |a Includes bibliographical references (p. [353]-378) and index. | ||
505 | 0 | |a Everyone on stage -- Not so droll -- Shall we dance? -- L'Américain -- Paris by night -- Resistance as an idea -- Maréchal, nous voilà! -- Vivace, ma non troppo -- A ripped canvas -- Distraction on screen -- Mirroring the past -- Writing for the enemy -- Chez Florence -- "On the side of life" -- The pendulum swings -- Vengeance and amnesia -- Surviving at a price. | |
650 | 0 | |a World War, 1939-1945 |z France |z Paris. | |
650 | 0 | |a Popular culture |z France |z Paris |x History |y 20th century. | |
650 | 0 | |a Artists |z France |x History |y 1940-1944. | |
651 | 0 | |a Paris (France) |x Social life and customs |y 20th century. | |
651 | 0 | |a Paris (France) |x Intellectual life |y 20th century. | |
651 | 0 | |a Paris (France) |x History |y 1940-1944. | |
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