Alex Hughes. Encyclopedia of Contemporary French Culture

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528

writers of the Theatre of the Absurd can be

said. however, to be linked by their philoso-

phy of pessimism and despair, and their iden-

tification of the absurdity of the human condi-

tion. Unlike Giraudoux and existentialist play-

wrights such as Sartre and Camus, who used

the accepted framework of theatre practice as

a vehicle for their intellectual ideas, dramatists

of the Absurd were united by their successful,

revolutionary attempts to make both their the-

atrical methods and their subject matter ab-

surd. Hence the plays of the Theatre of the

Absurd do not discuss the futility of the hu-

man condition: they show it, using a complex

web of stage imagery and poetry. Rejecting

standard theatrical devices such as linear plot

and straightforward characterization, the plays

of the Absurd encapsulate their philosophy in

their approach to staging and text as much as

in theme. Working on a more primal, psycho-

logical level than their existentialist forebears,

playwrights such as Beckett and Ionesco un-

dermined conventions, experimenting with

structure to such an extent that at first their

plays may appear to have no cohesive struc-

ture at all. In Waiting for Godot (En attend-

ant Godot), for example, it appears that noth-

ing happens. There is no development of ac-

tion. The characters are clown-like figures

rather than psychologically rounded charac-

ters acting according to their own reason—

there is no reason in their world.

It is by virtue of their ability to transfer the

néant of their philosophy into concrete stage

images that the playwrights of the Absurd can

be seen to be particularly distinguished. Struc-

ture, character and language are used to em-

body their ideas, rather than to act as a vehi-

cle for them. Unlike the works of the poetic

avant-garde also operating in Paris in the 1950s

and 1960s, the playwrights of the Absurd regu-

larly used language to offend or shock in a

way which often appeared nonsensical (hence

reflecting their general Weltanschauung). As

well as manifesting black humour, many

Absurdist plays aim also to confuse and con-

front expectations and concepts of form. This

aggressive desire to shock was intended to

evoke an emotional rather than a reasoned

response. Ionesco’s unpublished alternative

endings for The Bald Primadonna (La

Cantatrice Chauve), for example, required ei-

ther the author to come on stage and harangue

the audience verbally, or extras placed in the

audience to get up and cause disruption.

By the 1960s, the plays of authors such as

Beckett and Ionesco, which had caused a stir

from their beginnings on Paris’s Left Bank,

had achieved international recognition. By

1960, Barrault was able to stage Ionesco’s

Rhinocéros at the Théâtre de l’Odéon in Paris,

and schedule Blin’s revival of Beckett’s Wait-

ing for Godot in 1961. The plays of the Ab-

surd are now considered contemporary clas-

sics worldwide and part of the established

modern repertoire.

ANNIE SPARKS

See also: existentialism; existentialist theatre;

theatre

theatres, national

Of the five national theatres run on state sub-

sidy in France, four are in Paris: the Comédie-

Française, the Théâtre National de l’Odéon—

Théâtre de l’Europe, the Théâtre de la Colline

and the Théâtre National de Chaillot. The fifth,

in Strasbourg, is the Théâtre National de Stras-

bourg. As well as these five institutions, the

state also funds forty-two regional theatre cen-

tres, known as Centres Dramatiques

Nationaux et Régionaux (National or Regional

Drama Centres), which consist of a permanent

venue and team, and run themselves along the

lines of commercial theatre, each as its own

business seeking funding outside the state as

well as receiving an average of 44 per cent of

income from the state.

The joint mission of all the national thea-

tres is threefold: to present major works from

the accepted repertoire in new and interesting

ways; to promote contemporary creation (in-

cluding non-text-based theatre as well as new

authors); and to try to appeal to as wide a

public as possible, with ticket prices fixed by

theatres, national

529

the state to keep prices down. They often man-

age to accomplish the latter through produc-

tions and national and international exchanges.

Each national theatre is headed by a director

chosen by the Ministry of Culture. Although

sharing a common mission, the repertoire of

the various national theatres differs slightly.

Of the five national theatres, the Comédie-

Française is the most famous and certainly the

oldest institution. It is obliged to show a mini-

mum of four different works per week, and

often even two plays a day. It is the only insti-

tution to have a permanent troupe of actors

(pensionnaires and sociétaires): all the other

national theatres maintain a permanent admin-

istrative staff, but hire actors according to their

needs. Recent directors have been Jean-Pierre

Vincent (1983–6), Antoine Vitez (1988–90),

Jacques Lassalle (1990–3) and Jean-Pierre

Miquel (1993–). The theatre under their lead-

ership has witnessed the growing importance

of modern authors such as Genet, Sartre,

Camus and Césaire, in addition to the classic

repertoire. The Vieux Colombier, the revived

theatre of Copeau fame, operating under the

direction of the Comédie-Française since 1993,

aims to mix more contemporary works with

the classics. In October 1996, the Comédie-

Française also opened another smaller per-

formance space, the Carrousel du Louvre, in

the gallery beneath the Louvre’s pyramid,

which concentrates on small-scale classic and

modern productions, and incorporates literary

discussion nights, a video theatre run in con-

nection with ARTE showing recordings of his-

toric productions, and a video archive.

Functioning as a subsidiary under the um-

brella of the Comédie-Française since 1968,

the Théâtre de l’Odéon provides the home for

a wide-ranging national and international

classic and contemporary repertoire. In 1983,

the Théâtre de l’Europe company arrived at

the Odéon to perform for six months of the

year, under the direction of Giorgio Strehler:

in 1990, the company took up permanent resi-

dence at the Odéon (and it was renamed Le

Théâtre National de l’Odéon—Théâtre de

l’Europe to reflect this), with the Catalan Lluis

Pasqual at the helm. He was replaced by

Georges Lavaudant in 1996. The theatre’s

brief, to produce itself and to welcome com-

panies from all over the world, has led to some

memorable productions over the years from

(among others) the Deutsche Schaubühne, the

Royal Shakespeare Company, the Théâtre du

Soleil, the Théâtre National Populaire (TNP)

and the Théâtre de Nanterre-Amandiers. Prior

to 1990, it also hosted productions by the

Comédie-Française’s Jeune Théâtre National

(National Youth Theatre). The Petit Odéon,

the smaller of its two auditoria, has been home

to numerous contemporary works from play-

wrights including Heiner Müller.

Following in the wake of the Théâtre de

L’Est de Paris (East Paris Theatre), and

founded in 1988, the Colline is the newest of

the national theatres. Its two auditoria, the

main theatre and the studio, stage twentieth-

century French and international classics,

ranging from Audiberti to Tony Kushner in

the 1996–7 season, for example. In 1996,

Alain Françon took over from Argentinian

director Jorge Lavelli as director.

The Théâtre National de Chaillot was also

founded in 1968 in the Chaillot palace in

Paris, taking over from Vilar’s (1951–63) and

Georges Wilson’s (1963–8) Théâtre National

Populaire. The label of Théâtre National

Populaire passed on to Planchon’s theatre in

Villeurbanne three years later, while the

Théâtre National de Chaillot, under the direc-

tion of Wilson, began to work towards the

requirements of its new national theatrical

mission. This was, essentially, to provide a

home for the popular theatre repertoire in

Paris, with a wide-ranging programme de-

signed to appeal to the widest public possible.

In 1973, Jack Lang nominated Vitez and Du

Pavilion as co-directors to undertake a radical

revamp of the main auditorium, although the

following year Michel Guy, the Secretary of

State for Culture, vetoed the nomination.

Perinetti became director, until 1981, when

Jack Lang was able to reinstate Vitez until his

move to the Comédie-Française in 1988.

Jérôme Savary was elected in his place.

The Théâtre National de Strasbourg di-

vides its energies between performing the

theatres, national

530

established repertoire and research and crea-

tion, part of which involves the work of its

renowned theatre school, L’École Nationale

Supérieure d’Art Dramatique. Its director is

Jean-Louis Martinelli, who has been in the

position since 1993: well-known predecessors

include Vincent (1975–83) and Lassalle

(1985–90), both of whom went on to become

the director (administrateur général) of the

Comédie-Française.

ANNIE SPARKS

See also: arts funding; theatres, private

Further reading

Abirached, R. (1992) Le Théâtre et le prince

1981–1991, Paris: Plon (see the chapter on

public theatres).

La Mode d’emploi (1994), Paris: Direction du

Théâtre et des Spectacles (a booklet pub-

lished by the Ministère de la Culture et de

la Francophonie, detailing national thea-

tres, their mission, and factual information

about the National Drama Centres).

Temkine, R. (1992) Le Théâtre en l’état, Paris:

Éditions Théâtrales (deals with public thea-

tre’s historical and contemporary context

and role).

theatres, private

The private theatre tradition in France—thea-

tres that operate independently and are not

reliant to any significant degree on state fund-

ing or governorship—owes its origins to the

popular boulevard theatres of the Parisian

Right Bank during the nineteenth century,

home to a genre of light, romantic comedy

which continues to this day to be the staple

diet of Parisian ‘boulevard’ theatre-goers.

While the private theatres of Paris are certainly

responsible for a more varied selection of

works than this, it is this kind of play which

draws large audiences. For this reason there is

also a longstanding tradition of ‘star’ perform-

ers in private theatre productions, important

in drawing the crowds. Many famous film ac-

tors return occasionally to the stage, bringing

an audience to the theatre to see them as much

as the play. For example, contemporary play-

wright Éric Emmanuel Schmitt’s philosophi-

cal play Variations énigmatiques, staged at the

Théâtre Marigny in the autumn of 1996, be-

came the success of the season, due in no small

part to the fact that it starred Alain Delon in

his great theatrical comeback after twenty

years off the stage, and fellow film actor

Francis Huster.

According to 1994 figures, private theatres

numbered 48 in France, 47 of which were in

Paris (the other being the Théâtre du VIIIème

in Lyon). Private theatres are self-governing,

usually with a theatre practitioner at the helm,

even if the building itself is let by a third party

(insurance companies are often the landlords

of private theatres). Few private theatres are

actually owned by the people who run them—

the Poche, Variétés and Palais Royal theatres

being the best-known exceptions. Most thea-

tres pay rent to the landlord, calculated ac-

cording to the number of seats in the venue.

Seat prices in private theatre are usually higher

than in state-run theatres, due to the dual com-

mercial pressures of higher rates of VAT on

private theatre seats and the lack of subsidy.

However, it would be wrong to suggest that

private theatre receives no subsidy at all. That

said, there is very little money allocated to

them in comparison with the national thea-

tres and Centres Dramatiques Nationaux

(CDNs). In 1994, for example, the Direction

du Théâtre et des Spectacles, the government

department responsible for distributing money

to theatres, gave only 47.3 million francs to

private theatre (including street theatre and

circus companies), while the five national thea-

tres received 316.6 million francs and the

CDNs a similar figure (Direction du Théâtre

et des Spectacles 1994). Government money

also partly funds the Fonds du Soutien (Sup-

port Fund) to which many private theatres

subscribe. It aims to support private theatres

needing to redress the balance between outgo-

ings and receipts on a particular production.

theatres, private

531

To qualify for membership and support from

this fund, theatres must have over 200 seats:

those with between 200 and 500 seats usually

receive the most help. The amount of aid given

also varies according to the play: new French

creations attract more help than classics or

one-person shows. The fund also allocates

money for renovation of theatre buildings, as

well as to help support a production which

has been slow to be successful, but which is

succeeding at last, and to mount any of the

first three plays written by a new French au-

thor. The City of Paris also helps subsidize a

number of theatres and productions, and aims

to encourage theatre-going with its annual

two-for-the-price-of-one ticket deal for many

productions in the capital. In recent years, the

private theatre sector, which accounts for half

the total theatre-going in France, has faced

increasing competition from the public sector,

which (thanks to government funding) can

produce often elaborate creations while still

being able to keep ticket prices at reasonable

levels. Private theatre, on the other hand, has

suffered from inflationary costs and thus has

to be especially careful in its choice of play,

taking into account production costs and the

need for long runs. Many more private thea-

tres are also turning to the Fonds du Soutien

for aid. Whereas the 1950s and 1960s saw

the small private theatres of the Left Bank in-

novating with the launch of Beckett, Ionesco

and other avant-garde work, in the 1990s pri-

vate theatres are less able to experiment, need-

ing to rely on classics, a star performer or a

show with low costs, such as a one-person

show, often even to come close to break-even

point. Private theatre is, however, fighting

back against the competition from state-

funded theatre by attempting to save money

on productions and make itself competitive

once more. Increasingly, theatres are working

on co-productions together, pooling resources,

risks and potential profits, with the hope of

redeveloping an arena for innovation and ex-

perimentation in the future.

ANNIE SPARKS

Further reading

La Mode d’emploi (1994) Paris: Direction du

Théâtre et des Spectacles (a government de-

partment booklet on theatre expenditure).

Temkine, R. (1992) Le Théâtre en l’état, Paris:

Éditions Théâtrales (see the chapter on pri-

vate theatre).

theme parks

There are around sixty theme parks in France,

many of which were built in the 1980s and early

1990s, as their popularity soared. The most

successful parks include the Schtroumpf

(Smurf)-themed park near the German border,

and Futuroscope, a science park opened in 1987

near Poitiers, which includes an Imax 3D cin-

ema (600 sq m) that projects 70 mm films de-

picting the wonders of the natural world (be-

tween 1993 and 1995, attendance at this park

more than doubled, from 1.3 million to 2.8

million visitors). The ever-popular Parc Astérix,

located in the Ermenoville forest 60 km from

Paris, is based on the Belgian comic strip of the

same name. But, like the ancient Gauls depicted

in the Astérix comics, it must contend with fierce

competition from a formidable invading force:

the American Disney Corporation.

The biggest and best known of France’s

theme parks, Disneyland Paris was originally

called EuroDisney. The name change, effected

in 1995, signalled an attempt to reverse ini-

tially disappointing attendance figures both by

linking the park to its successful Californian

predecessor and by invoking the romantic ap-

peal of Paris (though the park is actually situ-

ated in Marne-la-Vallée, 32 km away). The

new name, at once more American and more

French, suggests the conflict inherent in its

dual identity.

From its inception, the park was viewed by

French intellectuals (such as Ariane

Mnouchkine, who likened it to un Chernobyl

culturel) as an emblem of American cultural

imperialism. Many of the employees, and the

theme parks

532

intellectuals who championed their cause, ob-

jected to the imposition of a regimented

American work ethic, manifested in the strict

dress code and grooming guidelines, the en-

forced cheerfulness and the corporate environ-

ment. Equally unpopular was the park’s ban

on alcohol, which followed the company

policy in the American parks, but which was

not appreciated by the French, who were ac-

customed to drinking wine or beer with meals.

This ban was eventually lifted.

Theme parks have often been compared to

world fairs. Although the comparison may be

justified to a certain extent, theme parks and

world fairs adhere to different temporal and

spatial logics. Whereas world fairs literally

occupy a city for their duration, they are

ephemeral by design: when their time is up,

they are razed to the ground, leaving few traces

of their existence. On the other hand, theme

parks, as self-contained artificial cities, are

pushed outside the borders of the real city, but

they are permanent (for as long as they are

profitable). A fixture of leisure time, periph-

eral to the city and peripheral to work, theme

parks serve as a constant reminder of both.

ELIZABETH EZRA

Further reading

Robrieux, P. (1978) Maurice Thorez: vie

secrète et vie publique, Paris: Fayard (a bi-

ography by the author of a four-volume

history of the PCF).

Tinguely, Jean

b. 1925, Fribourg, Switzerland;

d. 1991, Berne

Sculptor

Tinguely was the creator of both static sculp-

ture and motorized constructions, including

machines designed to produce paintings, self-

destroying machines (one of the most famous

of which, Homage to New York, self-de-

structed in the gardens of the Museum of

Modern Art in New York in 1960) and large

percussion sculptures known as ‘sound reliefs’.

Tinguely was interested from his student days

in movement as an artistic medium, and in

1955 he participated in an important exhibi-

tion of kinetic and mobile art in Paris. The

same year he met Yves Klein, with whom he

collaborated in 1958. His friendship with

Klein and other artists led to the founding of

New Realism (Nouveau Réalisme) which

sought to reassess artistic form and material.

In the 1960s, he produced sculptures made of

scrap metal and junk material, especially in

the Baluba series. In 1983, the Stravinsky

Fountain, on which he collaborated with Niki

de Saint-Phalle, was inaugurated beside the

Thorez, Maurice

533

Pompidou Centre, on the roof of the Institute

for Acoustic and Musical Research (IRCAM)

directed by Pierre Boulez.

DEBRA KELLY

Further reading

Worton, M. (ed.) (1995), Michel Tournier,

London: Longman (a collection of essays).

trade

Trade is a feature of all societies and all econo-

mies. However, during the postwar period, the

term ‘trade’ for Western countries such as

France has become synonymous with ‘foreign

trade’. The increase in importance of foreign

trade is one of the main features of the post-

war economic development of France, and

France is one of the top five exporting econo-

mies in the world.

From the moment that France accepted

Marshall Aid after World War II, the country

was drawn into the process of globalization

of trade led by the United States. This was to

have dramatic consequences for the French

economy and economic policy-making. France

has traditionally had a reputation for being

protectionist. Particularly in the 1950s and

1960s, the state saw it as its duty to protect

fledgling industries from foreign competition.

This was possible because much French pro-

duction was for the home market and there-

fore France did not need to open the doors of

its economy to foreign competition in order

to be allowed to enter foreign markets itself.

However, with the corning of the European

Economic Community (EEC) and the lower-

ing of protectionist barriers for manufactured

goods between member-states in 1968, the

ability of French governments to protect

French industry was eroded. Consequently,

trade increased between member-states.

Furthermore, with the increase in oil prices

brought about by the 1974 oil crisis, France had

to offset the high costs of its imported energy

needs with exports of manufactured goods and

services. Indeed, from the 1970s onwards, the

balance of trade has been a major preoccupa-

tion of French governments, since the French

economy has more often been in the red than in

the black. The French have attempted to reduce

their dependence on imported energy by devel-

oping the nuclear industry. None the less, the

main problem for France concerning foreign

trade now comes from the competition which

the country faces from the newly industrializ-

ing nations of the Pacific Rim. Unfortunately,

Tournier, Michel

535

French industry specializes in the production of

the same kind of goods as are produced by these

countries, but costs in France are much higher.

France therefore aspires to be an economy spe-

cializing in high-technology products, like Ger-

many and Japan.

JAN WINDEBANK

See also: European Union; manufacturing in-

dustry; multinational companies

transport

Transport networks in France have been shaped

to respond to the central role of Paris. How-

ever, since the 1970s, the need for better con-

nections with the rest of Europe, as well as re-

gional development policies, have helped to

develop more balanced networks. Road is in-

creasingly France’s favoured mode of transport,

but rail has maintained a strong presence.

Until very recently, railway and road net-

works had a striking shape: organized as a

‘star’ structure, centring on Paris and radiat-

ing across France, this illustrated the concen-

tration of population and power in the Île-de-

France. Before the 1980s, it was sometimes

easier when travelling by train from the west

of France to the Rhône valley to go to Paris

first, and then down again, avoiding the badly

served Massif Central.

However, France has a very high density of

small départementales (county roads) and nar-

rower chemins communaux (parish lanes)

which spread through some 36,500 munici-

palities. The wider Routes Nationales consti-

tute the primary road network and became a

symbol of the growth of travel by car when,

in the 1950s, the first cheap models, such as

the Citroën 2CV or the Renault 4, became

popular. Some of these roads have now be-

come part of popular culture. Charles Trenet’s

hit song, Nationale 7, celebrated the national

road that follows the Rhone valley towards

the Côte d’Azur, and is the emblem of holi-

days and freedom. The French motorway net-

work was developed from the mid-1960s; it

now covers nearly 9,000 km (nearly three

times the length of motorways in Great Brit-

ain). Most motorways were built by part-pub-

lic, part-private consortia, which collect tolls

from motorway users.

The car has become a way of life for most

of the French population, deeply affecting so-

ciocultural behaviour. From the beginnings of

the car era, the mythology of speed and indi-

vidual freedom associated with the possession

and control of a vehicle have become major

cultural themes. The novelist Paul Morand, in

L’Homme pressé (Man in a Hurry), extolled

the virtues of speed at any price. More re-

cently, Françoise Sagan, in Avec mon Meilleur

Souvenir (With my Best Memory), wrote

about racing cars and the excitement of speed-

ing. The car itself is seen as a highly symboli-

cally charged object, the epitome of modern

values; this was particularly well expressed by

Roland Barthes’s Mythologies in the analysis

of the Citroën DS19, a car which appeared in

1955 with a striking ‘designer’ shape.

The cost of a car civilization has been con-

siderable, with France having one of the high-

est road accident rates in Europe (13,787 peo-

ple were killed in 1975, the worst year). Since

then, the toll has fallen (around 8,500 deaths

in 1994, against 1,700 in Great Britain). Traf-

fic jams hit car commuters day after day, as

do the mass departures for summer or week-

end holidays for which France is famous. Traf-

fic jams and accidents are also now part of the

culture—as is evidenced by the themes of films,

such as Jean-Luc Godard’s Week-End or

Claude Sautet’s Les Choses de la vie.

Other means of transport also took their

place in the culture of modernity, when, just

before World War I, it transpired for the first

time that the whole world was accessible.

Since then, the romantic appeal of transconti-

nental rail travel and ocean liners has died

out—the French merchant fleet has dwindled.

Apart from ferries in the Channel and Medi-

terranean Sea, only some holiday cruise ships

have upheld the tradition of the great liners

such as the series of Normandie and France

which competed with the Queen Mary and

Queen Elizabeth for the Blue Ribbon across

transport

536

the Atlantic Ocean. Similarly, rail had consid-

erable appeal before losing out to the car. It

became the most powerful means of transport

between the two world wars, hence the use of

railway sabotage by the French Resistance

during World War II, reconstituted in René

Clément’s film La Bataille du rail (1946).

Steam engines now inspire nostalgia rather

than awe, despite the fact that the trainspotter

does not exist in French popular culture.

Many local and regional railway lines disap-

peared in the 1960s and 1970s. However, the

train has survived as an efficient interregional

and international passenger transport system,

through the train à grande vitesse (TGV) pro-

gramme. Launched in 1981 on the Paris-Lyon

line, the TGV regained the world rail-speed

record in 1990, with over 500 kph, which is

faster than passenger aeroplanes in 1960.

TGV lines have now spread across most re-

gions and compete with internal air flights—

indeed, Paris is now 110 minutes away from

Lyon, instead of 240 minutes, as in 1960. The

Eurostar services between London, Paris, Lille

and Brussels have also been immensely suc-

cessful despite early problems.

France has been one of the pioneer coun-

tries for air flight. The first winged device to lift

up in the air with a helix and propeller was built

and flown by Clément Ader near Paris in 1890,

and Louis Blériot first flew over the Channel in

1909. It inspired many dreams, and Antoine de

Saint-Exupéry wrote novels imagining the new

professional pilot as modern knight.

A last major component of the transport sys-

tem comprises the urban transport systems (tube,

trains, buses and tramways). The most impor-

tant covers the Paris region, an integrated sys-

tem of underground railways (the Métro) and a

fast regional transit system, the RER (Réseau

Express Régional), feeding on each other and

on the SNCF commuter network. Urban trans-

port in Paris is relatively cheap, with popular

season tickets (the Carte Orange). The system is

heavily subsidized by the state, and a special tax

is imposed upon the employers to fund the trans-

port system. However, this does not prevent the

car from being an urban nuisance, with air pol-

lution and loss of time becoming real problems.

FRANÇOIS NECTOUX

Further reading

Baleste, M. (1992) L’Économie française,

Paris: Masson (regularly re-edited, this work

describes the various transport networks).

Trenet, Charles

b. 1913, Narbonne

Singer-songwriter

The most influential French singer-songwriter

of the prewar and postwar periods, Charles

Trenet enjoyed a seemingly never-ending ca-

reer which stretched from 1933 to 1992 and

includes some 350 compositions, excluding his

musical settings of works by Verlaine,

Rimbaud and others. Having started as a du-

ettist with Johnny Hess (as Charles et Johnny,

1933–7), and characteristically singing songs

which offer an escape in time and in space,

Trenet was forced to interrupt his career in

order to do his military service. Relaunched

as a solo performer in 1938 and nicknamed le

fou chantant (the singing madman), Trenet

incorporated swing, jazz, the waltz and tango,

not to mention tropical rhythms, in a reper-

toire which rejuvenated French song after its

decline into the vulgar innuendo of the café-

concert and later cabarets.

A wordsmith of unusual talent whose songs

captivated the imagination of the French pre-

war generation, Trenet was sung by Maurice

Chevalier as early as 1937—as in Y’a d’la joie

(There is Joy), a song performed much later

by Georges Brassens, who enthusiastically ac-

knowledged the immense formative influence

of the composer of this piece. Writing often

poetic texts which sometimes bear the imprint

of Surrealism, or which sketch an everyday

scene or the portrait of a woman, Trenet

Trenet, Charles

537

created sounds (onomatopoeia being a favour-

ite device) which merge seamlessly with his mu-

sic. A prolific composer whose output was

scarcely diminished during the war years,

Trenet continued to record and to undertake

stage performances, refusing to abandon the

Americanized rhythms which were scarcely

designed to please the German forces of the

Occupation. With an ever-broadening reper-

toire (tender love songs and parodies co-exist-

ing alongside swing numbers), Trenet increased

his popularity in France significantly before

reaching international stardom with arguably

his most famous composition, (Somewhere)

Beyond the Sea (La Mer), in 1945.

Sung by an ever-increasing number of stars

(including Yves Montand, Les Compagnons de

la chanson, Juliette Gréco and Tino Rossi),

Trenet continued to enjoy huge success in France

until the end of the 1950s, when his output of

songs declined as he travelled extensively

abroad. If foreign tours diminished to some

extent his creative verve during the 1960s,

Trenet reacquainted himself with a French au-

dience at the Olympia in 1971 and 1975 (the

latter allegedly being his farewell performance)

before triumphing at the ‘Printemps de Bourges’

(Bourges Spring Festival)—an annual music fes-

tival staged at Easter from 1977 where, despite

the increasing melancholy which characterized

his later work, he captivated a new, young au-

dience. Persuaded to come out of retirement in

1988 (for a concert at the Châtelet) and in 1989

(for a final recital at the Palais des Congrès),

Trenet made his last impact on record sales in

1992 when he released thirteen songs. It would

be almost impossible fully to assess the impor-

tance of Trenet in the field of French song in

the twentieth century. In addition to his influ-

ence as indicated above, it would be necessary

to add the names of Aznavour, Bécaud, Jonasz,

Souchon and many more to the list of distin-

guished performers and singer-songwriters who

are clearly indebted to him. Suffice it to say that,

without him, French song as we know it today

would never have existed.

IAN PICKUP

Further reading

Pérez, M. (1964) Charles Trenet, Paris:

Seghers (an account of Trenet’s career until

the 1960s).

Trintignant, Jean-Louis

b. 1930, Pont St-Esprit

Actor

Primarily a screen actor, his career took off,

curiously given his timid persona, in two no-

torious Roger Vadim films—And God Created

Woman (Et Dieu area la femme) in 1956 and

Les Liaisons dangereuses (1959). Trintignant

is the master of the understated virtual non-

performance, yet the roles he has most con-

sistently played are ones of extremes in terms

of emotions or issues of political or personal

power, such as Costa-Gavras’s Z (1969) and

Bertolucci’s The Conformist (1970). The

larger and more impassioned the character he

is to inhabit, the greater the minimalist per-

formance and the wider the range of modula-

tion of his voice—he can exude terror or ha-

tred, love or seduction through an almost si-

lent enunciation.

SUSAN HAYWARD