Chanteuse in the City: The Realist Singer in French Film
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
Long before Edith Piaf sang "La vie en rose," her predecessors took to the stage of the belle epoque music hall, singing of female desire, the treachery of men, the harshness of working-class life, and the rough neighborhoods of Paris. Icon of working-class femininity and the underworld, the realist singer signaled the emergence of new cultural roles for women as well as shifts in the nature of popular entertainment. Chanteuse in the City provides a genealogy of realist performance through analysis of the music hall careers and film roles of Mistinguett, Josephine Baker, Fréhel, and Damia. Above all, Conway offers a fresh interpretation of 1930s French cinema, emphasizing its love affair with popular song and its close connections to the music hall and the café-concert. Illustrations: 31 b/w photographs
From the Back Cover
"This book represents a significant contribution to scholarship, and will fill a serious gap. Conway's entirely original research is well structured and clearly written, imparts expert readings, and is strengthened by historical groundedness. This is an extremely important book."-Christopher Faulkner, Carleton University, author of The Social Cinema of Jean Renoir "Offers fresh, challenging perspectives on French film history, on women in French cinema, and on the relationship between film of the 1930s and the city of Paris."-Judith Mayne, Ohio State University, author of Cinema and Spectatorship
Chanteuse in the City: The Realist Singer in French Film
Chanteuse in the City: The Realist Singer in French Film,Kelley Conway,University of California Press,0520240197,Biography / Autobiography,Cinema/Film: Book,Composers & Musicians - Country & Folk,Europe - France,Film & Video - Reference,France,General,History and criticism,Motion picture music,Performing Arts,Popular music,Women singers,Women's Studies - General
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