The Shameful Peace; How French Artists and Intellectuals Survived the Nazi Occupation

by Frederic Spotts

• ISBN13: 9780300132908
• ISBN10: 0300132905
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2009-01-06
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

The German occupation of France from 1940 to 1945 presented wrenching challenges for the nation's artists and intellectuals. Some were able to flee the country; those who remainedincluding Gide and Celine, Picasso and Matisse, Cortot and Messiaen, and Cocteau and Gabinresponded in various ways. This fascinating book is the first to provide a full account of how France's artistic leaders coped under the crushing German presence. Some became heroes, others villains; most were simply survivors. Filled with anecdotes about the artists, composers, writers, filmmakers, and actors who lived through the years of occupation, the book illuminates the disconcerting experience of life and work within a cultural prison. Frederic Spotts uncovers Hitler's plan to pacify the French through an active cultural life, and examines the unexpected vibrancy of opera, ballet, painting, theater, and film in both the Occupied and Vichy Zones. In view of the longer-term goal to supplant French with German culture, Spotts offers moving insight into the predicament of French artists as they fought to preserve their country's cultural and national identity.

Author Biography

Frederic Spotts is author of Bayreuth: A History of the Wagner Festival, published by Yale University Press. His most recent book is Hitler and the Power of Aesthetics. He lives in France.

Table of Contents

The Judgement of Paris	p. 1
Good-bye to All That	p. 6
Oh, What a Lovely War!	p. 31
'I Get a Kick out of You'	p. 52
Bonjour Tristesse	p. 73
Songs without Words	p. 91
Artful Dodgers	p. 145
Enigma Variations	p. 192
Faiblesse Oblige	p. 221
Human, All Too Human	p. 254
Sources	p. 265
Index	p. 272
Acknowledgements	p. 284
Photograph Acknowledgements	p. 285
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