pele SciaSction - new media

FRANCE
Keeping Intact the Mantle
of Cultural Inheritance
The culture of France is very rich and diverse,
reflecting regional differences as well as the
influence of immigration. France plays since
centuries an important worldwide role as a cultural
center, with Paris as a world center of high culture.
The importance of French culture has waned and
waxed over the centuries, mostly alongside its
economic, political and military importance. Its
formal global expression today consists of regular
conventions of leaders from la Francité, the group
of countries or nations where French is the main or
one of the main languages: France, Belgium,
Switzerland, Canada and a number of countries in
Africa. Informally, French culture has been and still
is an important counterweight against the
worldwide predominance of Anglo-saxon culture. It
is characterised by a carefully considered balancing
of rationality and sensitivity, of expression and
analysis and of leisure and productivity.
According to Hofstede, it is moderately
individualistic and has a relatively high Power
Distance Index..
Religion
France is a secular country where freedom of thought and of
religion is preserved. Roman Catholicism is not considered
anymore a state religion, as it was before the 1789 Revolution
and throughout the various, non-republican regimes of the
19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, France was
a largely rural country with conservative Catholic morals. In
the course of the century, major changes have occurred: the
countryside has become largely depopulated, and the
population has largely become de-Christianised. This has led
to important changes in social morals.
Specific Communities
The Bohemian geography of Paris deserves an article in itself.
Many cultural icons spent some years in Paris, including
Hemingway, Picasso, Toulouse Lautrec, Gertrude Stein,
Samuel Beckett and many others.
Painting
The arts flourished already 1,200 years ago, at the time of
Charlemagne, as can be seen in many hand made and hand
illustrated books of that time. Classic painters of the 17th
OPEN TRADE 23
Oct-Dec 2007