Composing the Citizen: Music as Public Utility in Third Republic France
Jann Pasler
Abstract
This book challenges modernist ideas about the value and role of music in Western society, demonstrating how music can help forge a nation. Exploring the history of Third Republic France, the book shows how French people from all classes and political persuasions looked to music to revitalize the country after the turbulent crises of 1871. Embraced not as a luxury but for its “public utility,” music became an object of public policy as integral to modern life as power and water, a way to teach critical judgment and inspire national pride. It helped people to forget the past, voice conflicting ... More
This book challenges modernist ideas about the value and role of music in Western society, demonstrating how music can help forge a nation. Exploring the history of Third Republic France, the book shows how French people from all classes and political persuasions looked to music to revitalize the country after the turbulent crises of 1871. Embraced not as a luxury but for its “public utility,” music became an object of public policy as integral to modern life as power and water, a way to teach critical judgment and inspire national pride. It helped people to forget the past, voice conflicting aspirations, and imagine a shared future. Based on a survey of archival material, this interdisciplinary work looks beyond elites and the histories their agendas have dominated to open windows onto the musical tastes and practices of amateurs as well as professionals. A history of the period emerges, one rooted in political realities and the productive tensions between the political and the aesthetic. The book ignites broad debates about music's role in democracy and its meaning in our lives.
Keywords:
democracy,
critical judgment,
national pride,
musical taste,
public policy
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2009 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780520257405 |
| Published to California Scholarship Online: May 2012 |
DOI:10.1525/california/9780520257405.001.0001 |
