What is Culture? • Culture consists of beliefs and values learned through the socialization process as well as material artifacts. • Culture guides the social interactions between members of society and influences the personal beliefs and values that shape a person's perception of their environment:
What is Culture? • "Culture is the learned set of beliefs, values, norms and material goods shared by group members. . . • Culture consists of everything we learn in groups during the life course-from infancy to old age
French Culture • The culture of France and of the French people has been shaped by its geography, by profound historical events, and by foreign and internal forces and groups. • France, and in particular Paris, has played an important role as a center of high culture and of decorative arts since the seventeenth century, first in Europe, and from the nineteenth century on, world wide.
French Culture • From the late nineteenth century, France has also played an important role in modern art, cinema, fashion, and cuisine. • French culture today is marked both by great regional and socioeconomic differences and by strong unifying tendencies.
Some Elements of French Culture • • • Art Architecture Film Fashion Cuisine Language • • • Music Sports Politics Religion Traditions Education
Art Prehistoric
Middle Ages
Renaissance
Baroque
Neoclassicism
Romanticism
Impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism
Cubism
Le Louvre
Le Louvre
Architecture Roman Ruins
Les Châteaux
Paris Landmarks
Modern Structures
Film Birthplace of cinema – Les frères Lumières 1895
First Science Fiction Film Georges Méliès (Le Voyage dans la Lune 1902)
• La Nouvelle Vague – François Truffaut (400 Blows 1959)