France in Flux: Space, Territory, and Contemporary Culture éds. par Blatt Ari J. et Welch Edward (review)

This is an exciting look into the "shape" of metropolitan France's national identity. The eight wide-ranging articles bring new and original ideas to the table as they contend with such diverse topics as topography, politics, and ecology through French literary and visual culture since the 1980s. Taking a deeper look into a variety of marginal, peripheral, and hybrid spaces and exploring landscapes and people, the book invites a renewed critical engagement with metropolitan France. From the mounting tensions of the Parisian suburbs, or the banlieues, to questions of decentralization and modernization, a variety of issues emerge including debates on postcolonial, postindustrial, and transnational identity. The first article looks back at spatial planning and the paysages photographiques of DATAR while another showcases Raymond Depardon's 2008 documentary La vie moderne exploring connections to history and geography that move well beyond the screen. Equally pertinent questions involving economic and cultural exchange between urban and rural zones are taken into account. There is also a compelling discussion of power dynamics and the formatting of female bodies within their environments in Fiona Handyside's study of two contemporary films, 17 Filles and Bande de filles. Although each work stands alone in its exploration of France's social and cultural landscape, the collection as a whole places France at a critical artistic and historical crossroads that will determine the ways in which the country may choose to construct its identity inside and beyond its borders. Overall, the notion of the global and the local as it applies to the changing face of France from its abandoned buildings and industrial sites to refugee camps contrasts starkly with typical touristic representations and remains at the core of the collection. The many photographs and illustrations throughout the book convey these topographical changes, particularly in "Picturing a Nation of Local Places," and contribute to a sense of the territory in both real and concrete forms. The well-researched and original essays span the gamut of changing identity and reflect upon current issues of modernization, globalization, and migration of the Francophone world. The book provides a wealth of research to pursue further study in the field and, more significantly, suggests ways to navigate the ever-changing shape of the French nation as well as new topographical and ecological directions France may take as the century unfolds. The editors have compiled a volume certainly worth having in any contemporary French and Francophone cultural studies collection, as the articles will serve as reference points to assertions of national identity now and in the future.