| A Thousand Screenplays: The French Imagination in a Time of Crisis Contributor(s): Chalvon-Demersay, Sabine (Author), Fagan, Teresa Lavender (Translator) |
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ISBN: 0226100693 ISBN-13: 9780226100692 Publisher: University of Chicago Press OUR PRICE: $27.72 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: May 1999 Annotation: In 1991, French public television held an amateur screenwriting contest. When Sabine Chalvon-Demersay, a French sociologist, examined the roughly 1,000 entries, she had hoped to analyze their differences. What she found, however, surprised her. Although the entrants covered nearly every social demographic, their screenplays presented similar characters in similar situations confronting similar problems. The time of crisis presented by the amateur writers was not one of war, famine, or disease--it was the millennial dilemma of representation. In a world plagued by alienation, individualization, and a lack of mobility, how can members of a society combat their declining senses of self? Although the contestants wrote about life in France, their concerns and struggles have a distinctly universal ring. A lucid, witty writer, Chalvon-Demersay offers a clear, if still developing, photograph of the contemporary imagination. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Sociology - General - Performing Arts | Television - Guides & Reviews |
| Dewey: 791.457 |
| LCCN: 98-37985 |
| Physical Information: 0.46" H x 5.51" W x 8.43" (0.54 lbs) 208 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1990's - Cultural Region - French |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In 1991, French public television held an amateur screenwriting contest. When Sabine Chalvon-Demersay, a French sociologist, examined the roughly 1,000 entries, she had hoped to analyze their differences. What she found, however, surprised her. Although the entrants covered nearly every social demographic, their screenplays presented similar characters in similar situations confronting similar problems. The time of crisis presented by the amateur writers was not one of war, famine, or disease--it was the millennial dilemma of representation. In a world plagued by alienation, individualization, and a lack of mobility, how can members of a society combat their declining senses of self? Although the contestants wrote about life in France, their concerns and struggles have a distinctly universal ring. A lucid, witty writer, Chalvon-Demersay offers a clear, if still developing, photograph of the contemporary imagination. |
Contributor Bio(s): Fagan, Teresa Lavender: - Teresa Lavender Fagan is a freelance translator living in Chicago; she has translated numerous books for the University of Chicago Press and other publishers. |