Contenu du sommaire : L?invention du passé national /Le ghetto vu de l?intérieur

Fabricating authenticity Authenticity is social construct and this fact is most clearly evident in the early stages of the development of commercially mediated cultural forms such as country music when great deal of misremembering is taking place In the mid-1920s US enter tainment industry entrepreneurs discovered demand for old time music but their urban-modemist ideological and aesthetic prejudices made it difficult for them to readily understand the demand Moral entrepreneurs of the time including the auto manufacturer Henri Ford sponsored revival of sanitized and regimented version of old-time music and dance which was rejected by the populace at large It took two decades of trial- and-error effort on the part of performers along with radio record company and movie industry innovators to fabricate the two personifications the hillbilly and the singing cowboy that were embraced by the fans of the day as authentic

The Puy du Fou The Puy du Fou show was started in 1977 on the site of cha teau in the Bocage of the Vendee by an aristocrat of neigh bouring commune Although it has some features in common with other activities designed to exploit cultural heritage and although it takes its place in an educational entreprise two hun dred years old this show is the centrepiece of large-scale cul tural setup the particularity of which lies in the strong belief in its uniqueness On-stage the show purpots to be free creation based on the history of the Vendee with the Counter- Revolution of 1793 as its highlight and culminating in 19th centu ry rural society In the wings the amateur actors gather into villages which the division into administrative communes still respects so that the mythical Vendee and the real Vendee are closely intertwined The whole production provides the condi tions for the collective creation of the Puyfolais as the actors call themselves) the perfect embodiment of the native of the Vendee combining loyalty to the values of the past with at least formal acceptance of modern society Performed by the people for the sake of the cause defended by their ancestors the Puy du Fou spectacle becomes the most authentic symbol of the whole of the Vendee As its commitments develop so the spectacle takes on new meanings which can be exploited by him on other -especially political- stages first local and then national