Contenu du sommaire : La culture au prisme des émotions

This article is informed by the observation that, while emotions are at the heart of cultural works and practices, until recently little research in France had focused on the multiple and reciprocal links between the two. The first part of this article considers the reasons for this paradox. Over and above the division of scientific labour, it highlights the importance of the polysemy, vagueness, and ambiguity of the concept of emotions. These characteristics have made it difficult to appropriate and to use it empirically, particularly in the sociology of art and of culture, where scientific rationalism has long prevailed. The second part of the article points out that the sociology of emotions has distanced itself from cultural practices and works because of its predilection for both theoretical (structuralist) approaches and empirical interactionist analyses. Finally, the last part shows that, while emotions have received little or no attention in explanations of the love of art, they have appeared from the margins in the works of feminist Cultural Studies and of the French scholars who have drawn on it to characterize the lifestyles of young working-class women.

Far from being indescribable psychological and individual phenomena, emotions and feelings – like tastes in general – can be the subject of sociological study. Following on from the classic work that developed the notion of script in sexuality, feelings can also be situated and contextualized, particularly in their generational and cultural dimensions. Just as flirting has been analysed over the course of its history in terms of its relation to mentalities, and of access to the body and to the cultural products of an era (cinema and the yéyé movement), so too ‘crush', a generational term, gives us a very contemporary understanding of adolescents' and many young adults' sentimental education, and of the role of cultural productions, social networks and digital practices. Above all, a crush, a secret attraction, cannot be understood without grasping the collective dimension and gendered logics of the emotion work involved.

The taste for K-pop among the youth is part of the development of an aesthetic capitalism that has made the production of aesthetic goods, as well as the marketing and consumption of difference, the drivers of the growth of emotional consumerism and of aesthetic and cultural cosmopolitanism. This article examines the reception of K-pop by young French fans, to gain insight into the cosmopolitan emotions it elicits in them and the purpose these emotions serve. After showing the extent to which the characteristics of K-pop foster specific attachments between fans and their favourite product, the article (based on semi-structured interviews with 74 young people) highlights the main features of this ‘love' and its construction. It then looks at the forms of empowerment derived from this attachment: repairing oneself, choosing a social bond, and rethinking the future in a global world.

This article looks at how environmental activists raise awareness of climate change by employing both the objectivist approach of science, and the emotional charge of eco-anxiety, attachment to nature, and anger towards that which is destroying it. It begins by examining the way in which two activist educational systems mobilize science and emotion. Raising awareness of the cause can be seen as a process of emotional socialization undertaken by the activist institution and by the activists themselves, who take on a form of self-awareness based largely on their cultivated dispositions. Thus, raising awareness of ecological issues and the emotional work that accompanies it contribute to shaping a cause stemming from the innermost being of the people mobilized, that is, from their reason and their feelings. Ultimately, the author shows that investment in this type of strategy stems from the learning dispositions and environmental sensitivity of the class segments involved in these struggles.

With the development of immersive technologies, virtual reality is gradually being incorporated into museum and heritage mediation systems. While lessons have been learned from other incursions of digital technology into museums, these devices do raise questions about the notion of presence that they evoke. This articulates with a dynamic relating to the question of the emotions of visitors to the exhibitions, that have been explored over the last twenty years or so. Through the study of three systems implemented in major museum and heritage institutions (Louvre, Louvre-Lens, Grotte Chauvet), the article proposes reflection on the negotiation between the different actors involved in these systems, and the conflicting emotional and mediation imperatives involved.

This article aims to analyze the sociabilities, information-sharing behaviors, and types of social support among users of French trans Facebook groups. First, our national survey ( n = 405) reveals that the different uses of these groups (information retrieval, emotional support, etc.) vary according to the age and education levels of their trans users, or according to their progress on the transition pathways. Secondly, we perform a lexical analysis of the messages ( n = 70,488) posted, since 2013, in a sample of 24 groups, in order to identify the main topics of discussion. This analysis leads us to emphasize the diversity of social support provided by trans people to one another. These findings deemphasize the benefits of institutional support because they suggest, alternatively, that trans people are organizing themselves, using social media to avoid challenges associated with medical institutions and the French “therapeutic shield”.

For French filmmakers working on the fringes of the film industry, crowdfunding has often been seen as a solution to a lack of resources. Young filmmakers have sometimes considered it as a new route into the ‘traditional' circuit. This article analyses the impact of crowdfunding on the organization of artistic work, looking at the way in which it helps to keep players in marginal positions. The study is based on 20 interviews with directors and promoters of projects published between 2010 and 2019, aimed at financing feature-length fiction films. By describing the actual effects of crowdfunding on artistic activity, this work highlights a phenomenon that combines a mechanism of cumulative disadvantages with significant opportunity costs.