Poetess

Andrée Brunin

The author of many of the poems that was sent to me was by André Brunin. She was a French poetess from 1937 till 1993, and her many of her works were published and her poems used as lyrics to songs. Her poetry was often very emotional and went from a high happiness down to the depths of despair. Many of her works were composed in the countryside of France, and she often would look at nature for her inspiration.

American Music

Comparison of French and American Views of love

One of the prevailing themes that would occur throughout the research that I did on France and their culture was the ever-present value on love. It is part of their culture, in a way, to be very free and open with showing their love. They not only showed their love for other people, but also they have a very big pride in their country, their culture, and everything surrounding them. In comparison to America, many people do not show their pride in what they do and how they act. They feel as though they must hide how they feel and wonder if love is ever really worth all the pain that it could bring. There seems to be a lot of questioning when trying to discover if love is the right way to go. The particular example that is used for showing the American viewpoint on love is the music video below. The lyrics show the side of doubt that comes with the American view of love and actually how they think that “I love you” is used too much. When a special phrase like that is used too much the meaning is not as special and it becomes just a verbose saying that people use without giving it much thought. The French culture has been used to being very open with their ideas about love and how they want to portray their love.

Impressionnisme

The French culture was greatly influenced during the 19th and early 20th century, it began with art and later influenced music. Characteristics of artists during the French period was their ability to capture and acurately record the things that were occuring around them. Many of them were realists and strove to create the same reality in the paintings they used. One example of a French impressionnisme artist is Claude Monet. One of his most famous paintings is one of water lilies. It is now used as one of the symbols exemplifying the impressionistic period in French history.

Music was also greatly influenced through the impressionnisme period. The music became more focused about the atmosphere and not the story it was telling. Claude Debussy is an example of a great composer that helped move France through this period. One of his most well-known pieces is "Clair De Lune"

Music

This song is one about a man named Raphael and how he had a love once. And now he is hesitant to love again.



Looking at this music video its easy to see the different changes in popular French music compared to the classic French melodie. The popular French music mimic's many different aspects of the Western culture.

Location

France is located in Western Europe and is one of the most well-known country in Europe.

*180,000 sq. miles
*60 million inhabitants (10 million in Paris)
*76 million overseas visitors making France one of top places to visit in the world.