From book to e-book: A digital revolution in French cultural studies?. (August 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Duché, Véronique; Bourgeois, Bertrand
• Editors: Hewitt, Nicholas
• Is Part Of: French cultural studies. Volume 25:Number 3/4(2014:Aug./Nov.)
• Page Start: 418
• Page End: 426
• Publication Date: 2014-08
• Subjects: book market -- Serge Bouchardon -- e-book -- Nicolas Frespech -- livre d'artiste -- reading practices; France -- Civilization -- 1945- -- Periodicals; 306.094405
• DOI: 10.1177/0957155814540402
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0957-1558

Abstract

The rise of the digital revolution does not only relate to science and business, but also to literature and the arts. Therefore it is a topic worth considering for French cultural studies. This article aims to show how profoundly e-technology has changed the way French readers interact with books and all forms of textual production – reading, consuming, learning, selecting, sharing, etc. – despite the institutional resistance of a so-called 'French conservative' approach towards books and culture. As a matter of fact, more and more artists and writers are using e-technology. We will demonstrate, via two case studies of livres d'artiste by Serge Bouchardon and Nicolas Frespech, how these e-books can be seen as perfect cultural studies 'objects', since they combine different media and exemplify some of the striking shifts in the French cultural field.