The Alliance Française, Empire and America

Gosnell, Jonathan

An essay describing France's Alliance Francaise, an internationally established cultural institution dedicated to promoting the French language and fostering dialogue with, about, and around French culture throughout the world. A history of the Alliance in the United States, with particular emphasis on its early 20th-century iterations, and on both the "colonial" and "republican" qualities its mission once embodied (229, 233). The Alliance's engagement with different Franco American communities, especially those in New England. From the author: "By giving voice to different constituencies within the French diasporic family, and by creating spaces for cultural exchange, the Alliance has helped to define the contours of New World Francophone identities" (abstract). Includes the segments, "French republicanism at work," "The Alliance Francaise and Franco-America," and "The Alliance Francaise and la francophonie." From the author: "The Alliance Française is in many respects an intermediary between French America's past and present" (240).

2008-06-01 00:00:00

en

Journal Article

20th century; United States; France

2

French Cultural Studies

0957-1558

19