The French culture and the French people have been shaped by geography, by profound historical events, and by foreign and internal forces and groups. France, and especially Paris, has played an important role as a center of high culture since the 17th century, first in Europe, and from the 19th century, worldwide. From the late 19th century, France also played an important role in cinema, fashion, cuisine, literature, technology, social sciences and mathematics. The importance of French culture has diminished and shrunk over the centuries, depending on its economic, political and military interests. French culture is currently characterized by large regional and socioeconomic differences and strong unifying propensities. A global poll for the BBC sees France ranked as the fourth most influential country in the world (behind Germany, Canada and the UK) in 2014.
Video Culture of France
Language
The AcadÃÆ'Â © nie franÃÆ'§aise sets the standard purity of the official language; However, this standard, which is not mandatory, is sometimes ignored by the government itself: for example, the left-wing government of Lionel Jospin pushed for the feminization of the names of some functions ( madame la ministre ) while AcadÃÆ' Â © noodles push for some more traditional madame le ministre .
Some actions have been taken by the government to promote French and French culture. For example, they have established a system of subsidies and special loans to support French cinema. The Law of Toubon, from the name of the conservative cultural minister who promotes it, requires the use of French in advertisements aimed at the general public. Note that contrary to some misconceptions that are sometimes found in Anglophone media, the French government does not regulate the language used by private parties in commercial settings, nor does it require that French WWW sites should be in French.
France counts many regional languages, some of them very different from standard French, such as Breton (Celtic language close to Cornish and Welsh) and Alsatian (German Alemannic dialect). Some regional languages ​​are Roman, like French, like Occitan. Basque language has nothing to do with French and other languages ​​in the world; is spoken in an area that crosses the border between southwestern France and northern Spain.
Many of these languages ​​have enthusiastic supporters; however, the significance of the local language is debatable. In April 2001, the Minister of Education, Jack Lang, officially recognized that for more than two centuries, the political power of the French government had suppressed the local language. He announced that bilingual education would, for the first time, be recognized, and bilingual teachers recruited in French public schools to support the teaching of these other languages. In French schools, students are expected to study at least two foreign languages, the first being usually German or English.
The revision of the French constitution that created official regional recognition was carried out by Parliament in Congress at Versailles in July 2008.
Maps Culture of France
Religion in France
France is a secular state where freedom of thought and religion is preserved, based on the 1789 Declaration of Human Rights and Citizens. The Republic is based on the principle of freedom of religion (including agnosticism and atheism) upheld by the Jules Ferry law and the 1905 law on the separation of the State and Church, enacted at the beginning of the Third Republic (1871 -1940). A European poll of 2011 found that one-third (33%) of the French population "did not believe there was a kind of spirit, God or life force.In 2011, in a poll published by the Institute franÃÆ'§ais d'opinion publique 65% of the French population describes himself as a Christian, and 25% does not adhere to any religion.
According to Eurobarometer polls in 2012, Christianity is the largest religion in France that accounts for 60% of French citizens. Catholics are the largest Christian group in France, representing 50% of French citizens, while Protestants reach 8%, and other Christians reach 2%. Non-trust/agnostic accounts for 20%, Atheists 13%, and Muslims 7%.
France guarantees religious freedom as a constitutional right, and the government generally respects this right in practice. The long history of violent clashes between groups makes the state break with the Catholic Church established earlier this century, which was formerly a state religion. The government has adopted a strong commitment to maintain a truly secular public sector.
Catholicism
Long established state religion, the Roman Catholic Church has historically played a significant role in French culture and in French life. The king is considered the head of the church and the state. Most French people are Roman Catholic Christians; However, many of them are secular but still place a high value on Catholicism.
The Roman Catholic faith was no longer considered a state religion, as it had been before the 1789 Revolution and throughout the various nineteenth-century republican regimes (the Restoration, the July Monarchy and the Second Empire). The official split of the Catholic Church and the State ("Sélé de l'Eglise et de l'Etat") took place in 1905. This great reform emphasized the Laicist and anti-ulama atmosphere of the French Radical Republic in this period.
At the beginning of the 20th century, France was a rural country with conservative Catholic customs, but within a hundred years since then, the countryside has become uninhabited as people have become urban areas. Urban population becomes more secular. A December 2006 poll by Harris Interactive, published in The Financial Times found that 32% of French citizens describe themselves as agnostic, about 32% as atheist, and only 27% believe in all types God. or the supreme being.
Protestantism
France was touched by the Reformation during the sixteenth century; about 30% of the population is converted to Protestant and is known as the French Huguenot. Several princes joined the reform movement. But the national monarchy feels threatened by people who want to leave the established state religion. Protestants are discriminated against and suppressed. On August 24, 1572, the massacre of St. Bartholomew took place in Paris and the French Religious War is considered to have begun. This French civil war took place between Catholics, led by Henry I, Duke of Guise, and Protestantism, led by Henri de Navarre. Henri de Navarre became king after converting to Catholicism in 1589.
Louis XIII, son of Henri IV, began suppressing Protestants in violent attacks, such as the La Rochelle Siege. After Louis XIV withdrew the Edit de Nantes in 1685, Protestants who did not leave the country were generally suppressed. Thousands of Protestant Huguenots emigrated from France for their salvation and to gain religious freedom, generally going to Protestant countries like the Netherlands, England, South Africa, and North American colonies. Their exile continued during the seventeenth century and until 1787, when religious freedom was reinforced by Louis XVI.
Judaism
The current Jewish community in France is about 600,000, according to the World Jewish Congress and 500,000 according to Appel Unifià © Juif de France. It is concentrated in the metropolitan areas of Paris, Marseille and Strasbourg.
History of the Jews in France has existed since 2,000 years ago. In the early Middle Ages, France was a center of Jewish learning, but the persecution increased as the Middle Ages passed. France was the first country in Europe to liberate its Jewish population during the French Revolution, but although anti-Semitism law equality remains a problem, as illustrated in Dreyfus affairs at the end of the nineteenth century. However, through the 1870
At the beginning of the 21st century, most French Jews came from Sephardic and North Africa. More than a quarter of the historic Ashkenazi Jewish community was destroyed during the Holocaust of World War II after German troops occupied France and founded the Vichy Regime. Jewish religious affiliations range from the ultra-Orthodox Haredi community to a large segment of secular Jews and identify culturally as Jews.
Islam
Islam is the third largest religion in France at the beginning of the 21st century. The Grande Mosquà © e was built in Paris in 1929 to honor the French colonial troops from North Africa who fought in the First World War. The Arabs from North Africa began to settle in France. At the beginning of the 21st century, France has the largest Muslim population (in percentage) of any Western European country. This is the result of immigration and permanent family settlement in France, from the 1960s on, groups from, in particular, the former French colonies in North Africa (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia), and, to a lesser extent, other areas such as Turkey and West Africa. The government did not collect data on religious beliefs in census records, but estimates and polls put the percentage of Muslims between 4% and 7%.
Buddhism
Buddhism is widely reported as the fifth largest religion in France, after Christianity, atheism, Islam, and Judaism. France has more than two hundred Buddhist meditation centers, including about twenty large retreat centers in rural areas. The Buddhist population consists primarily of Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants, with a substantial minority of French natives and "sympathizers". The increasing popularity of Buddhism in France has been the subject of considerable discussion in French media and academia in recent years.
New denominations and movements
France created in 2006 the first French parliamentary commission on cult activity that led to reports listing sects considered dangerous. Supporters of such movements have criticized the report on the grounds of respect for religious freedom. Proponents of the measure argue that only such a dangerous sect has been registered as such, and the secular state guarantees religious freedom in France.
Local customs and traditions
Modern France is the result of centuries of nation-building and the acquisition and incorporation of a number of historical provinces and overseas colonies into its geographic and political structures. These areas all evolved with their respective cultural and linguistic traditions in fashion, religious observance, regional languages ​​and accents, family structure, cuisine, recreational activities, industry, and including simple ways to pour wine, etc.
The evolution of French state and culture, from the Renaissance to the present day, has nevertheless promoted the centralization of politics, media and cultural production in and around Paris (and, to a lesser extent, around other major urban centers), and industrialization of the country in the century -20 has caused massive displacement of the French from rural to urban areas. By the end of the 19th century, about 50% of French people depended on land for a living; currently French farmers only reach 6-7%, while 73% live in the city. Full nineteenth-century French literature in provincial youth scenes "came" to Paris to "make" on the cultural, political or social scene of the capital (this scheme often appears in Balzac novels). The policies imposed by the Third Republic of France also encourage this move through mandatory military service, a centralized national education system, and the oppression of regional languages. While government policy and public debate in France in recent years have returned to the boldness of regional differences and calls for the decentralization of certain aspects of the public sphere (sometimes with ethnic, racial or reactionary tone), the history of regional transfers and the nature of modern urban environments and media mass and culture has made preserving the regional "sense of place or culture" in France today very difficult.
The names of historic French provinces - such as Brittany (Bruinans), Berry, OrlÃÆ'Ã… anais, Normandy ( Normandie ), Languedoc, Lyonnais, Dauphinà © Ã… ©, Champagne, Poitou , Guyenne and Gascony ( Gascogne ), Burgundy ( Bourgogne ), Picardy ( Picardie ), Provence, Touraine, Limousin, Auvergne, BÃÆ' © arn, Alsace, Flanders, Lorraine, Corsica ( Corse ), Savoy ( Savoie )... (please see each article for specific about each local culture) - are still used to designate natural, historical and cultural areas, and many of them appear in modern rhe gion or dà © à © partement names. These names are also used by the French in their identification of the origin of the family.
Regional identification is most prominent today in cultures associated with regional languages ​​and non-French-speaking traditions - French itself is simply a dialect of Langue d'oÃÆ'¯l, the mother tongue of many languages ​​to be mentioned, which is the national vehicle language, in alphabetical order): Alsatian, Arpitan, Basque, Brezhoneg (Breton), Burgundian, Corsu (Corsica), CatalÃÆ' (Catalan), Francique, Gallo, Lorrain, Norman, Occitan, Picard, Poitevin, Saintongeais, etc. it has promoted movements calling for regional autonomy, and, occasionally, national independence (see, for example, Breton, Corsica and Occitanian nationalism).
There is a big difference in lifestyle, socioeconomic status and world view between Paris and the province. France often uses the phrase "la France profonde" ("Deep France", similar to "heart") to point to the profound "French" aspect of the provincial towns, village life and rural agricultural culture, escaping Parisian hegemony. However, the phrase may have a derogatory meaning, similar to the phrase "le dÃÆ' Â © sert franÃÆ'§ais" ("the French desert") used to describe the lack of acculturation of the provinces. Another phrase, "terroir" is the French term originally used for wine and coffee to denote the specific characteristics given by geography in these products. This can be rendered very loosely as a "sense of place" embodied in certain qualities, and the amount of effects that the local environment (especially "land") has had on product growth. The use of this term has since been generalized to talk about many cultural products.
In addition to its metropolitan area, France also comprises overseas departments comprising former Guadeloupe colonies, Martinique and French Guiana in the Caribbean, and the union of Mayotte and RÃÆ'Â Â © in the Indian Ocean. (There are also a number of "foreign collectivities" and "overseas territories." For a full discussion, see the French administrative division Since 1982, after the French government's decentralization policy, the foreign ministry has chosen regional councils with powers similar to those from regions metropolitan France. As a result of the constitutional revisions that took place in 2003, the region is now called overseas territories.) This foreign department has the same political status as the metropolitan department and is an integral part of France, (similar to the way in which Hawaii is state and an integral part of the United States), but they also have certain cultural and linguistic traditions that distinguish them. Certain elements of foreign culture have also been introduced to metropolitan culture (such as, for example, musical forms of biguine).
Industrialization, immigration and urbanization in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have also created new socioeconomic regional communities in France, both urban (such as Paris, Lyon, Villeurbanne, Lille, Marseille, etc.) and suburban and working-class areas (such as Seine- Saint-Denis) urban agglomeration (called various banlieues ("suburbs", sometimes qualifies as "chic" or "pauvres" or "les cità © Å © s " housing projects ")) that have developed a sense of place and their own local culture (very much like the various areas of New York City or the suburbs of Los Angeles), as well as cultural identity. ??
Other specific communities
Paris has traditionally been associated with alternative, artistic or intellectual subcultures, many of which involve strangers. Such subcultures include the "Bohemian" of the mid-nineteenth century, the Impressionists, the artistic circle of Belle ÃÆ' Â © poque (around artists such as Picasso and Alfred Jarry), the Dadais, the Surrealists, the "Lost Generations" (Hemingway, Gertrude Stein) and postwar "intellectuals" associated with Montparnasse (Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir).
France is estimated to have 280,000-340,000 Romans, commonly known as Gitans , Tsiganes , Romanichels (slightly lowering), BohÃÆ' © miens , or Gens du voyage ("travelers").
There are gay and lesbian communities in the cities, especially in the metropolitan area of ​​Paris (as in the capital's Le Marais district). Although homosexuality may not be well tolerated in France as in Spain, Scandinavia, and Benelux countries, a survey of the French public reveals major changes in attitudes comparable to other Western European countries. In 2001, 55% of French people regarded homosexuality as an "acceptable lifestyle." The mayor of Paris of the past, Bertrand DelanoÃÆ'Â «, is gay. In 2006, the Ipsos survey showed that 62% supported same-sex marriage, while 37% opposed. 55% believe gay and lesbian couples should not have parental rights, while 44% believe same-sex couples should be able to adopt. See also LGBT rights in France.
Family and romantic relationship
Household structure
Growing out of the values ​​of the Catholic Church and rural communities, the basic unit of French society has traditionally been considered a family. During the 20th century, the "traditional" family structure in France has evolved from various regional models (including extended families and nuclear families) to, after World War II, the nuclear family. Since the 1960s, marriage has declined and divorce has risen in France, and divorce laws and family law status have evolved to reflect this social change.
According to INSEE figures, the composition of households and families in metropolitan France continues to grow. Most significantly, from 1982 to 1999, single parent families had increased from 3.6% to 7.4%; there is also an increase in the number of unmarried couples, spouses, and single men (from 8.5% to 12.5) and women (from 16.0% to 18.5%). Their analysis shows that "one out of three dwellings are occupied by people living alone, one in four living quarters is occupied by a spouse with no children."
Elected by the French Parliament in November 1999 after some controversy, the pacte civil de solidarità ©  © ("civil solidarity pact") commonly known as PACS , is a form of a civil union between two adults (same-sex or the opposite sex) to organize their life together. It carries rights and responsibilities, but less than marriage. From a legal point of view, PACS is a "contract" made between two individuals, stamped and registered by the court clerks. Individuals who have registered PACS are still considered "single" with regard to family status for some purposes, while they are increasingly being considered in the same way as married couples for other purposes. Meanwhile encouraged by the government of Prime Minister Lionel Jospin in 1998, it is also opposed, mostly by right-wing people who support the family's traditional values ​​and who argue that PACS and the recognition of homosexual unions will be disastrous for French society..
In 2013, same-sex marriage is legally recognized in France. Same-sex marriage is an important factor in the 2012 presidential election between FranÃÆ'§ois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy. Sarkozy, who represents the right-wing UMP party, opposes gay marriage, while FranÃÆ'§ois Hollande, the left-wing socialist party, backs it. Hollande was elected in May 2012 and his government proposed a law known as "Mariage pour tous" to the parliament in November 2012. The law was passed in April 2013 and validated by the Conseil constitutionnel (constitutional council, which was commissioned to insure that the newly-passed law does not contradict the French constitution) in May 2013. First French fellow marriage took place on 29 May 2013 in Montpellier.
Country Role
The French state has traditionally played an important role in promoting and supporting cultures through educational, linguistic, cultural and economic policies of the government and through the promotion of national identity. Because of the proximity of this relationship, cultural change in France is often associated with, or generating, a political crisis.
The relationship between French state and culture is the old one. Under the minister of Louis XIII, Richelieu, the independent AcadÃÆ' Â © nie franÃÆ'§aise was under state control and became the official organ of control over French and seventeenth-century literature. During the reign of Louis XIV, minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert brought French luxury industries, such as textiles and porcelain, under the control of the kingdom and architecture, furniture, fashion and palace manners (especially in ChÃÆ'Â Â Ã ¢ teau de Versailles) to become the best cultural model sublime in France (and, to a great extent, throughout Europe) during the second half of the seventeenth century.
Sometimes, French state policy has sought to unite the country around certain cultural norms, while at other times they have promoted regional differences in heterogeneous French identity. The unifying effect mainly occurs in the "radical period" of the French Third Republic which fights regionalism (including regional languages), supports anti-clericalism and strict separation of church from state (including education) and actively promotes national identity, thus converts (as has been said by historian Eugen Weber) a "peasant state being a French nation." Vichy's regime, on the other hand, promotes the regional "people" tradition.
The cultural policies of the French Republic (now) have now varied, but consensus seems to be around the need to preserve French regionalism (such as food and language) as long as it does not destroy national identity. Meanwhile, the French state remains ambivalent of integration into the culture of the "French" cultural traditions of recent immigrant groups and from foreign cultures, especially American culture (film, music, fashion, fast food, language, etc.). There is also a certain fear of the loss of French identity and culture in the European system and under the American "cultural hegemony".
Education
The French education system is highly centralized. It is divided into three distinct phases: primary education, or enseignement primaire, which corresponds to the primary school in the United States; secondary education, or collÃÆ'¨ge and lycÃÆ'  © e, corresponding to high school and high school in the United States; and higher education (l'università © à © or les Grandes ÃÆ'  © coles ).
Primary and secondary education is largely public (private schools also exist, particularly the strong national network of primary and secondary Catholic education), while higher education has public and private elements. At the end of secondary education, students take a baccalaurÃÆ'Â at at exam, allowing them to continue their higher education. The rate of baccalaurÃÆ'Â at at pass in 2012 is 84.5%.
In 1999-2000, education spending reached 7% of French GDP and 37% of the national budget.
France's achievements in mathematics and science at the secondary school level are ranked 23rd in the 1995 Trends in International Mathematics and Science. France has not participated in any future TIMSS studies.
Since Jules Ferry's 1881-2 law, named after the Minister of Public Instruction, all state-funded schools, including universities, are independent of the Church (Roman Catholic). Education in these institutions is free. Non-secular institutions are permitted to conduct education as well. The French educational system differs greatly from the Northern European and American systems because it emphasizes the importance of taking part in a society that goes against independent responsibility.
The secular education policy has become critical in the current issues of French multiculturalism, as in "Islamic headscarf affairs".
Minister of Culture
Minister of Culture resides in French Government, cabinet member responsible for museum and national monument; promote and protect art (visual, plastic, theatrical, musical, dance, architecture, literature, television and cinematography) in France and abroad; and managing the national and regional archives of "maisons de culture" (cultural center). The Ministry of Culture is located at the Palais Royal in Paris.
The modern position of the Minister of Culture was created by Charles de Gaulle in 1959 and the first Minister was the author of Andrà © à © Malraux. Malraux is responsible for realizing the goal of "droit ÃÆ' la culture" - an idea that has been included in the French constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) - with access to democratization for culture, while also achieving the goals of the Gaullist raised the "splendor" ("greatness") of postwar France. To this end, he created many regional cultural centers throughout France and actively sponsored the arts. Malraux's artistic tastes include modern art and avant-garde, but overall he remains conservative.
The Ministry of Jacques Toubon is famous for a number of laws ("Toubon's Law") applied to French preservation both in advertising (all advertisements must include translations of French foreign words) and on the radio (40% of songs on French radio stations must in French), as if it were a reaction to the presence of English.
AcadÃÆ' Â © noodle franÃÆ'§aise
The AcadÃÆ' © nie franÃÆ'§aise , or the French Academy, is France's leading literary body in matters relating to French. AcadÃÆ'  © nie was officially founded in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the main minister of King Louis XIII. Pressed in 1793 during the French Revolution, restored in 1803 by Napoleon Bonaparte (AcadÃÆ'   nà © n thinks he has been suspended, not pressured, during the revolution). This is the oldest of the five acadÃÆ' © mies from the Institut de France.
The AcadÃÆ'  © noodle consists of forty members, known as immortels (immortal). New members are selected by members of the AcadÃÆ'  © nie itself. Acadà © mians hold office for life, but they can be removed by mistake. The body has the task of acting as the official authority over language; it is charged with issuing an official language dictionary. However, the verdict is merely advisory; not binding on the public or the government.
Military services
Until 1996, France had conscripts for young men. It has been credited by historians to further promote a united national identity and by breaking up regional isolationism.
Labor and employment policies
In France, the first employment law was the Waldeck Rousseau law passed in 1884. Between 1936 and 1938, the Popular Front passed a law requiring 12 days (2 weeks) each year from paid holidays to workers, and laws that limit the working week to 40 hours, excluding overtime. The Grenelle Agreement was negotiated on May 25 and 26 in the midst of the May 1968 crisis, reducing the workweek to 44 hours and creating a union section in each company. The minimum wage also increased by 25%. In 2000 the government of Lionel Jospin then imposed a 35-hour workweek, down from 39 hours. Five years later, conservative prime minister Dominique de Villepin imposed a New Employment Contract (CNE). Addressing the demands of entrepreneurs seeking more flexibility in French employment law, CNE sparked criticism from unions and opponents who claimed that they were lending to contingent work. In 2006 he then attempted to pass the First Employment Contract (CPE) through voting through emergency procedures, but it was filled by students and union protests. President Jacques Chirac finally had no choice but to uproot him.
France is very committed to the public health care system (called "sÃÆ'  © curità ©  sociale") and the "pay-as-you-go" social welfare system.
In 1998, 75% of health payments in France were paid through the public health care system. Since July 27, 1999, France has universal medical coverage for permanent residents in France (stable residence for more than three months). Using five performance indicators to measure health systems in 191 member countries, he found that France provided the best overall health care followed among the major powers by Italy, Spain, Oman, Austria and Japan (The World Health Report).
Lifestyle
Food and alcohol
Traditional French culture places a high priority on food enjoyment. French cuisine was codified in the 20th century by Georges Auguste Escoffier to become a modern version of haute cuisine. Escoffier's main work, however, left many regional characters that can be found in the French provinces. Gastro-tourism and Guide Michelin helped bring people to the countryside during the 20th century onwards, to taste the rich bourgeois cuisine and the cuisine of French peasants. Basque cuisine is also a major influence over cuisine in the southwest of France.
The ingredients and dishes vary by region (see: regional cuisine). There are many significant regional dishes that have become national and regional. Many dishes that were once regional, however, have mushroomed in many variations across the country today. The cheese (see: List of French cheese) and wine (see French wine) is also a major part of the cuisine, playing different roles both regionally and nationally with many variations and Proposal d'origin contrÃÆ'Â'lÃÆ' Â © e (AOC) (regulated rules) laws, (lentils from Le Puy-en-Velay also have AOC status). Other French products with special note are Charolais cattle.
French usually eat only a simple breakfast ("petit dÃÆ' Â © jeuner") consisting of coffee, tea or hot chocolate with milk, served traditionally in a large handless "ball" (bowl) and bread or croissant breakfast. Lunch ("dÃÆ' Â © jeuner") and dinner ("dÃÆ'®ner") were the main meals of the day. The four formal meals consist of entrees ("entrÃÆ' Â © e"), salads, main dishes ("plat principal"), and finally cheese or dessert. While French cuisine is often associated with rich desserts, in most desserts it consists only of fruit or yogurt.
Food purchases in France were previously made almost daily in shops and small local markets, but the arrival of supermarkets and even bigger hypermarchÃÆ'Â Â © s "(distributors-of-surface) in France has disrupted this tradition. With rural depopulation, many cities are forced to close shops and markets.
The rate of obesity and heart disease in France is traditionally lower than in other northwestern European countries. This is sometimes called the French paradox (see, for example, the 2006 Mireille Guiliano book French Women Do not Get Fat ). However, French cuisine and eating habits are under considerable pressure in recent years from modern fast food, such as American products and the new global agricultural industry. While French youth culture has been attracted to fast food and eating habits of Americans (with increased obesity), France in general remains committed to preserving certain elements of their food culture through such activities as appetizing acquisition programs in their public schools. , using the provisions of the legislation d'origine contrÃÆ''lÃÆ' Â © e, and by the state and European subsidies for the French agricultural industry. Emblematic this tension is the work of JosÃÆ'Â © BovÃÆ'Â ©, founded in 1987, ConfÃÆ' Â © ÃÆ' Â © ration Paysanne , an agricultural union that places the highest political values ​​on humans and the environment, promotes organically farming and opposing genetically modified organisms; The most notorious BovÃÆ' Â © protest was the dismantling of McDonald's franchises in Millau (Aveyron), in 1999.
In France, dinnerware is used continually (with a fork in the left hand, a fork face down and a knife in the right hand). French etiquette prohibits the placement of hands under the table and the placement of the elbows above it.
The legal drinking age is official 18 (see: Legal drinking age).
France is one of the oldest wine producing regions in Europe. France now produces the most grapes based on value in the world (although Italy rivals its volume and Spain has more land planted with grape vines). Bordeaux wine, Bourgogne wine, and Champagne are important agricultural products.
Tobacco and drugs
The age of cigarette smoking is 18 years. According to the widespread clichés, smoking has become part of French culture - in fact the figures show that in terms of per capita consumption, France is only the 60th country out of 121.
France, from February 1, 2007, tightened the smoking ban in public places found in the 1991 law: Law No.91-32 of 10 January 1991, contained various measures against alcoholism and tobacco consumption.
Smoking is now banned in all public places (stations, museums, etc.); Exceptions exist for smoking specialty rooms that meet drastic conditions, see below. Exceptions are made for cafà © s and restaurants, clubs, casinos, bars, etc. That ended, 1 January 2008. The poll showed 70% of people support the ban. Previously, under the rules of the previous implementation of the 1991 law, restaurants, cafes, etc. It should only provide parts of smoking and non-smoking, which in practice is often inseparably well.
Under the new regulations, smoking rooms are allowed, but subject to very strict conditions: they can occupy at most 20% of the total floor area of ​​the establishment and their size may not exceed 35 m²; they must be equipped with a separate ventilation that replaces the full volume of air ten times per hour; the air pressure from the smoking room should always be lower than the pressure in adjacent rooms; they have doors that close automatically; service can not be provided in smoking rooms; Hygiene and maintenance workers can enter the room just one hour after the last use for smoking.
Popular brands of French cigarettes include Gauloises and Marlboro.
The possession, sale and use of marijuana (especially Moroccan hashish) is illegal in France. Since March 1, 1994, the punishment for marijuana use is from two months to a year and/or a fine, while possession, cultivation or drug trade can be punished far more severely, up to ten years. According to a 1992 survey by SOFRES, 4.7 million French people aged 12-44 years have smoked marijuana at least once in their lives.
Sports and hobbies
Football (France: Le Foot ) is the most popular sport in France. Other popular sports played in France are rugby union, cycling, tennis, handball, basketball, and sailing. France is famous for holding and winning the FIFA World Cup in 1998, and organizing the annual Tour de France cycling race, and the Grand Slam the French Open tennis tournament. Sport is encouraged at school, and local sports clubs receive financial support from local authorities. Although football is clearly the most popular rugby league, rugby and takes dominance in the southwest, especially around the city of Toulouse (see: Rugby union in France and Rugby league in France).
The modern Olympics were found in France, in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin.
The professional voyage in France is centered on a single and short sea racing with the peak of this sport that becomes the worldwide Vende Globe that begins every 4 years from the Atlantic coast of France. Other important events include Solitaire du Figaro, Transat 6.50 Mini, Tour de France, Voile, and transatlantic routes. France has been a regular contender in the American Cup since the 1970s.
Other important sports include:
- 24 Hours Le Mans - The world's oldest sports car race.
- Ski - France has a number of ski resorts in the French Alps like Tignes. The ski resort is also located in PyrÃÆ' © nÃÆ' Â © es and Vosges mountain chains.
- PÃÆ' Â © tanque - The international Federation is recognized by the IOC.
- Fencing - Fencing leads the list of sports that won gold for France at the Summer Olympics (see: France at the Olympics).
- Parkour - Developed in France, Parkour is a training discipline with similarities to martial arts or martial arts.
- Babyfoot (table football) - A very popular game in bars and homes in France, and France is the premier winner of the world table football competition.
- Kitesurfing
- Bullfight - Spanish bullfight battles are still very popular in the south of France.
Like other cultural areas in France, sport is overseen by government ministries, Ministry of Youth and Sports (France) in charge of national and public sports associations, youth affairs, public sports centers and national stadiums (such as Stade de France).
Mode
Together with Milan, London and New York, Paris is the center of a number of important fashion shows. Some of the largest fashion houses in the world (ex: Chanel) have its headquarters in France.
The French association with French (fashion) mode spends most for the reign of Louis XIV when the luxury goods industry in France was getting under the royal control and the royal palace of France became, to say, the arbiter of taste and style in Europe.
France renewed its dominance in high fashion ( couture or haute couture ) industry in 1860-1960 through the establishment of large mansions, the fashion press ( Vogue was founded in 1892; Elle > founded in 1945) and fashion show. The first modern Parisian pamong house is generally regarded as the work of the Englishman Charles Frederick Worth who dominated the industry from 1858 to 1895. In the early 20th century, the industry thrived through the fashion houses of Paris such as Chanel's house (which first came to fame in 1925 ) and Balenciaga (founded by a Spanishman in 1937). In the post-war years, the mode again became famous through the famous "new look" Christian Dior in 1947, and through the homes of Pierre Balmain and Hubert de Givenchy (opened in 1952). In the 1960s, "high fashion" got criticized from French youth culture while designers like Yves Saint Laurent broke by setting high fashion norms by launching the prÃÆ'ªt-ÃÆ' -porter line ("ready to use") and extend the French fashion to mass manufacturing and marketing. Further innovations were made by Paco Rabanne and Pierre Cardin. With a greater focus on marketing and manufacturing, new trends were established in the 70s and 80s by Sonia Rykiel, Thierry Mugler, Claude Montana, Jean Paul Gaultier and Christian Lacroix. The 1990s saw the conglomeration of many French couture homes under luxury giants and multinational corporations such as LVMH.
Since the 1960s, the French fashion industry has experienced increasingly fierce competition from London, New York, Milan, and Tokyo, and France is increasingly adopting foreign (especially American) modes (such as jeans, tennis shoes). However, many foreign designers are still trying to make their careers in France.
Pets
In 2006, 52% of French households had at least one pet: In total, 9.7 million cats, 8.8 million dogs, 2.3 million rodents, 8 million birds, and 28 million fish were kept as pets in France during this year.
Media and art
Art and museum
The first paintings of France are those of prehistoric times, painted in Lascaux caves more than 10,000 years ago. Art has grown 1,200 years ago, in the time of Charlemagne, as can be seen in many hands and hand-painted books at that time.
Gothic art and architecture originated in France in the 12th century around Paris and then spread throughout Europe. In the thirteenth century, French craftsmen developed sophisticated stained glass paintings and illuminated manuscripts for personal devotion in the new gothic style. The final phase of the gothic architecture, known as Flamboyant, also began in France in the 15th century before it spread throughout Europe.
The 17th century was one of the most intense artistic achievements: French paintings emerged with different identities, moving from Baroque to Classicalism. The famous classical painters from the 17th century in France are Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain. French architecture also proved influential with the Palace of Versailles, built for the powerful Louis XIV king, became the model of many European royal palaces. During the 18th century Rococo style emerged as a continuation of Baroque style reckless. The most famous painters of the era were Antoine Watteau, FranÃÆ'§ois Boucher and Jean-Honorà © Fragonard. By the end of the century, Jacques-Louis David and Dominique Ingres were the most influential painters of Neoclassicism.
GÃÆ' Â © ricault and Delacroix are the most important painters of Romanticism. After that, the painters are more realistic, describing nature (school Barbizon). Realistic movement led by Courbet and HonorÃÆ'Â Daumier. Impressionism was developed in France by artists such as Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Camille Pissarro. At the turn of the century, France has become more than ever an innovative art center. Pablo Picasso of Spain came to France, like many other foreign artists, to spread his talent there for decades to come. Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauguin and CÃÆ'Â © zanne are painting. Cubism is an avant-garde movement born in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century.
The Louvre in Paris is one of the most famous and largest art museums in the world, created by a new revolutionary regime in 1793 in the former royal palace. It holds a large number of art and other French artists, such as Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci, and Venus de Milo classical Greek and ancient cultural and artistic works from Egypt and the Middle East.
Music
France boasts a wide variety of indigenous folk music, as well as the styles played by immigrants from Africa, Latin America and Asia. In the field of classical music, France has produced a number of famous composers such as Gabriel FaurÃÆ'Â ©, Claude Debussy, and Hector Berlioz while modern pop music has seen the rise of popular French hip hop, French rock, techno/funk, and turntablists/djs.
FÃÆ'ªte de la Musique was created in France (first held in 1982), a music festival, which has since become world-renowned as a world music day. This takes place every June 21, on the first day of summer.
In 2010, the French electronic music duo, Daft Punk was incorporated into Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, a sequence of French achievements. Bangalter and de Homem-Christo were individually awarded the Chevalier (knightly) rank.
Theater
Movies
France was the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many significant initial contributions: Antoine LumiÃÆ'¨re realized, on December 28, 1895, the first projection, with Cinematograph, in Paris. Philippe Binant realized, on February 2, 2000, the first digital cinematic projection in Europe, with DLP CINEMA technology developed by Texas Instruments, in Paris. Some important cinematic movements, including Nouvelle Vague, begin in this country.
In addition, France is an important country of Francophone film production. A number of films are made sharing international distribution in the western hemispheric thanks to Unifrance. Although the French cinema industry is rather small in terms of budget and income, it enjoys a qualitative scenario, cast and tell stories. French cinema is often described as more liberal in terms of subjects (Sex, Society, Politics, Historical). Inside the domestic market, French films are ranked through n ° entry. The movie aired on Wednesday.
"Going to the cinema" is a popular activity in the metropolitan area. Many cinema operators offer a "flat-rate pass" for around. EUR20 per month. Price per movie range between EUR5.50 and EUR10.
The main French cinema operators are UGC and PathÃÆ'Â ©, mainly located in the suburbs due to the number of screens and seating capacity.
In France many "small" cinemas are located in the city center, rejecting large cinema operators across the country. Paris has the highest cinema density (theaters) in the world: the largest number of cinemas per population, and in most of Paris's "downtown" cinemas, foreign films to be ostracized to "art house" theaters elsewhere, "because the Parisians like to watch movies. The proximity of restaurants, accessibility, atmosphere and alternative foreign film performances are often cited as an advantage of this small theater.
The CinÃÆ'Â © mathÃÆ'¨que FranÃÆ'§aise has one of the largest film archives, movie documents, and movie objects in the world. Located in Paris, CinÃÆ'Â © mathÃÆ'¨que holds an indefinite daily movie screening by country of origin.
Television
Books, newspapers and magazines
France has a reputation as a "literary culture", and this picture is reinforced by such things as the importance of French literature in the French education system, the attention paid by French media to French book and book exhibitions (such as Prix Goncourt, Prix Renaudot or Prix Femina) and by the popular success of the literary television show "Apostrophes" (guided by Bernard Pivot).
Although the official French literacy rate is 99%, some estimates have placed functional illiteracy between 10% and 20% of the adult population (and higher in prison populations).
While reading remains a favorite pastime of French youth today, surveys show that it has declined in importance compared to music, television, sports and other activities. The academic publishing crisis also hit France (see, for example, the financial difficulties of the Presses Universitaires de France (PUF), France's premier academic publishing house, in the 1990s).
The literary sense in France remains centered on the novel (26.4% of book sales in 1997), although France reads more non-fiction essays and books on current affairs than Britain or America. Contemporary novels, including French translation of foreign novels, led the list (13% of total books sold), followed by sentimental novels (4.1%), detective and spy fiction (3.7%), "classic" literature 3.5%), science fiction and horror (1.3%) and erotic fiction (0.2%). About 30% of all fiction sold in France is currently translated from English (authors such as William Boyd, John le Carrà ©  ©, Ian McEwan, Paul Auster, and Douglas Kennedy are well received).
An important part of book sales is comic books (usually the Franco-Belgian comics such as The Adventures of Tintin and Asta Rix) published in large hardback formats; comic books represented 4% of total book sales in 1997. French artists have made the country a leader in the graphic novel genre and France hosts the Angoule International Comic Festival, Europe's premier comic festival.
Like other areas of French culture, the book culture is influenced, in part, by the state, especially by the "Direction du livre et de la lecture" of the Ministry of Culture, which oversees the national Center du livre (National Book). The French Ministry of Industry also plays a role in price control. Finally, the VAT for books and other cultural products in France is at a 5.5% reduction rate, which is also a food and other necessities (see here).
In terms of journalism in France, the regional press (see list of newspapers in France) has become more important than national newspapers (such as Le Monde and Le Figaro) over the last century: in 1939, the national daily was 2/3 of the daily market, while today it is less than 1/4. The current magazine market is dominated by TV magazine magazines followed by news magazines such as L'Obs, L'Express and Le Point. .
Architecture and housing
Transportation
There is a significant difference in lifestyle with respect to transportation between very urban areas such as Paris, and small towns and rural areas. In Paris, and to a lesser extent in other large cities, many households do not own cars and use only efficient public transport. The clichÃÆ' Â © about Parisien is rush hour on train MÃÆ' Â © tro . However, outside such areas, the ownership of one or more cars is standard, especially for households with children.
The high-speed TGV railway network, the ÃÆ' grande vitesse train is a fast train train that serves several areas of the country and is self-financing. There are plans to reach most of France and many other destinations in Europe in the coming years. Train service to major destinations on time and often.
Holiday
Although the principles of laÃÆ'¯citÃÆ'Â © and the separation of churches from the country, general and school holidays in France generally follow the Roman Catholic religious calendar (including Easter, Christmas, Ascension, Pentecost, Assumption of Mary, All Saints Day, etc.). Labor Day and National Holidays are the only business holidays prescribed by government law; other holidays are granted by collective convention (agreement between unions and employees) or with the consent of the employer.
Five public school year vacation periods are:
- the alliances> All Saints Day - two weeks from the end of October.
- the vacances de NoÃÆ'½ (Christmas) - two weeks, ends after the New Year.
- the vacances d'hiver (winter) - two weeks in February and March.
- the vacances de printemps (spring), formerly vacances de PÃÆ' ¢ ques (Easter) - two weeks in April and May.
- vacances d'ÃÆ' Â © (summer), or grandes vacances (literally: big holiday) - two months in July and August.
On May 1, Labor Day ( La FÃÆ'ªte du Travail ) the French gave flowers from Lily of the Valley (Le Muguet) to each other.
The national holiday (called Bastille Day in English) is on July 14th. The military parade, called DÃÆ' © filà © du du juillet, was held, the largest in the Champs-ÃÆ' â € ° lysÃÆ'  © es avenue in Paris in front of the President of the Republic.
On November 2, All Souls Day ( La FÃÆ'ªte des morts ), the French traditionally brought chrysanthemum flowers to the graves of deceased family members.
On November 11, the Memorial Day ( Le Jour de la CommÃÆ'Â © moration or L 'Armistice ) is an official holiday.
Christmas is generally celebrated in France on Christmas Eve with traditional food (specialties including oysters, boudin blanc and bÃÆ'Â »che de Noë l), by opening gifts and by attending midnight masses (even among Catholics who do not attend church at another time of the year).
Candlemas ( La Chandeleur ) are celebrated with crÃÆ'ªpes. The popular saying is that if the chef can turn cranes alone with coins on the other side, the family is guaranteed prosperity over the coming year.
Celtic Halloween Holidays, popular around the English-speaking world, have grown in popularity after being introduced in the mid-1990s by trade associations. Growth seems to have stalled over the next decade.
Convention
- France is the home of the International System of Units (metric systems). Some pre-metric units are still in use, essentially livre (weight unit equivalent to half a kilogram) and quintal (unit weight equal to 100 kilograms).
- In mathematics, France uses infix notation like most countries. For large quantities, long scales are used. Thus, French people use the word billion for 1,000,000,000,000, which in countries that use short-scale is called a trillion. However, there is the French word, miliard , for the 1,000,000,000 numbers, which in countries that use the short scale is called a billion. So, despite the long-term use, one billion is called un milliard ("one billion") in French, and not mille millions ("a thousand million"). It should also be noted that the names of numbers above miliard are rarely used. Thus, one trillion is most commonly referred to as the millionaires in French, and rarely un billion .
- In the French numeric notation, the comma (,) is the decimal separator, whereas a space is used between each group of three digits (fifteen million five hundred thousand thirty two must be written as 15 500 032). In finance, currency symbols are used as decimal separators or entered after numbers. For example, EUR25,048.05 is written 25 048EUR05 or 25 048,05 EUR (always with extra spacing between image and currency symbol).
- In computing, bit is called bit but one byte is called octet (from Latin root octo , which means "8"). SI prefix is ​​used.
- 24 hours clock time is used, with h being the separator between hours and minutes (eg 2:30 pm is 14h30).
- The all-numeric form for dates is in the order of day-months-months, using a slash as a separator (example: 31/12/1992 or 31/12/92).
Problems in defining "French" culture
Wherever a person comes from, "culture" consists of beliefs and values ​​learned through the process of socialization and material artifacts. "Culture is a collection of beliefs, values, norms, and material goods shared by members of the group Culture consists of everything we learn in groups during the journey of life â €" from infancy to old age.
However, the concept of "French" culture poses particular difficulties and presupposes a series of assumptions about exactly what "French" expressions mean. While the American culture puts the idea of ​​"melting pot" and cultural diversity, the expression "French culture" tends to refer implicitly to certain geographical entities (such as, say, "metropolitan France", generally excluding its foreign department) or sociological-sociological groups certain defined by ethnicity, language, religion and geography. However, the reality of "Frenchness" is very complicated. Even before the end of the 18-19 century, "metropolitan France" was largely a patchwork of local customs and regional differences that the unifying goal of Ancien RÃ © Â © gime and the French Revolution only began to work against, and France today remains a nation of many indigenous and foreign languages, of various ethnicities and religions, and the diversity of regions that include French citizens in Corsica, Guadeloupe, Martinique and elsewhere around the world as well as in America.
The creation of a peculiar or shared type of cultural identity or "cultural identity", despite this vast heterogeneity, is the result of strong internal forces - such as the French education system, compulsory military service, the linguistic and cultural policies of the state - and by profound historical events - such as the Franco-Prussian war and the two World Wars - which have forged a sense of national identity over the last 200 years. Yet apart from this unifying force, France is presently still characterized by social class and by significant regional differences in cultures (dishes, dialects/accents, local traditions) that many fear will not be able to withstand contemporary social forces (rural depopulation, immigration , centralization, market forces, and the world economy).
In recent years, to counter the loss of regional diversity, many people in France have promoted forms of multiculturalism and encouraged cultural enclaves, including reforms on the preservation of regional languages ​​and the decentralization of certain governmental functions, but French multiculturalism has a harder time accepting, or integrating into, the collective identity, the communities and non-Christian groups and immigrants who have come to France since the 1960s.
The last 70 years have also seen French cultural identity "threatened" by global market forces and by American "cultural hegemony". Since its agreement with free trade negotiations GATT 1943, France has fought for the so-called "culturelle exceptions", which means the right to subsidize or treat domestic production of good culture and to restrict or control foreign cultural products (as seen in public funding for cinema French or lower VAT given to the book). The explicit idea of ​​the franÃÆ'§aise exception has somehow infuriated many French critics.
France is often regarded as a great pride in the national identity and positive achievements of France (the phrase "chauvinism" comes from France) and cultural issues are more integrated in the political body than elsewhere (see "Role of State", below). The French Revolution claimed universalism for the principles of Republican democracy. Charles de Gaulle actively promoted the idea of ​​"grandeur" of France ("grandeur"). The decline of perception in cultural status is a matter of national concern and has resulted in national debates, both from the left (as seen in the anti-globalism of Josà © à © Bovà © Å ©) and from far-right and far-right (as in National Front discourses).
Menurut Hofstede's Framework for Assessing Culture, budaya Perancis adalah individual individual dan High Power Distance Index.
Now, mixed mixtures of some native French and newcomers stand as a lively and boasting feature of French culture, from popular music to movies and literature. Therefore, along with the mixing of the population, there is also a cultural blend ( le mÃÆ' Â © tissue culturel ) present in France. This may be compared to the traditional US concept of melting pot. French culture may have been mixed from other races and ethnicities, in the case of some biographical research on the possibility of African descent in a small number of famous French citizens. Author Alexandre Dumas, pÃÆ'¨re has a fifth of black Haitian descent, and Empress Josephine Napoleon who was born and raised in the West Indies of a plantation family. We can mention also, the most famous French-Canadian singer, Celine Dion, whose grandmother is a North African from Kabylie.
For a long time, the only objections to such outcomes could be expected from left-to-left thinking. In recent years, other unexpected voices have begun to question what they interpret, as new philosopher Alain Finkielkraut coined the term, as "Ideology miscegenation" ( une idÃÆ'Â © ologie du mÃÆ' Â © tissage ) which may be derived from what other philosopher, Pascal Bruckner, is defined as The Tears of the White Man ( le sanglot de l'homme blanc ). The
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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