Description
Book SynopsisAt a time when the world is contemplating the depletion of non-renewable natural resources, the consumer society is increasingly being called into question. This is nowhere more acutely evident than in France, where since its beginnings in the nineteenth century, the consumer revolution, extending market forces into every area of social and private life, has been perceived as a challenge to core elements in French culture, such as traditional artisan crafts and small businesses serving local communities. Cultural historians and sociologists have charted the increasing commercialisation of everyday life over the twentieth century, but few have paid systematic attention to the crucial testimony provided by the authors of narrative fiction. Consumer Chronicles rectifies this omission by means of close readings of a series of novels, selected for their authentic portrayal of consumer behaviour, and analysed in relation to their social, cultural and historical contexts. Walker's study, offering an imaginative interdisciplinary panorama covering the impact of affluence on French shoppers, shopkeepers and society, provides telling new insights into the history and characteristics of the consumer mentality.
Trade ReviewIt is a work of impeccable scholarship, and possesses the virtues of ample illustration, detailed demonstration, and the relentless, exhaustive pursuit of a single broad topic.
David Bellos
Walker’s clear exposition of the progression of his argument at every stage is helpful, if occasionally repetitive. His work is itself a treasure trove of references to literary and historical texts that discuss the evolution and importance of shopping in the modern period. Readers of modern French literature with an eye for consumer economics will undoubtedly get their money’s worth from this volume.
Beth Gerwin, Modern Language Review, Vol. 107, Part 4Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- I. WAITING FOR THE CONSUMER SOCIETY
- 1. Earning, Yearning and Making Do: Huysmans, 'Les Soeurs Vatard'
- 2. 'Flaneurs and Shoppers: Huysmans, 'En menage'
- 3. From Shopping to Schopenhauer: Huysmans, ' A vau- l'eau'
- II. ECONOMIES OF CONSUMPTION (1)
- 4. Transactions and Value: Gide, 'L'Immoraliste'
- III. SMALL SHOPS
- 5. 'La lente Agonie du petit commerce? Balzac, 'Grandeur et decadence de Cesar Birotteau' and Zola, 'Au bonheur des dames'
- 6. 'Eleve dans le commerce: Celine, 'Mort a credit'
- 7. The Emprium Strikes Back: Dutourd, 'Au Bon Beurre'
- IV. BIG STORES
- 8. The Big Sell
- 9. The 'grand magasin': Zola, 'Au bonheur des dames (2)'
- 10.'Les Venus des comptoirs' : Feminism and Shopping in the 1920's
- 11. Total Retail: Figures of the Dystopian Superstore
- V. ECONOMIES OF COMSUMPTION (2)
- 12. Speculations on Value
- VI. REFLECTIONS ON THE CONSUMER SOCIETY
- 13. Post-wr visions of Paradise: The Dawning of the Consumer Society
- 14. Managing the Consumers (1): Motivational Analysts
- 15. Managing the Consumers (2) Advertisers
- 16. The Consumers Managing 1: Making Do by Instalments
- 17. The Consumers Managing 2: Making Do and Producing
- Conclusion: A Good Buy?
- Bibliography
- Index
