In this volume specialists from Britain and France adopt a fresh approach to the study of French culture since 1945 by focusing on the mass media and on a whole range of popular cultural forms. As well as introducing English-speaking readers to such new fields as French radio, television, science fiction and popular song, this volume also highlights how the French themselves responded to the growing importance of the mass media in postwar France.

List of Illustrations - Preface - Notes on the Contributors - Introduction - The French Communist Party in the 1950s: Between National Tradition and Counter-Culture; J.Verd s-Leroux - Catholic Cultural Policy from 1944 to 1950: 'Bande dessin e' and Cinema; M.Kelly - The Vivre son temps collection: Intellectuals, Modernity and Mass Culture; B.Rigby - The Setting-up of a 'Method of Production' in the French Cinema 1946-1950; J-P.Jeancolas - What Made a Popular Film in the 1950s; P.Sorlin - The 'S rie Noire'; J.Forbes - The Introduction of Science Fiction into France; P.Ory - The Birth of the Glossy Magazines: the Case of Paris-Match; N.Hewitt - Radio, Culture and Democracy in France in the Immediate Post-War Period 1944-1950; H.Eck - The Arrival of Opinion Polls in French Radio and Television, 1945-1960; C.M adel - The Growth of Opinion Polls in French Television, 1958-1974; J.Bourdon - Changing Places in French Song from 1945 to the Present Day; L-J.Calvet - French Popular Song: Changing Myths of the People; A.Rifkin - Endnotes - Bibliography - Index