Les musiques particularistes - Elisabeth Cestor

Les musiques particularistes - Chanter la langue d'oc en Provence à la fin du XXe siècle - Elisabeth Cestor

What's the place of singers who speak one of France's various indigenous languages, especially Provençal? While the Corsicans, Bretons and Basques seem to have been more successful in establishing themselves in the musical landscape than their neighbors from the Midi, many sing in the langue d'Oc, making a living from their art and stimulating a creative space. Regularly praised by the press, Occitan-speaking musicians are nonetheless difficult to promote, and their path is strewn with pitfalls. So where does this gap between players, artistic productions and audiences come from?


After a study of the music market situation, with the "world music" craze of the 1980s and the specific characteristics of France, the author examines the history of the sociability of the Occitan music scene. A well-documented description of the behavior of these players and the process of professionalization completes this study, which also addresses the crucial question of the reception of music caught between representations of Provençal culture and the specificity of contemporary artistic compositions.

Collection Logiques sociales - Musique et champ social, editions L'Harmattan.