SELVES AND SHELVES. CONSUMER SOCIETY AND NATIONAL IDENTITY IN FRANCE. DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Ioana Laura Hetel, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2008 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Karlis Racevskis, Adviser __________________________ Professor Danielle Marx-Scouras, Adviser __________________________ Professor Jennifer Willging Advisors French and Italian Graduate Program Professor Fritz Graf Copyright by Ioana Laura Hetel 2008 ABSTRACT Since the late nineteenth century, France has been confronted with the rapid instauration of consumerism and its society has been shaped by the tension between the political ideal of everyone under one roof and the consumerist ideal of everything under one roof. This study investigates representations of modern shopping sites (department stores and large format retailers such as supermarkets and hypermarkets) and elucidates how representations of retail stores in literature and other textual media have been constructed based on the opposing polarities of lieux de mémoire, intentionally defined as places of identity, of social relations, and of tangible history, and non-lieux, described as unconcerned with identity, non-relational, and ahistorical. This dichotomy, I claim, is the product of a fundamental conflict between a nostalgic view of a nationalistic past and an unavoidable adoption of the modern. Focusing on the diachronic dimension of French retail and building on McNair’s wheel of retailing, I theorize the model of the cultural wheel of retailing in order to illuminate how and why the same type of store is constructed as either a site of memory or a non-place at different time periods. Then, shifting my attention to the post-1945 period, I analyze the emergence and spread of large format retailers by successively ii focusing on each of the five meaning-making loci of culture: production, consumption, regulation, identity, and representation. With these insights in mind, I move to the investigation of six postwar French novels (Christiane Rochefort’s Les Stances à Sophie, Georges Perec’s Les Choses, Simone de Beauvoir’s Les Belles images, J.M.G. Le Clézio’s Les Géants, Frédéric Beigbeder’s 99 Francs, and Jean-Christophe Rufin’s Globalia) and identify the presence in them of a chronotope of dystopic consumption, a sub-surface combinational scheme that manifests itself through the presence of six synergetic themes: shopping, the happiness myth, advertising, good consumers and bad citizens, Americanization, and books and reading as antidotes to consumerism. Since large format retailers are both objects of fiction and sites for commercializing literary texts, I also investigate the problematic journey of literature from the shelves of the bookstore to the shelves of the grandes surfaces. iii To Iulian who changed my life iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation holds far more than the culmination of years of study. Its pages also reflect relationships with several inspiring scholars, colleagues, and friends who, from the inception of my project, have helped to shape it. I was fortunate to have two extraordinary advisers who are enviable models of scholarship and provided me with indispensable professional guidance and moral sustenance. With his impressive expertise in modernism and postmodernism, Karlis Racevskis introduced me to essential theoretical perspectives on twentieth century culture. I have learned so much from him, not only about scholarship, but also about how to be a genuine scholar. Danielle Marx-Scouras’ passion for popular culture served as an example of innovative research. I also appreciated her gentle way of reminding me to remember the big picture, in both scholarship and life. The other two members of my dissertation committee, Jennifer Willging from the Department of French and Italian and Fritz Graf from the Department of Latin and Greek, were rigorous, insightful, and generous readers of my dissertation. I could not have asked for a more supportive and encouraging committee. I am grateful to Françoise Lionnet from the Department of French and Francophone Studies at University of California at Los Angeles and Daniel Verdier from v the Department of Political Science at Ohio State University who reviewed and supported this project from its very initial stage. Many accomplished scholars from Ohio State University offered inspiration at critical moments in my graduate career: Mihaela Marin and Dennis Minahen from the Department of French and Italian, Marcus Kurtz, John Mueller, and Randall Schweller from the Department of Political Science, Paul Poast from the Department of Economics, and Mona Makhija and Terry Paul from the Fisher College of Business. Their courses clarified the complexities of modern intellectual history and broadened my perspective in so many respects. This project would have not been possible without two grants for conducting research abroad: the Coca-Cola Critical Difference for Women Research Grant on Gender & Gender Studies and the C. Michael Riley International Academic Fund. Also, the Graduate School Presidential Fellowship provided me with the time and financial support necessary to develop and cement my ideas during the last year of studies. In addition, I have received generous financial support from the Department of French and Italian and the Council of Graduate Students in the form of several conference travel grants. The feedback I received during this national and international exposure was instrumental in gradually shaping my arguments. While working as a study abroad resident director in France, I benefited enormously from my stay at the Audencia School of Management in Nantes, whose faculty and staff did so much to welcome me into their intellectual and social life. In particular, I wish to thank David Read from Audencia and Julia Shaw from Leeds University who offered me books, sound advice, and lots of good ideas for the marketing vi dimension of my research. The four summers I spent in Nantes were critical in providing resources and networks for my graduate work. I am therefore grateful to Grace Johnson from the Office of International Affairs and Melinda McDonald from the Fisher College of Business for entrusting me with their European Union business program year after year. I am particularly thankful for friendships stretching back many years or dating to very recent times. Adela, Adriana, Akindjo, Anca, Carmen, Delia, Gina and Cosmin, Ionuţ, Isabella, Linda, Mary, Marylaura, Omar, and Uliana have been valued interlocutors who always helped me laugh, dream, and put things into perspective. In particular, I extend my heartfelt thanks to Nicoleta Bazgan for reading chapters of my work and offering valuable advice. In the last stages of this project, she was always one (long) phone call away and motivated me to race to the finish. Together, the two of us were undergrads, grads, alumni, teaching assistants, and study abroad resident directors at OSU – all of this at the same time – and, in the process, shared some amazing life- changing experiences. A special loving thank you goes to my brother Mihai for being there for me, always and unconditionally, and to my parents Doina and Mihai. Finally, I could not have written this dissertation without the endless support and positive attitude of my husband Iulian who gave me time and space to grow in new directions when my entire life was revolving around this process. vii VITA 2001 – 2007 . Combined undergraduate / graduate program The Ohio State University B.A., Summa cum laude Majors: Political Science World Business & Economy M.A., French Ph.D Candidate, French 2001 – 2007 . Teaching Assistant The Ohio State University 2007 – 2008 . Presidential Fellow The Ohio State University FIELDS OF STUDY Major field: French Studies Twentieth century French literature and culture Consumer society, popular culture, and advertising Modernism and postmodernism viii TABLE OF CONTENTS P a g e Abstract. ii Dedication. iv Acknowledgments . v Vita . viii List of Figures . xi 1. Introduction. What Shelves for the French Selves? . 1 2. Lieux de mémoire and Non-lieux. The Cultural Wheel of Retailing. 16 2.1 Lieux de mémoire and National Patrimony. 20 2.2 Non-lieux and Perceptions of Modernity. 25 2.3 McNair’s Wheel of Retailing. 28 2.4 The Cultural Wheel of Retailing. A Theoretical Model. 31 2.5 The Cultural Wheel of Retailing in Action. A Diachronic Look. 33 ix 3. The Grandes surfaces in the Circuit of Culture. 60 3.1 The Circuit of Culture and Its Five Meaning-Making Loci. 62 3.2 Production. 64 3.3 Regulation. 74 3.4 Consumption. 81 3.5 Identity. 85 3.6 Representation. .89 4. Consumed Selves, Dystopic Shelves. The Chronotope of Dystopic Consumption. 90 4.1 The Chronotope as Literary Tool. 92 4.2 The Six Dimensions of the Chronotope of Dystopic Consumption. 93 4.2.1 Shopping. 97 4.2.2 The Happiness Myth. 115 4.2.3 Advertising. .123 4.2.4 Good Consumers, Bad Citizens. .134 4.2.5 Americanization. .147 4.2.6 Books and Reading. 151 5. Conclusion. 166 Bibliography. 169 x LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1.1 Philippe Cognée, Supermarchés. 2 1.2 Philippe Cognée, Bibliothèques. 3 1.3 Barbara Kruger, Untitled. 4 1.4 Selves and Shelves: National Identity and Consumerism. 5 1.5 Literary Schools and Consumer Behavior Research. 11 2.1 The Wheel of Retailing. 29 2.2 Perceptions of new versus old types of store. 32 2.3 Edouard Toudouse, Illustration for La Maison du Chat-qui-Pelote. 49 2.4 Panoramic view of Bon Marché. 49 2.5 Advertising Campaign, Galeries Lafayette. 54 2.6 French Retailing Segmentation. 55 3.1 The Circuit of Culture. .63 3.2 Logo, Carrefour . 89 4.1 Shopping: Pleasure versus Necessity. .106 4.2 The Wundt Curve. 122 4.3 Esprix bas. Brigade Anti-Pub. 137 xi 4.4 Automated book dispenser, Paris. 163 4.5 Ad. Espace Culture, Leclerc.