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Scientific Journal “Modern Linguistic and Methodical-and-Didactic Researches” Issue № 3 (18), 2017 ISSN 2587-8093

ed to the studio during news broadcasts and to other programs so they could provide their commentary; some philosophers even write columns in papers and journals [11, p. 84]. From the start, Shakespeare and Company became the center of creative discussion and philosophy, an important nest of the city’s intellectual life.

2 . T h e C a f é T r a d i t i o n i n F r a n c e : “ T h e C o u n t e r o f a C a f é i s t h e P a r l i a m e n t o f t h e P e o p l e ” ( H o n o r e d e B a l z a c )

The café tradition is exceptionally important in the French and, especially, Parisian culture. A modern society views café as a venue of a modest size where one can have a quick bite or a cup of coffee. In the context of Paris however café is a cultural and social institution, and visiting a café is one of the favorite pastimes of the Parisians, an important manifestation of

“French-ness” [12]. When in Paris, one сan find a café to any taste: from small cozy coffee shops to the traditional Parisian cafes with red-and-black paneling, round tables and wicker chairs to the grand café-restaurants reminiscent of the Versailles palace.

As we know, the café tradition per se was not born in France. One of the world’s first cafes opened in Istanbul in 1550. Europe was introduced to the café culture by way of London in the 17th century. The cafes of Vienna in Austria and the Italian cafes are also world famous. However it was in the French capital where this tradition not just developed on such a grand scale but where, until this day, it remains an important part of Parisian life.

The café tradition is first of all related to c o f f e e , which, after making a debut in Europe in the 16th century by way of Venice, caused a triumph and became the new drink of choice for many, because, unlike alcoholic beverages, it promoted clarity of mind and was a source of an aesthetic pleasure (not surprisingly, the tavern owners in London who were losing clientele to the newly sprung up coffee houses were not particularly excited about this change in the third place space) [14]. It only makes sense that in French language, the word “c a f é ” denotes both café and coffee (in 19th century in France the name of the drink transferred to the venues where it was drunk, the actual word caffè was borrowed from Italian; according to one theory, the original etymology of the word coffee goes back to the Kaffa region in Ethiopia).

The first Parisian café opened in the 1660’s. However it was C a f é P r o c o p e ( L e P r o c o p e ) , founded in 1689 in the very heart of Paris, that took the café tradition to a whole new level as the legendary, symbolic in the context of “French-ness,” characteristics developed: café as a center of cultural-intellectual community, a gathering place for thinkers and creative individuals who discussed news, politics, art and culture, who observe and watched the world.

H o n o r e d e B a l z a c captured this specificity with his famous line: “The counter of a café is the parliament for the people.”

In the beginning, the menu of Parisian cafes consisted of such items as coffee, tea, lemonade, chocolate and sorbet. Presently, many French cafes are in fact restaurants that offer an actual food menu. Still, it is the drinks, especially coffee and wine, that are the most popular and symbolic items on the menu: oftentimes, the Parisians come to the café not to eat but to watch the world go by as they slowly drink the traditional beverage [13].

The rich history of cafes in Paris is inseparably connected to the l i t e r a r y , a r t i s t i c , c u l t u r a l , i n t e l l e c t u a l , a n d s o c i a l l i f e of the city. A café in Paris is the place where great writers, painters, poets created their works, where thinkers debated various theories or contemplated the eternity. In the course of several centuries, the cafes were a crucially important place to exchange information, learn the latest news, hold meetings, discussions, etc. The European café of the 17-19th centuries was truly an equivalent and harbinger of the I n - t e r n e t , which serves as a source of information, discussions, etc. [14]. An English poem of the time refers to coffee houses as p e n n y u n i v e r s i t i e s where, for a cost of a cup of coffee, one could obtain education [14]. Not surprisingly, the Parisian cafes and coffee houses paid an important role in the formation of the revolutionary movement: the French historian Jules

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Michelet noted that those “who assembled day after day in the Café de Procope saw, with penetrating glance, in the depths of their black drink, the illumination of the year of the revolution”[14]. At the end of the 18th century, the French revolutionists, such as Robespierre, Marat and Danton gathered at cafes in Paris with the goal to create the plans fateful for the country. It also only seems logical that the government sent their spies to cafes.

2.1. T h e P a r i s i a n C a f é

a n d L i t e r a r y a n d C u l t u r a l T r a d i t i o n s

The above mentioned C a f é

P r o c o p e is also the first literary café in Paris. Jean-

Jacques Rousseau, George Sand, Paul Verlaine, Victor Hugo, Voltaire, Honore de Balzac and virtually all of the greatest French writers and thinkers frequented the venue. What is fascinating about Parisian cafes is that, if one were to compile the list of their patrons, it would practically match the list of all the great French and, to an extent, international minds of a correlating epoch. This café was also one of the centers of Enlightenment: it was here where Denis Diderot and Jean de Rond d’Alembert discussed the future “Encyclopedia, or a Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Crafts.” In the 1820’s, the great Alexander Humboldt came here for lunch every day. Having undergone several facelifts, Café Procope is still open to public and is the oldest restaurant in Paris.

Interestingly, many other of the city’s historically significant cafes were not just preserved but are still open for business. The cafes Les Deux Magots and Café Flore are among them. Les Deux Magots is located in the prestigious neighborhood Saint Germain, which, back in the day, was considered to be one of the city’s literary centers: among the café’s guests were

Ernest Hemingway, Berthold Brecht, Pablo Picasso and James Joyce, and Albert Camus and

Jean-Paul Sartre would come here to philosophize over a cup of coffee. The significance of Les Deux Magots in the literary world was so important that, in 1933, a literary prize was started here.

Across from L e s D e u x M a g o t s i s C a f é F l o r e – another vivid example of the cultural-literary tradition in Paris. This café became the true third place, a home away from home. It was frequented by Hemingway, Sartre, Beauvoir, Picasso, and others. This venue carried its cultural significance into the second half of the 20th century: it was a gathering place for the members of the legendary “New wave” cinematic movement, such as Brigitte Bardot, JeanPaul Belmondo, Alain Delon, etc. [15]. Interestingly, some of these cafes still have the very tables where certain legends from the world of arts and culture liked to sit – one can even request to be seated at such table.

As mentioned above, at the end of the 19th– first half of the 20th centuries Montmartre and Montparnasse were the centers of the bohemian life of the city with a very liberal social code: oftentimes they became home, either temporary or permanent, for the creative types of very limited means. The café life of Montmartre has been immortalized very vividly on canvases of some of the greatest artists, such as Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec. The following cafes in Montparnasse served a similar cultural function: La Closerie des Lilas, Le Select, Brasserie Lipp, Le Dome. Not surprisingly, many of them were mentioned in Hemingway’s works.

2.2. T h e C a f é T r a d i t i o n a s R e f l e c t i o n o f t h e F r e n c h C o n c e p t o f J o i e d e V i v r e ( “ J o y o f L i f e ” )

The concept of joie de vivre (joy of life) and related to it concepts savoir-vivre (to-know- how-to-live), l’art de vivre (the art of life), and savoir-faire (know-how) is one of the fundamental ones in understanding “French-ness” [11:c.64-67]. This concept implies a lifestyle and attitude to life that are characterized by the following traits:

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2.2.1. C u l t o f j o y o f l i f e . To French, the joy of life is in an ability to find happiness and pleasure in the act of life as it is – not just in its rare, exceptionally joyful manifestations. The act of being caught up in the daily grind, haste, and exercising a negligent attitude towards the present presume a negligent attitude towards life itself and, as a result, an inability to be happy. The French made the Epicurean principle of “Ars longa, vita brevis” (Latin, “Art/science are long, life is short”) the foundation of their lives. It is not by accident that Edith Piaf’s legendary song “La Vie En Rose” (“Life in Rose Color”) became an unofficial anthem of Paris and, perhaps, all of France.

2.2.2. C u l t o f t h e m o m e n t . The essence of the art of “joie de vivre” is in the ability to derive pleasure from a specific moment, the one the person finds themselves in at any given time, whether it is people watching while sitting at a café, enjoying the aroma of a freshly brewed cup of coffee, grocery shopping, setting up a table for dinner or having a heated political debate. This is one of the reasons why cafes are so exceptionally popular in France [16].

The French reject the principle of “сras, сras semper сras, sic evadit аetas” (“tomorrow, tomorrow, always tomorrow – this is how life passes by”). They live in the moment and derive joy from whatever they have today, this moment. The ability to engage in a seemingly “useless” activity while not feeling an ounce of guilt over the “time wasted” and, on the contrary, being able to fully dissolve in the moment, to be truly present is an important characteristic of

“French-ness” [11, p. 5]. The French lifestyle is an embodiment of Johan Goethe’s legendary line: “Moment, stay a while, you are so beautiful!” („Dem Augenblicke dürft‘ ich sagen , verweile doch ! Du bist so schön! (“Faust,” Goethe).

2.2.3. I m p o r t a n c e o f a e s t h e t i c s . It is not by accident that Paris is known as the world’s capital of fashion and style: the Parisians pay a very close attention to the aesthetics in all aspects of their life, whether it is choosing accessories for an outfit, decorating the interior or setting a table for dinner.

2.2.4. A t t e n t i o n t o d e t a i l s . This specificity is closely connected to the previous three: details and visual characteristics are of an utmost importance to the Parisians. This is why one of the first things we notice when arriving in Paris is the beautifully decorated window displays and interiors, the harmonious, stylish outfits of the Parisians, stunning architecture, etc. Each pastry made in Paris is a miniscule work of art, whose creator did not hold back on time and effort to sculpt each curve and each flower – for, first of all, in the eyes of the French, details and aesthetics are important, and, second of all, the process of making a pastry, being fully in the moment of making it, is one of the manifestations of the joy of life, joie de vivre!

2.2.5. L e s p e t i t s p l a i s i r s ( “ s m a l l p l e a s u r e s ” ) . The concept “p e t i t ” (small) is one of the key elements in both the “cultural-social” language and cognitive spheres in France: the legendary little black dress (la petite robe noire), a small cup of espresso with a piece of chocolate, a tiny macaroon, small servings, a single glass of wine only partially filled and nursed for hours, small stores (whether it is independent bookstores or clothing boutiques), small bakeries (boulangeries) and cake/pastry shops (pâtisseries), “small” walks along the Seine… “Small” in the mind of a Parisian is a good thing, for our life is mostly comprised of the small: moments, “small” daily acts, objects, and details [11, p. 50-60]. They are the joie de vivre, and the ability to value them, to understand that they are happiness is the art de vivre

(“the art of living”).

2.2.6. C u l t o f q u a l i t y , s a v o i r - f a i r e . To French, it is the quality and not just (and, at times, not as much as) quantity that is important. That is why French clothing is considered to be the golden standard for quality, the French pastries are “exemplary,” and the

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crunchiness of the French baguette has become one of the symbols of the country. Traditionally, everything French is associated with the “one-of-a-kind” approach. To an extent, this is where the concept savoir-faire (know-how) comes to life.

Of course, nothing is ever one-dimensional, and, according to some researchers, such as Harriet Welty Rochefort, the concept of joie de vivre in the lives of the French mostly extends only to the paradigm “family-friends-hobbies-pastime” and is not all encompassing [17]. For example, the French are traditionally known to have a pessimistic outlook to anything “external,” such as politics, economics, current world events, etc.

Welty Rochefort also notes that the concept of joie de vivre is not one sided, it does not just signify joy and happiness in their traditional sense. It can also mean an act or a reality of life that evokes a strong emotion, a sense of being alive - even if it is an unpleasant argument or an unhappy romantic experience: an unhappy love story is better than no love story at all as it too makes one feel. A heated dispute with friends and family over dinner is also the joie de vivre [11, p.101]. Moreover, according to Welty Rochefort, engaging in a dispute is one of the favorite pastimes for the Parisians [11, p.106].

2.4.7. C a f é a s T h e a t r e a n d P e o p l e W a t c h i n g . In the context of a Parisian café the tradition of people/world watching is one of the unique features of “French-ness” in general and the café tradition, in particular [18]. Aside from the fact that a café in the French capital is one of the centers of social and cultural life (especially historically), it is also an observatory of sorts, a stage that allows one to observe the world and everything that happens in it right here and now. The café and its patrons are the audience, and those walking by and the city itself are the stage, theatre. One of the café features that point to that is the outdoor sitting: like nowhere else in the world, each café in Paris offers such sitting. The set up of the chairs around the outdoor table is even more interesting and “French”: more often than not, the chairs are positioned not around the table, as it is usually done, but on the “inner” side of it, facing the street, in rows. Thus the street tables quite literally become a theatre auditorium with rows of seats. It is also of interest that even in the winter one will see plenty of Parisians sitting outdoors, sipping coffee and wine and watching the world (and people) go by.

2.4.8. F l â n e u r i e a s “ G a s t r o n o m y o f t h e E y e ” ( H o n o r e d e B a l - z a c ) . The tradition of people watching and observing the world is so strong in France that two centuries ago it grew into an art form – the legendary f l â n e u r i e . In its literal translation,

flaneur” means “a saunterer,” a person on a casual stroll around town. Originally, flâneurie implied certain laziness, denoting aimless walks around the city accompanied by people/world watching. Gradually, by the early 19th century, this concept has grown into something far more complex: “flaneuring” was now viewed as a particular kind of lifestyle, an evidence of a person’s contemplative, observant nature. Flaneurs were now viewed as k e y p a r t i c i p a n t s in city life. The great Honore de Balzac called flâneurie “gastronomy for the eye.” The French publicist Victor Fournel wrote that the concept of “flaneuring” did not in any way correlate with the concept of “doing nothing”: quite the opposite, flâneurie is the way to understand the richness and diversity of the city landscape, to become both its observer and participant. Other thinkers and researchers purport that, for a certain type of individual, flâneurie was the way to relate to the suddenly changed city landscape (when the concept of a modern city, the city where people were now strangers to each other, the city of wider streets and relative modernity, developed).

Considering the aforementioned specificities, it is not surprising that flâneurie gained close ties with literature and philosophy. City strolls of this kind gave the creatively minded individuals a wealth of material for contemplation and creative pursuits. As noted by some historians, in order to slow down even more (and thus to truly absorb each details of the world around), some flaneurs even brought along their pet turtles [19].

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The names of such great writers and poets as Honore de Balzac, Emile Zola and Charles Baudelaire are traditionally linked to the tradition of flânerie.

In Russian literature, one of the first flaneurs appeared on the pages of Nikolai Gogol’s short story called “Nevsky Prospekt.” It was an artist called Piskarev, who strolled down Nevsky Prospekt, Saint Petersburg’s main artery. Piskarev is simultaneously an observer, participant, and a “researcher” of the life of the city and its residents [20]. Later, the great Fyodor Dostoevsky will enrich the world’s literature with unforgettable flaneurs.

In one of his articles, Charles Baudelaire gave one of the most vivid and complete definitions of a flaneur:

“The crowd is his element, as the air is that of birds and water of fishes. His passion and his profession are to become one flesh with the crowd. For the perfect flâneur, for the passionate spectator, it is an immense joy to set up house in the heart of the multitude, amid the ebb and flow of movement, in the midst of the fugitive and the infinite. To be away from home and yet to feel oneself everywhere at home; to see the world, to be at the centre of the world, and yet to remain hidden from the world […]” [21]

Thus, the cult of cafes and coffee and the related to it concepts of joie de vivre and flâneurie, which merge into one another, are one of the most vivid manifestations of the French identity. The city is a theatre where those walking by are both its actors and viewers. For some, the modern flâneurie and “café-ing” are just ways to pass time while for others they are still a vast source of inspiration and creative thought.

3 . G l o b a l i z a t i o n , G e n t r i f i c a t i o n a n d t h e P r o b l e m o f P r e s e r v i n g t h e F r e n c h I d e n t i t y

Speaking of uniqueness of Paris it is important to note that, due to the processes of globalization and gentrification, many of important cultural phenomena that make up the “face” and inner world of Paris are undergoing changes, “thin out,” and some even become obsolete. These changes also concern the aforementioned bookstores and cafes.

G l o b a l i z a t i o n implies an interaction and integration between people, companies and governments of different countries. International trading and investments as well as informational technologies are the main engines of this process [22]. Interestingly, sometimes the process of globalization is mentioned in the same context as Americanization.

G e n t r i f i c a t i o n (fr. “gentrise” – “a person of noble birth”) presumes that an already existing, previously “undesirable” city area becomes populated by individuals with higher income (compared to the income of the previously present population) [23]. On the one hand, as a result, a gentrified neighborhood becomes safer, more attractive for investors; it attains a superior infrastructure and enjoys a great boost in economic activity. On the other hand, the drastic increase in prices, especially in the real estate sector, leads to changes in the area’s social- and-cultural landscape: the local population is forced out, small location-specific businesses and establishments, which had given the area a strong cultural identity, are replaced with various standardized franchises, etc.

The independent bookstore Shakespeare and Company is one example of an “attempted globalization”: the central location of the venue, its proximity to Notre Dame de Paris and other attractions make it exceptionally attractive in the eyes of investors and businesses. From time to time Sylvia Whitman receives buyout offers from hotels and other companies. Luckily, good sales numbers, the store’s cult status and the fact that the company owns the building it occupies insures its relative safety.

Unlike Shakespeare and Company, a great number of independent, “truly French” venues in Paris were not able to withstand globalization and gentrification. Many of them (bookstores,

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cafes, boulangeries, patisseries, boutiques, etc.) went out of business due to drastically increased rents or were bought out by behemoth companies that built its standardized, “internationally averaged out” venues in their place.

Globalization and gentrification pose a great threat to the identity of a country, city, neighborhood, and, in the context of France, “French-ness” itself.

In response to these changes, the anti-gentrification movement has developed in many countries, including France. This movement is presented on both national and city levels as well as a neighborhood level [23]. It is especially prominent in big cities.

3.1. T h e F r e n c h a n d A m e r i c a n C o f f e e t i o n o f G l o b a l i z a t i o n , G e n t r i f i c a t i o n a n d

s h o p T r a d i t i o n s a s R e f l e c - F r e n c h I d e n t i t y

A brief analysis of the history of the American coffee shop company Starbucks’ entrance into the Parisian café and coffee market serves as an illustration of globalization and gentrification in the French capital. Because this coffee shop chain represents many of the things that are the opposite of “French-ness,” it did not receive a particularly warm welcome when it debuted in Paris in 2004. In the eyes of many Parisians, the appearance of Starbucks on the French market meant a weakening of the crucial cultural and historical café and coffee tradition, a clash of two very different “coffee cultures”: the French and the American [25].

In the eyes of those against the “A m e r i c a n ” coffee tradition, it aims not so much at quality as quantity and sales volume, and is based on the production line business model; it implies the use of disposable coffee cups, disregard for the ritual of coffee drinking, etc. The Starbucks coffee shops offer a wide selection of not just coffee in its traditional sense but also coffee beverages, whose taste reminds more of a milkshake than of actual coffee: this flavor property is acquired by means of introducing various syrups and additives. Among other characteristics, such beverages are high in calories. At the same time, the French coffee tradition presumes a very small selection of the “genuine coffee” beverages. In that light, some of the beverages in the “American” coffee tradition no longer have a direct connection to the coffee tradition per se and are simply the product of market opportunity. Besides, the French un petit café has been replaced with large servings offered in oversized (and disposable!) coffee cups.

The Starbucks coffee drinking tradition (and, to an extent, the American one) implies the concept of coffee on the go: one drinks coffee not out of ceramic or porcelain cups in the cozy environment of a café or their home (as it is done within the aforementioned culture of joire de vivre) but out of disposable cups, right on the go, on the street.

T h e F r e n c h c o f f e e d r i n k i n g t r a d i t i o n presumes a certain kind of “singularity,” small servings, and a traditional selection. Coffee is served in “long term” cups and is drunk in a café, even in the morning before work, as the person watches the world go by, reads or engages in the act of the “seated” flâneurie. Until not too long ago, it was almost impossible to see a person drinking coffee on the go, out of a disposable coffee cup on the streets of Paris. The tradition of eating on the go was also non-existent. At the same time in New York for over a decade, a disposable coffee cup in the hands of a person walking on the street or sitting in the metro has been quite a common accessory. Many New Yorkers also buy their breakfast from food trucks and eat it, again, on the go or in front of their computers at work.

It is no surprise that even eight years and 63 Parisian locations later, the French Starbucks still was not profitable. It says something about the loyalty of the many French to the café and coffee tradition, to “French-ness” [25].

Interestingly, while the décor of the S t a r b u c k s locations in the United States is executed in a uniform casual-industrial aesthetic, the décor of some of its coffee shops in Paris is adopted to local traditions: for example, the company’s Montmartre location sits behind a traditional French façade, and its interior is comprised of the soft red fabric seating, “French” color pallet, and, most importantly, there are paintings on the walls that depict the life of Montmartre

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of the early 20th century, including of course the scenes from the café life of the time. The

Stabrucks location on Boulevard des Italiens is an even a more stark an example of how far the company has gone to adopt to the local tastes: the décor of this coffee shop is executed in the style of a palace so that the venue with its chandeliers and golden ceiling looks like one of the rooms at the Versailles palace.

It is important to note that, nevertheless, the consequences of a certain amount of the Americanization of Paris become more and more evident: right now the Starbcuks franchise enjoys a loyal following, especially among young Parisians, and such utterly “anti-French” phenomenon as McDonald’s is quite popular with many of the city residents (not to mention tourists!). Moreover, now there are the aforementioned food carts on the streets of Paris – even if they present an antithesis of the joie de vivre tradition [26].

At the same time, despite the “production line” approach to the coffee tradition in the US, the element of joy of life, people watching, engaging in acts of creativity, while sitting at a table in a Starbucks or other cafes is also present. Interestingly, many Americans say that they too would like to see more of the European type third places in their cities and towns. There are also those Americans who go to France to study the art of baking and return to their home country to open a “real” bakery or a cafe. It is also worthy of noting that comfort and convenience, be it the ability to “grab a bite” on the go or the omnipotence of air conditioning, both being the cornerstone of life in the United States, make for an easier life – in a modern day-to- day life with its demands it is not always the tradition but convenience that one wants.

Lastly, there are not that many branches of such establishments as MacDonald’s and

Starbucks in the historical part of Paris, which is still heavily dominated by traditional French cafes, and these products of globalization have not (yet) caused a significant change in the city’s appearance and ambiance.

3.2. T h e L ' e x c e p t i o n C u l t u r e l l e P o l i c y

The l’exception culturalle (cultural exception) policy of protecting and preserving the French identity implemented by the French government is one of the most interesting sides of

“French-ness.” It is important to note that, on the one hand, this policy is an approach continuously implemented in France and, on the other, it is a manifestation of “French-ness” in itself.

This concept was introduced by the French in 1993 during the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). L’exception culturalle presumes that products and services related to culture should be treated differently than commercial products. The basis of this policy is that cultural goods and services should be viewed as exceptions in international treaties and agreements, especially when it comes to those that take place in the context of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The policy of l’exception culturalle implies that certain measures that aim at protecting and preserving the country’s cultural identity from the negative influence of globalization and the competitive market should be taken, because these types of products and services possess the kind of value that transcends their strictly commercial value [27].

The policy of cultural exception is not unique to France: many other countries had taken measures to protect their cultural legacy from the influence of the global market, such as South Korea, Canada, other European countries, etc. However it was and is France where this policy is expressed most vividly. Interestingly, in France, the concept of cultural globalization is partly linked to t h e A m e r i c a n ( “ m a s s ”) culture and market, because it is the United States that had popularized the concept of mass production of a lot of “cultural” and “semi-cultural” products and services, such as movies, music, food, etc. The “mass” approach is mostly concerned with quantity and profits as opposed to tradition: the Hollywood movie industry (for the most part) produces standardized formula-based “goods” (i.e., romantic comedies and superhero movies), the fast food sector offers the same “fast, simple, uniform” approach, etc.

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Over time the concept of cultural exception was replaced with a more politically correct concept of cultural diversity, however just as before, it presumes an implementation of measures that protect the country’s cultural identity.

What are the actual expressions of l’exception culturalle policy in France? First of all, this policy concerns the movie and television industry. There are strict quotas on how many English language films are allowed to enter the French market. Besides, the French government encourages production of artistic films. The same type of law exists in the radio industry: in 1993, a law was passed which requires that at least 40% of the songs accepted into rotation should be in French language. As stated by Emmanuel de Rengervé, the executive officer of the National Union of Artists and Composers, “if the French language disappears, it would represent a cultural and linguistic impoverishment not just for France but for the whole world."

However not all French radio DJ’s, listeners and artists were happy about this quota, and, as a result, it was reduced to 35% [28].

The book industry is another example of the “fight” for “French-ness.” In 1981, the

L a n g L a w named so after the Minister of Culture, Jack Lang, was passed. According to this law, the book price is created by the publisher and cannot be changed by book sellers, be it a large chain, small independent store or an Internet seller. No discount exceeding 5% is allowed. Among other things, the law aims at protecting independent book shops that otherwise would not be able to compete with large retailers or online stores in price. This measure is also supposed to encourage book offering diversity.

Thus, the French government had taken several measures aimed at preserving the cultural legacy, identity and the language of the country, including those that presume a partly artificial halting of the somewhat natural process of globalization and the competitive market mechanisms. In the context of the US, such measures would likely be viewed as contradictory to the laws of the free market, which rejuvenates itself by shedding the no longer competitive business models and self-regulates with regard to pricing.

Conclusion. Based on our research of the concept of the independent bookstore Shakespeare and Company, the tradition of Parisian cafes in the context of their correlation to the

French culture, the following features, which characterize the “French-ness” phenomenon, can be identified: the joie de vivre tradition, which implies the art of enjoying life, cult of the now, the aesthetic aspect of life, the tradition of quality, concept of the small (little pleasure, little cup of coffee, little black dress, etc.), the rejection of haste as the main trend of modern life; the tradition of cultural and social community; tradition of observing the world and people watching; an especially protective attitude towards the language, cultural and historical legacy, which can be observed in both an individual behavior and national policy.

The uniqueness of Shakespeare and Company and the maxims and phenomena of the French view of the world and lifestyle, closely related to the store, can be seen in all aspects of the functioning of the book retailer: location, originality of its history, intercultural status, polyfunctionality, décor, third place, cultural commune, cult of tradition (i.e., the tumbleweeds tradition), coziness, center of creativity, etc. Shakespeare and Company serves as a treasure trove of both the French and international cultural-and-historical legacy associated with great thinkers, writers, poets, etc.

Various processes including globalization and gentrification lead to the changes in the cultural landscape of the country, including Americanization of the many culturological phenomena. Just as in case with most other countries, France gains more and more of these common, “international” features which make countries look alike, oftentimes at the expense of their cultural identity: the appearance of Paris is changing (new standardized clothing stores, coffee shops, fast food chains appear), and, partly, the lifestyle and culturological concepts change (eating on the go, coffee in disposable cups, etc) [26]. Nevertheless, France remains one of the most unique and interesting countries with an incredible cultural legacy and charm.

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