An Anthology of French and Francophone Singers from A to Z

Book excerpt: Every musical form has had an impact on the linguistic practices of our society. French song is a vector of cultural, social, and stylistic values. Throughout the world, songs in the French language are used in the teaching of French: professors incorporate songs into the curriculum in order to illustrate differences of register and linguistic variation, as well as to raise lexical or grammatical questions. As a form of popular expression, song is a genre that has, in recent years, become the focus of serious academic scholarship and criticism. However, few linguists have paid attention to French song and its linguistic uses. This richly illustrated mini-dictionary about French singers fills this gap by offering a collection of portraits of the greatest singers of the French language and how they have constructed the musical landscape in both France and the larger francophone community and the world as a whole. Through (re)discovering these classic and contemporary artists who contribute to the creation of the sonorous universe of the 20th and 21st centuries, the volume determines how these musical genres influence the French language and nourish our collective imagination. By plunging into francophone song, one can achieve a better understanding of the culture and the language of its speakers.