Mutations et permanences de la culture populaire : la lecture à la Belle Époque

Change and Permanence in Popular Culture : Reading Practices during the Belle Époque. Although the history of literacy and of schooling is the subject of a number of important studies, little is yet known concerning the evolution of reading practices in the popular milieu. The present study deals with the period 1900-1914 and is based upon written sources and on the results of a survey covering approximately one hundred working class subjects born before 1900. The role of reading in popular culture is examined by studying its various uses, its presentation in autobiographical discourses and the popular patterns of distribution of printed matter. The question is whether this broadened access to books and reading correspond to a radical change in popular culture, or if one finds fined elements in the popular cultural heritage.Thiesse Anne-Marie. Mutations et permanences de la culture populaire : la lecture à la Belle Époque. In: Annales. Economies, sociétés, civilisations. 39ᵉ année, N. 1, 1984. pp. 70-91