(Not so) Separate but Unequal On the Circulation of Popular Culture Items between France and Quebec

• Published in: Transatlantic Passages pp. 305 - 325
• Main Author: Spielmann, Guy
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Montreal MQUP 20.10.2010; McGill-Queen's University Press
• Subjects: Actors; Anthropology; Applied anthropology; Artists; Arts; Audiences; Behavioral sciences; Broadcast media; Business; Communications; Communicative content; Comparative literature; Consumers; Cultural anthropology; Cultural industries; Cultural studies; Economic disciplines; Economics; Employment; Entertainment industries; Film studies; French literature; Human populations; Humor; Industrial sectors; Industry; Journalism; Knowledge industries; Labor economics; Literary studies; Literature; Mass communication; Mass media; Motion picture industry; Movies; News content; News media; Occupations; Performing artists; Persons; Popular culture; Population studies; Publishing industry; Social sciences; Television; Television programs; World literature
• ISBN: 0773537872; 9780773537873
• DOI: 10.1515/9780773581289-027

While international exchanges in terms of art, literature, film, and other high-profile cultural productions tend to be well-documented but limited in quantity, the circulation of items belonging to popular culture tends to be as massive as it is surreptitious, especially since such items are often modified to fit the target culture in the most unobtrusive manner. Another feature of this type of relationship, its often asymmetrical character, makes the very term of “exchange” questionable, because of implicit “cultural imperialism” (Tomlinson); but does this apply to cultures that are not completely distinct because they share a common heritage and, to some