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Communication dans un congrès Année : 2012

The "Batailles du Livre" of the French communist Party, 1920-1970s

Résumé

The French Communist Party planed the first event in France about books and reading. For two years, from 1950 to 1952, the "Bataille du Livre" - Battle for books - was carried on in many towns, bringing together writers and readers, in the name of the Defence of Peace, an important subject of propaganda used by the USSR during the Cold War. This event also shows the ambiguous relationship between books, reading and the French Communist Party since its foundation in December 1920. Actually, in this respect, the "Bataille du Livre" (and its failure) marks a breaking point in the communist cultural policy. Basically, reading was a weapon for the communist movement: a true communist had to read the right texts (speeches and essays by Marx, Engels and the main communist leaders) to become a professionnal revolutionary. During the 1920s, in the official communist discourse, there was no reference to the pleasure of reading and the real reading practices of the french working classes didn't matter. This position changed in 1930, when the Komintern decided to use all forms of media against its ennemies. So reading had to be transformed into a weapon, as if it did aim at changing the workers in political fighters. Thus, conversely, reading got dangerous: the communists had to fight bad books, in particular popular novels, which were turning the workers into class ennemies. It was the first time the PCF considered the real cultural practices of French people. This war against bad books was at its height during the "Bataille du Livre" in 1950-1952. The end of the Cold War at the end of the 1950s and the failure of the Battle for Books emphazised the cultural isolation of the French Communists. Then, the FCP changed his discourse and began to fight for a new cause : reading as a human right and - which was really new - a pleasure. This change might be analysed as a significant political evolution of the FCP. But it could be studied also as the loss of force and influence of books in political life.

Domaines

Histoire
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Dates et versions

halshs-00705559, version 1 (07-06-2012)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : halshs-00705559 , version 1

Citer

Marie-Cécile Bouju. The "Batailles du Livre" of the French communist Party, 1920-1970s. Society of History of Autorship, Reading and Publishing : The Battle for Books, Jun 2012, Dublin, Ireland. ⟨halshs-00705559⟩
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Dernière date de mise à jour le 28/04/2024
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