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TBA
In the 1950s/'60s France's attitude to Americanisation was marked by ambiguity: modernisation brought an improved standard of living at the expense of a loss of a traditional and 'essentially French' way of life. This attitude can be seen as early as the mid-1940s, however, when Boris Vian, an author closely associated with post-Liberation catharsis, published his first major novel, " L'Ecume des jours", in which the principal female character may be read as an indicator of the pull of the United States.
This paper will take as its starting point a classic image of leg fetishism. This will then be considered more precisely from the perspective of the invention of Nylon and the concept of the 'Artificial Woman'. It will be argued that the status of Chloé, as supreme love object, is diminished by her association with nylon stockings and the pull of France towards the artificial culture of America. Indeed, far from representing Liberation and all that jazz, the US becomes a sign of entropy in Vian's world.
The basis of this argument will be found in French fashion writings of the 1940s in order to judge the text against an invaluable marker of popular culture and contemporary thought.
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