Working title: Building New France in New York
French culture has a strong influence in New York City. With the plentiful restaurants and cafés, high fashion, and a growing community of expats, the city is nothing short of a French lover’s paradise away from France. However, NYC’s love affair with France is not one-sided. The French have established a large community in the city, which has then spread the influence of French culture more vastly in New York. France has had a connection with New York since pre-colonial times, with Huguenots settling in the Dutch colony of New Netherlands (later part of New York) and the most notable example being the gifting of the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island in the middle of New York Harbor. Today, amongst many other sponsors, the French Cultural Embassy as well as the not for profit organization, Alliance Française, hold major public events, such as the Bastille Day festival, which not only bring the French community together, but also create cultural awareness in the rest of the city.
For my Springboard project, I will analyze the relationship between France and New York City on a narrative-based level. I will center my research around: 1) why and how the French community has established itself in New York and 2) the role and prevalence of French culture in New York. To research how the French community has established itself in New York, I will look back to the historical ties between France and New York City and connect it to the current day presence of the French community in NYC. While I do not have much background information on this topic yet, I have many proposed questions that I aim to answer in the course of my research: In what ways is the community asserting itself in such a culturally diverse place as New York? How have the French created a new home out of this city? What have members of the community done on a large scale to recreate a sense of familiarity while simultaneously integrating themselves into another community?
In regards to why the French have settled in large numbers in New York City, I will gather anecdotal evidence through interviews from expatriates/immigrants, foreign students, and tourists as to why NYC attracted them. Another form of research is to analyze statistical data and studies on trends in the popularity of NY amongst Parisians above all. However, I want to ground my research more on personal narratives as I am basing the project on how the stories of individuals come together to create a bigger picture. In this case, those narratives are of the French community and New Yorkers who experience French culture and how they, in turn, shape the place around them.
The role and prevalence of French culture in the city is also another main aspect of my project. I will be looking at both sides of the impact: how the French community has influenced the city by promoting their culture in this new home and how the city has also fostered French culture due to its fascination with France. I will focus on the different aspects of French culture, namely food, fashion, art, literature, and public events related to these categories. To conduct my research, I will gather information from reviews, magazine and newspaper articles, and blogs in addition to anecdotal evidence.
A major focus will be on the current public events, many of which are organized, in part, by the French Cultural Embassy or other New York-based French organizations/companies. I will attend these events and document them through photos, videos, and personal reviews. This form of documenting will keep in line with the personal narrative theme. Not only will I be showcasing the different ways French culture has a major part in NYC from an informative, guide-like aspect, I will also be presenting them from my perspective and potentially, the perspective of others who attend and visit these events and places.
My intended audience is those interested in hearing personal stories of how people connect to places, but more specifically how the French connect with New York City. I am focusing less on an academic audience and more on a general public audience. To narrow down this generality of my audience, this project is geared more towards those with an interest in French culture and New York City. From my research, I hope to also engage anyone with an interest in public events and personal interactions. I would like my project to serve as a starting point in taking the big aspects of a city and making them feel a bit smaller in scale.
On an academic level, this topic does not directly relate to my field of art history, but it does connect to my French major. More importantly though, it draws upon my personal and potential career interest in event planning, public engagement/community-building in cities, and documenting personal experiences through art (i.e., mediums of blogs, photographs, and videos). Although the French population in NYC is significant and the French culture, specifically in terms of food, has a strong presence in NYC, there is not that much information in the public domain that effectively compiles the French experience into a website. Nor is there a website that takes the presence of French culture in New York and looks at it from a narrative perspective. I would like to contribute a personal guide to what is now being dubbed “Little Paris” while incorporating my artistic interests in photography, film, and writing.
