Paris Africain

The growth of African immigration to France at the end of the Twentieth Century wrought cultural change in this epicentre of the avant-garde in European art and music. James Winders presents the story of African immigrants to France as a unique chapter in the long history of the reception accorded expatriate artists in Paris.

"James A. Winders has written a wonderful introduction to cultural globalization. He places the reader in the cultural milieux and changing political environments in which male and female musicians from Sub-Saharan Africa created and recorded 'world music' in late twentieth-century Paris. Drawing on dozens of revealng interviews, Winders lets musicians tell us about the immigration experience and their lives as artists in a Paris roiled by conflicts over racism and the nature of French national identity, while remaininga site of rich cultural exchange." - Donald Reid, Professor of History, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill" Paris Africain provides a fascinating look at not only the world of African musicians in contemporary France, but also black life and questions of race, politics, and immigration in general. Winders combines a detailed knowledge of French politics and society with a thorough appreciation of African musical forms and the people who have created them. No one who is interested in France today should miss this book." - Tyler Stovall, Professor of History, University of California, Berkeley, and author of Paris Noir: African Americans in the City of Light "Historians of immigration, urbanists, musicologists and French cultural studies scholars alike will find in James A.Winders' Paris Africain an eye-opening guide to the thriving world music scene in Paris. At the core of the book are Winders' extensive interviews with individual musicians and hisdeep knowledge of French immigration history and politics. At a time when African immigration to France is so often studied as a social crisis, nothing could be more timely and important than Winders' reminder of the enduring gift of music that African musicians have brought and sustained in the metropolis." - Alice Kaplan, Professor of French Literature and History, Duke University, and author of The Interpreter "With an engaging personal approach and a passion for his subject, Winders shares the stories that African pop musicians have told him of their lives in Paris - as performers, as immigrants and Parisians, and as political activists. He also fills in the larger context expertly, tracing the social and cultural dynamics of globalization in France." - Charles Rearick, Professor of History, University of Massachusetts"An important work for all who have attempted to address the issue of identity... Highly recommended." - CHOICE

JAMES A. WINDERS is Professor of History, Appalachain State University, USA.