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Zeegers, Xavier
2 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Les Ch'tis: a grain of sand in the global machine
Xavier Zeegers discusses the phenomenon surrounding the French film "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis" (Welcome to the Sticks), which this year became France's most viewed film of all times. The comedy deals with a postal worker transferred from the south of France to the north: "A film that touches 20 million viewers and even beats 'Titanic' is no longer just a film, it is a social phenomenon. ... The most interesting thing [about the film] is the relationship between globalisation and identity. Nowadays many people try to set up identity niches for themselves ... because they are afraid that although globalisation brings people closer together technically, it also makes them indifferent, even interchangeable. ... As a result everything with an archaic feel to it, everything that stubbornly resists uniformity, is becoming increasingly popular. ... This room [the protagonist's post office] is a grain of sand in a cold machine, the little man's revenge against the all-dominant system."
» full article (external link, French)
More from the press review on the subject » Film, » Social movements, » France, » Global
Xavier Zeegers ponders the point of culture
The columnist Xavier Zeegers denounces the desire to accumulate cultural knowledge. "We are all confronted with this dilemma: the more we know, the more we want to know, and the more we strive, the more in vain our efforts feel, like an ever receding horizon. ... The right reaction might be to stop running after culture like a dog after a car, to stop and set ourselves reasonable objectives, maybe even stop idealising. Perhaps it is only an art of amenity after all. Has it been proven, beyond conventional consensus, that culture is really that beacon that sheds light on the world's obscurity, leading the way forward ? Are all forms of books, shows and artistic creation really barrages against barbarity ? Come, come! Germany was the most educated country, the most enamoured with culture. And that didn't prevented anything at all. .. 'Culture for what ? Culture for making us what 'we' are, is what the poet Paul Valéry used to say, 'quite simply', I might add."
» full article (external link, French)
More from the press review on the subject » Literature, » Stage, » Cultural Policy, » Global
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