Transposition (Oct 2024)
De Carla Bruni à Aya Nakamura, qui sont les chanteuses made in France ? Féminisation, stéréotypes et plasticité dans l’export musical français
Abstract
The internationalization of the French music industry contributes to shaping representations of “made in France” music worldwide and the role women play in it. In this article, we delve into this shaping process by painting a portrait of female artists who have distinguished themselves for their success abroad, based on data from the Bureau Export, the organization tasked with supporting French professionals internationally before the creation of the National Music Center (CNM) in 2020. This study reveals, initially, an apparent process of feminization within “made in France” export, though parity cannot be claimed. Furthermore, we identified a gendered distribution of roles, with women primarily as melodic singers and men more often as producers, instrumentalists, or rappers. One model of exported femininity embodies a white, heteronormative Frenchness, oscillating between elegance and nostalgia, aligning with a relatively conventional international image. The second model is that of the “world music” singer, with pop-folk accents, reflecting a desirable form of cultural diversity. However, we observe a progressive diversification of these models, indicating a certain gendered flexibility of French pop music internationally, both in terms of sexual identity and ethnic identity. This flexibility adds not only to a progressive feminization of export but also to a certain exportability of gendered stereotypes associated with Frenchness.
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