La représentation de la petite ville dans les téléfilms de Noël américains

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to question the image of the small American town through the prism of Christmas TV movies which, since Capra's Life is Beautiful in 1946, are known to be champions of these urban places. Addressing this topic makes it possible on the one hand to reflect on an object of research little treated and this, in an original way, and on the other hand to reflect on its representation. The major characteristic of Christmas TV movies is that they show what a good part of the American population imagines, namely an ideal life in small towns. In this, they maintain one of the founding myths of the United States. Despite their scenario, which is often insipid, these television films are nonetheless full of lessons as they deal with the major problems that shake small towns (commercial and industrial devitalization, endangered heritage, etc.), and as much as they highlight their specificities sociological.

Keywords

• United States
• American small towns
• Christmas TV Movies
• Cinematic city
• Imaginative geographies