It was during the 1960s that popular music began to cross international borders in massive quantities: Beatlemania is only the best-known example. Teenagers had emerged as an economic force, and the music they loved posed considerable challenges to the status quo. Well before the Beatles, rock and roll violated norms of race and sex in the USA, but the lyrics were at least intelligible, if not always intelligent. As one might expect, resistance in France took on other forms, among them linguistic. But does Petula Clark singing "Downtown" in French make it a chanson?

Kirk Anderson is Professor Emeritus of French at Wheaton College, and plays accordion and guitar with Providence-based Consuelo’s Revenge. His most recent article, “‘Extrêmement Pop’”: Gainsbourg and Swinging London” appeared in Serge Gainsbourg: An International Perspective (Bloomsbury, 2024).

No registration necessary. This presentation is free and open to the public. Presented by the Norton Institute for Continuing Education (N.I.C.E.), a collaborative effort of Wheaton College, the Norton Public Library, and other community partners to provide non-credit college-level courses and other educational opportunities in an informal and relaxed environment.