Frédéric GIMELLO-MESPLOMB, Professeur des Universités
Centre Norbert Elias UMR 8562 UAPV - CNRS - EHESS

 
   

 

 
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 Changes in the cultural activities of the French population (1973-1997)


A comparison of the findings of the last survey of the cultural activities of the French with the findings of the three previous surveys shows how the relationship with culture has significantly changed over the last twenty years. Both cultural activity and cultural consumption have undergone radical changes since the first survey in 1973. This is mainly due to the increased acquisition of audiovisual equipment, improved schooling, the promotion of important cultural events through the media, the availability of new cultural products, and substantially increased efforts in regard to culture on the part of the state and regional governments.

 

Increased acquisition of equipment and the growth of audiovisual activities

In 1973, French households possessed very little in the way of audiovisual equipment. Television had still not overtaken radio as the dominant medium in daily use, hi-fi systems and cassette recorders were just beginning to appear on the market, and the majority of young people who listened to records possessed record players only. More people started to acquire audiovisual equipment in the 1980s with the widespread marketing of hi-fi systems shortly followed by the rapid commercialisation of VCRs, personal stereos and CD players and then, in the 1990s, the marketing of microcomputers for home use. The acquisition by households of more than one television set and music system ushered in a new audiovisual age with a subsequent increase in home-based audiovisual activity and more personalised use of equipment.

There has been a steady and widespread increase in the number of television viewing hours over the last 25 years: 77% of the French population watch television daily (or almost every day) compared with 65% in 1973; average weekly television viewing time is now more than 22 hours per week, 5 hours more than in 1973. The increase was particularly marked for teenagers and young people: the percentage of 15-24 year-olds (73%) who watch television daily is almost equal to the percentage of 40-59 year-olds (75%).

The extended use of the VCR and successful marketing of play stations to young people during this same period also contributed to the increase in viewing time. Today, more than a quarter of the population uses a VCR at least once per week whereas in 1981 the system was virtually unknown. This rapid growth has not affected the popularity of radio, which, following the liberalisation of the FM band, has stepped up its music content. The proportion of the population that now listens daily to the radio has dropped only very slightly (69% compared to 72% in 1973), and the average listening time remains high (18 hours per week). This is probably due to the fact that listening to the radio is closely tied in with daily activities, strongly associated with certain moments, and easily combined with other activities.

Home-based audiovisual activity now takes up a large proportion of the free time made available by the lowering of retirement age and reduced working hours over the period 1973­­-1997.

 

The 'music boom' and changing tastes

Because of its widespread and spectacular nature, the 'music boom' is an equally significant phenomenon. The proportion of the French population that listens to a record or a cassette at least once every two days has almost tripled since 1973 (from 15% to 40%)! All categories of the population have taken advantage of technological progress and increasingly lower prices to purchase equipment in order to listen to music more frequently. The dynamics of distribution for music listening is, however, significantly different to that for television viewing as it has always been centred on young people. Almost exclusively a teenage activity in 1973, listening to music is now a commonplace activity for all age groups under 40 as a large percentage of adults continue the habit, acquired in their teens, of listening regularly to music. The 'music boom', often presented as a phenomenon of 'youth culture' is therefore an ongoing phenomenon which will continue to expand over future years as the pre-war generations (which have not largely acquired the new technology or changed their listening habits) die out. The 'music boom' is not just due to the increase in music listening time: it is also a result of the explosion of the music genres known since the 1970s as pop music then rock before being defined as music of today or amplified music . The percentage of people who say they mainly listen to classical music has slightly increased at a rate equal to that of the increase in population (from 16% in 1973 to 18% in 1997).

 

The findings based on age band show that there has been a radical change in music tastes: while there has been a marked increase in the number of 60 year-olds and over who listen to classical music and a slightly smaller increase in the 49-50 year band, fewer people under 40 years claim to mainly listen to this genre than did their counterparts in 1973. This is quite simply due to the fact that they tend to favour other styles, such as light music from other countries, rock, and world music.

 

Contradictory developments in reading habits

Since 1973 there has been a spectacular and steady fall-off in newspaper readership, although magazine readership figures have remained high (with an increase in young readers), especially for scientific and leisure magazines. The drop in daily press readership ­- more significant for national dailies than regional dailies - is mainly due to the ongoing erosion of the overall proportion of people who read daily: 36% of the French population currently reads one daily newspaper every day as against 55% in 1973. An analysis of the findings by age band clearly shows that the problem primarily stems from readership changes: the fall-off is much more dramatic among the generations born after the war and, for example, the proportion of people who read daily has dropped by 50% among 25-39 year-olds (24% as compared with 48% in 1973) and to a lesser degree among 60 year-olds and over. Regular newspaper reading ­- of regional newspapers in particular - is now much more a habit associated with the elderly.

The French now read more books than they did in 1973: only 9% of the population do not have a book in their home compared with over 25% in 1973. This is mainly due to the increased sales of dictionaries and practical books. Book sales have increased: 63% of the population purchased at least one book over the last 12 months, compared with 51% in 1973. Library attendance has also increased: the proportion of enrolments in municipal libraries has more than doubled since 1973: 15% of people aged 15 years and over compared with 7% in 1973.

The increase in book distribution is not evident in the readership figures. The proportion of non-readers dropped slightly between 1973 and 1981 while remaining stable overall (24% of the population in both 1997 and 1981 had not read a book over the preceding 12 months). Nevertheless, as each generation advances in age, the number of readers decreases: approximately one out of ten persons who responded to the 1973 survey has stopped reading books over the last 25 years. This loss is compensated by the fact that the pre-war generations, which represented an extremely high proportion of non-readers (43% of 60 year-olds and over were non-readers of books in 1973), are now dying out. The number of books read dropped steadily over the period 1973-1997 due to the fact that less people were reading books than in the early 1970s, especially among the younger age groups: in 1997, 14% of the population had read 25 books or more in the preceding 12 months, compared with 22% in 1973. The fall-off in the proportion of frequent readers applies to all social groups: 47% of senior executives and professionals, for example, were frequent readers in 1973, compared with less than 33% in 1997. The fall-off applies to all age groups, but at an uneven rate. The fall-off was particularly marked in the 15-24 year band and slightly less marked in the 25-39 year band: nearly one-third of the former were frequent readers in 1973, compared with 14% in 1997, a figure that shows the magnitude of the generation factor. The fall-off is less marked in the upper age bands, but all post-war generations have gradually lost a percentage of their frequent readers who, dropping below the threshold of 25 books per year, have swelled out the figures relating to the less frequent and average readers.

The more significant fall-off of frequent male readership has led to a feminisation of readership. There are now more males that have not read a book in the preceding 12 months (30% compared with 24%). Male readers read fewer books than female readers (an average of 19 compared with 22).


More frequent outings, and increased participation in associations and amateur activities

The French go out more in the evening than they did in the 1970s - notably to eat out in a restaurant or at the home of a friend. This is mainly due to the fact that older people go out more than they did in the early 1970s and that there are more young adults who go out on a regular basis. There is no significant decrease in the frequency of attendance at sporting events, fun fairs and zoos (even the attendance figures for dances have increased) and the recent increase in outings to amusement parks and karaoke evenings shows that the growth of home-based audiovisual activities has not led to a systematic fall-off in outdoor activity.

In comparison with 1973, a substantially larger number of French people are members of associations. This is mainly due to the fact that women, who in 1973 tended to remain in the background, have now made up for some of their lost time. This overall increase has mainly affected arts and cultural associations.

The proportion of the population that undertakes amateur painting, sculpture and engraving, music and singing with either friends or an organisation has almost doubled since 1973. The same trend is evident over the last ten years for other amateur activities (writing, dance and, to a lesser degree, theatre). This is confirmed by the increase in the attendance figures for amateur performance: the proportion of the population attending an amateur performance over the preceding 12 months has doubled since 1973 (20% as compared with 10%).

The rapid growth of amateur arts activity is most significant among young people. A certain number of adults over the age of 50 or at retirement age have, however, discovered the joys of amateur activity or have taken up again activities they practised in their youth, such as singing, dance, writing, and, in particular, painting. Progress in arts teaching and education, the increase in free time and the reduction of working hours, the increasingly felt need to undertake activities fostering self-expression and self-development. all of these factors have contributed to the growth in the arts activities of all age groups.

Attendance at arts facilities is generally higher than in 1973. The growth rate is certainly lower than that of library attendance, but it has nevertheless grown significantly. Geographic variances have been slightly reduced over the last 25 years, although Parisians continue to visit cultural facilities more than the rest of the population. This is explained by both the special nature of their socio-demographic profile and the advantages of living in the capital city, which offers a much wider range of cultural possibilities. On the other hand, there has not been a significant lessening of the gap between social classes. The upward trend in overall attendance figures stems more from the swelling of those categories of the population who are most acquainted with cultural facilities (notably senior executives and the intellectual professions, intermediary professions and students) than an actual increase in the attending public. In France, those social classes that take little or no interest in cultural life are yet to 'catch up' with the rest of the population.

 

THE FOUR SURVEYS "CULTURAL ACTIVITIES OF THE FRENCH POPULATION"

The Department of Studies and Future Trends of the French Ministry of Culture carried out four surveys entitled 'Cultural Activities of the French Population' in 1973, 1981, 1989 and 1997. Each survey was carried out in an identical way: a representative sample of the French population aged 15 years and over was surveyed; the sample was stratified by region and category of urban area; a quota method was applied with the sex and age of the person interviewed and the socio-professional category of the head of family as variables, and a one-to one interview in the home of the person interviewed. The samples were made up as follows: 2000 persons in 1987, 3000 in 1981, 5000 in 1989, and 3000 in 1997 with an oversample of 1,350 persons representative of French people who had visited a live performance during the preceding 12 months.

The findings of all four surveys were published by La Documentation Française with a detailed description of the survey method in annex.

Olivier Donnat