This project involves the dissertation research of an anthropology student from NYU studying the tension between local and national cultural identities in France. The student will do an intensive case study of a regional volunteer theater group, which attempts to present artistic works representing national "culture" while interpreting them in a way to support the local (regional) culture. The study will focus on the tension between the group's representation of national and local culture. This research is important because the nature of national cultural integration in modern nation states is not well understood. The recent destruction of states like Yugoslavia show that local and regional cultural interests can remain vital and alive over many years. This sort of cultural study will show how such ideas and values are instituted in a local culture in contradiction to the influences from the national center.
