Michael Sheringham

Michael Sheringham teaches French at Oxford and is a fellow of All Souls. His Everyday Life: Theories and Practices from Surrealism to the Present was published in 2006.

Oui Oyi Awè Jo Ja Oua: The French Provinces

Michael Sheringham, 31 July 2008

As Graham Robb points out, the ‘discovery’ of France – by politicians, bureaucrats, map-makers, statisticians, engineers, folklorists, tourists and, until fairly recently, the country’s inhabitants on the rare occasions when they ventured outside their own patch – almost invariably involved the swapping of one set of illusions or prejudices for another. Robb, who...

Read anywhere with the London Review of Books app, available now from the App Store for Apple devices, Google Play for Android devices and Amazon for your Kindle Fire.

Sign up to our newsletter

For highlights from the latest issue, our archive and the blog, as well as news, events and exclusive promotions.

Newsletter Preferences