Singing Poets: Literature and Popular Music in France and Greece (1945-1975)

Between 1945 and 1975, both France and Greece developed an interplay between literature and popular music, each making a new 'national canon'. Literature provided the aesthetic criteria, the cultural prestige and the institutional basis for what aspired to be a higher form of popular song. Published poems were turned into popular songs, while a critical discourse, in return, celebrated songwriters not only for being 'as good as poets' but for being 'singing poets' in their own right. In France, there were Georges Brassens, Leo Ferre and Serge Gainsbourg; in Greece, the prestigious title of 'tragoudopoios' (maker of songs) was awarded to Mikis Theodorakis, Manos Hadjidakis and Dionysis Savvopoulos. This challenging and stimulating study draws on a wealth of materials, from theoretical writings by poets, through their lyrics, to the record sleeves and posters used to promote them.