Thirteenth International Conference on The Arts in Society

Abstract

Nicole Brossard’s novel, French Kiss:Entreint/Exploration(French Kiss), is an example of a work whose theme still resonates with readers today. In French Kiss, Brossard strove to convey the women’s rights movement through literature. The women’s rights movement of the 1970s, which led to a radical shift in society, has some parallels to today’s economic and class- altering shift of globalization. This paper centers around Nicole Brossard’s book and a personal interview with her conducted on Monday July 17, 2017 by SueAnne Lang at Ms. Brossard’s home in Montreal, Quebec. Montreal is where this book’s story unfolds, so it makes for an interesting connection. The interview with Ms. Brossard and the book both reveal how one can use arts as activism in relation to the business world through technology such as social media. The main theme of this paper is the transposing of French Kiss’ style from the 1970s to 2017 for a new generation of readers, to highlight the relevance of Brossard’s work, by applying new perspectives. Key scenes of the book are examined through the modern lens of globalism and related back to how one can use arts as activism to bring important issues to the attention of the reader.