By Jonathan Laurence '98
In a grand ballroom ceremony at the Palais Royal in Paris that recalled the courtly rituals of pre-republican France, the French Ministry of Culture inducted Cornell's Steven L. Kaplan into its Order of Arts and Letters on Jan. 26.
Kaplan, the Goldwin Smith Professor of History who founded the interdisciplinary French studies program at Cornell, has written extensively on 18th-century French political and cultural history. During a 15-minute address to the nearly 300 guests gathered in Kaplan's honor at the ceremony, French Culture Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy extolled the professor's contributions to the "sustenance and nourishment" of French culture and then presented the Brooklyn native with a ribbon and medal, officially appointing him a Chevalier of the Order.
The Order of Arts and Letters, one of the grand orders the French government maintains, has roots dating back to the 19th century but was officially rechartered by then-president Charles de Gaulle in 1963. The guidelines for the honor are loftily phrased, stating that the award is "destined to recompense persons who have distinguished themselves by their creations in the artistic or literary domain or by the diffusion they have brought to arts and humanities in France and throughout the world."
In being nominated to the rank of Chevalier, Kaplan joins impressive company; past recipients include literary critic Jacques Derrida, actor Gerard Depardieu and singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg.
When Kaplan first received a phone call this past December from the Ministry of Culture about the medal, his initial reaction was astonishment, he said. When it was explained that the honor involved a trip to the French capital in January for a formal ceremony, he thought immediately of his commitment on campus to teach his course on The Era of the French Revolution.
"My second reaction was, 'no, I've got to get back to teach -- mail it to me' -- they were infuriated," he recalled.
Kaplan had underestimated the grandeur of the induction ceremony which, as he eventually witnessed, was a tribute in the style of the Fifth Republic with a hint of the archaic formality of the ancien régime.
"The reception was so larded with remnants of the old world of the court that it offered me another vantage point on republican institutions," he said.
Though the date of the ceremony was provide an arena in which graduate and faculty research in the area can be coordinated, and offers the community increased opportunities for experiencing French culture.
There is no equivalent in the United States to the French Ministry of Culture, which annually receives 1.5 percent of France's national budget. Indeed, what little federal funding of culture that exists through U.S. agencies such as the National Endowment for the Arts is currently under attack in Congress. Kaplan praises the French for their commitment to defending and defining their culture through the ministry, and notes that there are more museums, theater groups and books published per capita in France than in any other Western democracy. Each of Kaplan's books has received a subvention from the Ministry of Culture to support his research and the translation of his books into French, for instance.
So, why did the ministry choose to tap Kaplan for this honor now? The book that Kaplan published in December on the politics of bread in 18th-century France, The Bakers of Paris and the Bread Question 1700-1775, may have had an influence.
"I'm well-known now and have been active in speaking out on behalf of French culture in these recent years," Kaplan said. "The fact that I'm getting older had something to do with it, too."
Kaplan said he hopes the professional prestige that comes with the award will help him import more of French culture to Ithaca.
"You have no idea how many committees I've been placed on," he said. "This gives me more leverage vis-à-vis the French government in promoting French studies at Cornell." pushed back a week, because of the funeral of ex-President Francois Mitterand, Kaplan hardly regretted staying the extra time in Paris in order to participate.
"It was a gratifying moment, commemorated by a moving ceremony," he said.
In his 10-minute acceptance speech, which he jokingly described as "demagogic," Kaplan declared his love of France to Douste-Blazy and his audience, composed largely of French historians.
Discussing his creation of the French studies program at Cornell, Kaplan emphasized in his address his professional and personal commitment to what is known as French cultural exceptionalism. That is the notion vigorously perpetuated by the Ministry of Culture that French culture must be protected and conscientiously preserved in the face of an increasingly invasive free market of global popular culture.
"There is a part of us that needs to be in France, because France makes us better -- and my students better, too," Kaplan explained. "That is the logic of our French studies program at Cornell."
The Cornell program, in the College of Arts and Sciences, provides opportunities for undergraduates to pursue French studies across a number of disciplines, helps