Paris in the 1920’s – “The Lost Generation”

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Paris in the 1920’s – “The Lost Generation”

Between the end of the First World War and Hitler's seizure of power a cultural explosion occurred in Paris that altered our notions of art and reality and shaped our way of viewing the world ever since. In the 1920's, Paris became the undisputed international capital of pleasure and was regarded as the cultural and artistic center of Europe with a reputation for staging one of its most glamorous eras, as well as some of the most spectacular revues in the world. Imagine for a moment, that it really is 1920's Paris. You are leisurely strolling through the gas lit promenades. World War I is over and the exuberance of jazz musicians, symbolist painters, and American expatriates fills the “City of Light” with a buzz as sharp as electricity. The city revolves around nothing more than café life, drinking, and dining. A young, American man enters a small, smoky café that is popular among other expatriates. He is the world-famous novelist, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and he sits down next to Ernest Hemingway. The two authors begin a friendship that characterizes the artistic culture of 1920's Paris – an era described by Gertrude Stein as "where the twentieth century was."

Finding two artists like Fitzgerald and Hemingway pleasantly chatting together in a random bookstore or café in 1920's Paris was not unusual. Paris swarmed with a number of intellectuals, poets, and artists who had fled America seeking a less materialistic and more uncomplicated lifestyle. Paris was the center of it all. It became a breeding ground for the arts and for some of America's greatest authors, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, E.E. Cummings, John Dos Passos, Ezra ...

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N/A. “Searching for Ernest Hemingway’s Paris.” http://www.thaiair.com/flying/aroundworld/aroundworld-06.htm. Around the World with Thai Airways International.

This is a good site because it talks a lot about how Ernest Hemingway saw Paris during the time he was living there, so you can get a good picture of it yourself. It also talks a little bit about modern day Paris and some of the historical places that still remain today from the 1920’s.

N/A. http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~garychapman/paris.html. (Home Page)

I thought this was a neat site to include because it describes the fashion and costume design of the 1920’s in Paris. There are some good pictures to look at that help you to get a better idea of how Parisian women typically dressed. However, it only focuses on one woman, Dolly Tree, so it is a bit limited.

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