America, what is it? The French weigh in.

Alexis De Tocqueville, Democracy in America (1835)

This one is a classic for a reason. In the 1800s, de Tocqueville came over from France and traveled around and kind of marveled. What made a big impression was a nation capable of civic engagement and cooperation. People joined associations, believed in equality, and helped each other out. Religion was intertwined with it all. Democracy in America highlights the upsides of the little republic and the possibilities for problems.

J Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, Letters From an American Farmer (1782)

Less assigned than Democracy in America, this book came first and also made a big impression. It’s a series of letters by Crevecouer, written from himself as a fictional farmer, to a fictional English gentleman. This book marvels at the way in which the indigent of all Europe could come to America and become something better. Here’s a sample from “What is an American?” Crevecoeur writes: “Men are like plants; the goodness and flavour of the fruit proceeds from the peculiar soil and exposition in which they grow. We are nothing but what we derive from the air we breathe, the climate we inhabit, the government we obey, the system of religion we profess, and the nature of our employment. Here you will find but few crimes; these have acquired as yet no root among us.” Read the letters here.

Jean Cocteau, Letter to the Americans (1949)

Jean Cocteau was a French avant-garde poet and playwright. In 1949, he spent two weeks in New York and then got going with this on his way home. Essentially, it’s a handful of observations, beginning “Americans…” with some really interesting prose to follow. Here’s a sample: “Americans, Human dignity is at stake. Be what you are. A people who preserved their childhood. A people young and honest. A people in whom the lifeblood circulates.” It only gets more interesting. The somewhat poetic, somewhat philosophical, somewhat observational passages make quite good reading and are an interesting reflection from the middle of the “American century.”

Jean Baudrillard, America (1986)

Baudrillard was one of the most significant postmodern philosophers and his slim volume on America is somewhat similar to Cocteau’s. It alternates between concrete observation with relatively straightforward thoughts and sentences that require reflection. For example: “America is a giant hologram, in the sense that information concerning the whole is contained in each of its elements. Take the tiniest little place in the desert, any old street in a Midwestern town, a parking lot, a Californian house, a Burger King or a Studebaker, and you have the whole of the US–South, North, East or West.” This is a really enjoyable short read with a fascinating outsider perspective. You may also find out if the US is more simulacrum or simulation.

Compiled by Elizabeth Stice