‘Lying with you’: the filial coupling of Serge and Charlotte Gainsbourg

Abstract

The relationship between Charlotte Gainsbourg and her father Serge Gainsbourg has almost mythical status in French culture and since childhood Charlotte has been widely considered the most famous daughter of a celebrity in France. From their provocative song and film collaborations in the 1980s, to Charlotte’s engagement with her father’s legacy in her own artistic output, the filial coupling of Charlotte and Serge is frequently referenced in commentaries and criticisms of both their work together and of Charlotte’s work after Serge’s death. Drawing on the concept of celebrity filial coupling, dynasty stardom, and the incest narrative and its gothic treatment in their work, this article examines the filial coupling of Serge and Charlotte Gainsbourg as it is established in their artistic collaboration in the mid-1980s and articulated in Charlotte’s later career. It aims to make an original contribution to the nascent scholarship on kinship celebrity by offering a reading of an emblematic filial couple within a French cultural context.

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