The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography, from the Revolution to the First World War

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 352 pages
• Published by: W. W. Norton October 29, 2007
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0393059731
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0393059731
• Book Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.6 inches
• Weighs: 1.8 pounds

Reader Reviews
France has always been a highly centralized country. Paris, like the Sun King, has always been the center around which lesser entities revolved. As a result, most histories of France focused on Paris, the political, economic, cultural, artistic, and just about everything else center of French life. Graham Robb, an expert in French literature with biographies of Balzac and Hugo to his credit, has written an excellent history of France as seen from the provinces and from the seat of a bicycle. Let me explain. Robb peddled some 14,000 miles over a ten year period studying French rural culture. His original intention was to write a historical guidebook, but in the process of going off the beaten path he discovered the cultural and linguistic richness of the provinces. France's centralizing process began before the Revolution with Louis XIV, who started to impose the cultural and linguistic norms of Paris and the Ile-de-France region on the rest of France. The Jacobins and Napoleon continued the process by extending Paris' administrative units throughout the country. Jargon-inclined literary critics have termed this gradual takeover as the colonization of the interior. Robb learned from his travels that the centralization process was never as rapid or as complete as previously thought. In 1800, only 11% of the population spoke French (the official Parisian version) and a hundred years later only about 20% spoke it. Aside from separate languages such as Basque and Breton, there were 55 dialects and hundreds of sub-dialects. It was not until World War I - where this story ends - that it could be said that French, as we know it today, became the universal language within France itself. This was due not only to the war, but also to roads, railways, and the telegraph. And speaking of roads, Robb, on his bicycle travelled paths inaccessible by automobile. He found very isolated villages that still spoke archaic dialects and followed strange rituals. There were people that believed in the supernatural, witchcraft, magic mountains, and healing springs. It is a picture of France that is in sharp contrast with a country that prides itself on being the beacon of civilization and modernity. Robb also informs us that we will learn more from regional France in the future. Just as France has declined as an imperial power, Paris is losing its hegemony over the provinces. These lesser known linguistic and cultural traditions are emerging from the shadows. In fact many Parisians are no longer claiming to be Parisian, but proudly declaring to be from the region from which they originally came. Robb's love of his subject is obvious from his entertaining anecdotes. If you are not a francophile already, you will be after reading this book. Comment (1) | | (Report this)