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Village in the Vaucluse
Laurence Wylie's remarkably warm and human account of life in the rural French village he calls Peyrane vividly depicts the villagers themselves within the framework of a systematic description of their culture. Since 1950, when Wylie began his study of Peyrane, to which he has returned on many occasions since, France has become a primarily industrial nation--and French village life has changed in many ways. The third edition of this book includes a fascinating new chapter based on Wylie's observations of Peyrane since 1970, with discussions of the Peyranais' gradual assimilation into the outside world they once staunchly resisted, the flux of the village population, and the general transformation in the character of French rural communities.
430 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1957
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 1, 2017
An American anthropologist spent a year in a village in Provence in 1950, and went back to the village several more times until the 1970s. This is a picture of a place at a moment in time, and across time. It's wonderful -- well written, well observed, fascinating, alien, marvellous.
I didn't read this for anything -- I mentioned to a friend that I'd been to Fontaine de Vaucluse to visit Petrarch, and he recommended this to me, so I read it. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to do worldbuilding, who wants to think about how people live and how that changes.
You wouldn't think France in 1950 would be so strange, such another world. But you can learn a lot from the way it is.
I didn't read this for anything -- I mentioned to a friend that I'd been to Fontaine de Vaucluse to visit Petrarch, and he recommended this to me, so I read it. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to do worldbuilding, who wants to think about how people live and how that changes.
You wouldn't think France in 1950 would be so strange, such another world. But you can learn a lot from the way it is.
November 6, 2017
a classic study still worth reading
When I was a graduate student, many years ago, I read this ethnography as I prepared to do my own anthropology field work in India. Wylie's study of a French town impressed me deeply as detailed, well-organized, and excellently-written. I particularly liked the way he allowed many people to speak and I appreciated the sympathy with which he viewed their lives. He underlined the variations found within the community, not trying to create a false picture of some generalized French culture. Unusually for the period, he didn't hide behind "academic objectivity" and so put himself in the picture a number of times. VILLAGE IN THE VAUCLUSE, along with Blythe's "Akenfield", Whyte's "Street Corner Society", Kozol's "Death at an Early Age" and the several works of Oscar Lewis inspired me to try to write "readable" anthropology. I have not been entirely successful measured by these excellent works. Nevertheless, even though the research for
VitV was done in the early 1950s (with a little updating at periods since) and France, like every other part of the world, has changed immeasurably since then (Rousillon, the village concerned, has doubled in population and is now dependent wholly on tourism while it used to be supported by agriculture and ochre mining, though young people already had to leave town to find any other line of work), I strongly recommend this book as 1) an example of how powerful good anthropology can be, 2) a work on the social history of France, and 3) an example or guide to doing field work without cluttering it up with jargon that will fade and die in a few years, leaving your book to shrivel on the deserted beach of academic fads.
VILLAGE IN THE VAUCLUSE is one of the classic works of European anthropology and should be on your reading list if you are interested in that area.
When I was a graduate student, many years ago, I read this ethnography as I prepared to do my own anthropology field work in India. Wylie's study of a French town impressed me deeply as detailed, well-organized, and excellently-written. I particularly liked the way he allowed many people to speak and I appreciated the sympathy with which he viewed their lives. He underlined the variations found within the community, not trying to create a false picture of some generalized French culture. Unusually for the period, he didn't hide behind "academic objectivity" and so put himself in the picture a number of times. VILLAGE IN THE VAUCLUSE, along with Blythe's "Akenfield", Whyte's "Street Corner Society", Kozol's "Death at an Early Age" and the several works of Oscar Lewis inspired me to try to write "readable" anthropology. I have not been entirely successful measured by these excellent works. Nevertheless, even though the research for
VitV was done in the early 1950s (with a little updating at periods since) and France, like every other part of the world, has changed immeasurably since then (Rousillon, the village concerned, has doubled in population and is now dependent wholly on tourism while it used to be supported by agriculture and ochre mining, though young people already had to leave town to find any other line of work), I strongly recommend this book as 1) an example of how powerful good anthropology can be, 2) a work on the social history of France, and 3) an example or guide to doing field work without cluttering it up with jargon that will fade and die in a few years, leaving your book to shrivel on the deserted beach of academic fads.
VILLAGE IN THE VAUCLUSE is one of the classic works of European anthropology and should be on your reading list if you are interested in that area.
October 11, 2013
I'm near the end of this book which I selected specifically because my partner and I will be traveling to France and staying in a village in the Vaucluse . . . in the Luberonnes area of Provence. The book was touted as something that would provide a picture of the people in that area, described by the author who is a professor of the Civilization of France at Harvard, who lived in Peyrane for a year with his family. The book was somewhat enjoyable and touched upon many aspects of the life and lives in Peyrane, now called Peyre. The book is dated, however. Copyright was 1957, and the book would have been more enjoyable for me, I think, had it reflected more current impressions of life in the French village.
I finished this book just before we went to visit our friend in the Luberon area. While we were there, I told our friend about the book, she expressed interest in reading it, and so I left it with her. She later told me it had been a very enjoyable read for her. She especially liked reading about the 1950's era townspeople in Roussillon.
I finished this book just before we went to visit our friend in the Luberon area. While we were there, I told our friend about the book, she expressed interest in reading it, and so I left it with her. She later told me it had been a very enjoyable read for her. She especially liked reading about the 1950's era townspeople in Roussillon.
October 13, 2024
In 1950, American academic Laurence Wylie moved his family to a French village in the Vaucluse. Calling it "Payrane" it was actually Roussion - a beautiful village perched on the top of striking cliffs with houses made from one of the local exports, ochre.
How 'scientific' this analysis may be by today's standards is debatable, but it remains both highly entertaining and illuminating. Wylie can be very clear in his explanations of the political landscape, for example, or economic turns, but he also has a sly wit about him and infuses his telling with humour.
My main unanswered question is why did he give Rorschach tests and what did they tell him about the population?
How 'scientific' this analysis may be by today's standards is debatable, but it remains both highly entertaining and illuminating. Wylie can be very clear in his explanations of the political landscape, for example, or economic turns, but he also has a sly wit about him and infuses his telling with humour.
My main unanswered question is why did he give Rorschach tests and what did they tell him about the population?
December 27, 2025
Informative, eminently pleasant coverage of a now-famous village in the south of France, near Mont Ventoux. Even within the life of the author, the unique nature of its inhabitants faded due to France's industrialization and the flow of retirees and vacationers to the countryside.
December 15, 2024
Wonderfully funny and insightful account of village life that is no more. Amongst other things, Wylie writes the most compelling and realistic account of postwar Communism in rural France that I have ever come across. Would certainly recommend.
February 19, 2011
For the Francophile or one interested in the culture of provincial France, this is definitely one of the basic books. France has become much more "homogenized" since the 1960s, but this book gave an accurate description of the experiences of a family moving to the Vaucluse region of France before all those books of "buying a house in France", Peter Mayle, etc. were known.
This probably should be a required text for French majors in college. It truly provides a background for many of the truly "French" aspects of post-World War II France.
This probably should be a required text for French majors in college. It truly provides a background for many of the truly "French" aspects of post-World War II France.
September 16, 2014
American professor and his family spend a sabbatical year in a rural French town in the early 1950s, learning to pee outside, live in the heated kitchen during the Mistral months, and conduct a lot of Rorschach tests. Not really an academic work, more an affectionate "outsider's account" of a way of life in the line of a New Yorker piece, written by a professional academic.
August 21, 2011
Entertaining and enlightening walk through a mid-20th century Provençal village. This is not your Peter Mayle's Provence...and that is a good thing.
April 13, 2012
Read in college as required for a French class, but thinking of reading it again just for fun...
January 11, 2015
Very nice sociological study of village life in the 50's, with follow up updates over the next 25 years. Lots of information on post-war rural life and the ensuing changes.
August 29, 2016
Engaging, informative, entertaining, well researched and well written.
March 24, 2008
Read as part of a college course.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews