This paper provides a summary of Nadeau and Barlow's book, Why Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong, including the book's main points and the rationale behind the authors' writing it in the first section. The second section of the paper describes geographical issues identified in the book. A summary of the research is provided in the paper's conclusion.
¶ … Geographical Issues in Sixty Million Frenchman Can't Be Wrong: Why We Love France but Not the French by Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow
The French and Americans share a love for liberty and fried potatoes, but the love tends to stop there. In their book, Sixty Million Frenchman Can't Be Wrong, Nadeau and Barlow examine the differences between France and the United States to help explain why Americans love France but not necessarily the French people. This paper provides a brief summary of the main points of the book as well as an analysis of the authors' objective in writing it in the first section. An examination of the geographical aspects of this book, supported by comprehensive examples from the book, is followed by argument for the authors' depth and accuracy in portrayal of concepts relating to geography in the second section. Finally, a summary of the research and important findings are provided in the conclusion.
Summary of the Main Points of Sixty Million Frenchman Can't Be Wrong
The overarching main point made by Nadeau and Barlow is that "France is very different" from the United States, but to their credit, the go on to explain in detail why this is so. The authors are Canadians who base their analysis on empirical observations gathered over the course of 2 years they spent living in France in an attempt to better understand France and the French people who tend to "infuriate Americans" (Raphael 62). Some Americans may be infuriated by the French out of jealousy. For instance, according to Beament, "The French drink, smoke and eat more fat than us, yet have a longer life expectancy. They also manage to take seven weeks' holiday a year and work a 35-hour week, but are the world's fourth biggest industrial power. It's no wonder we find them confusing" (9).
Indeed, many Americans perceive the French as being aloof and even rude based on personal experiences or mainstream media profiles, and in many cases these perceptions are accurate -- unless the reasons for these behaviors are fully understood. The French have a fundamentally different perception of space from Americans and apply this perception to all walks of life. For instance, in the United States, retail stores are regarded as being extensions of the street and are therefore regarded as public venues. By very sharp contrast, Nadeau and Barlow report that stores in France are considered extensions of the owners' homes and are regarded as private spaces that demand salutations upon entering and leaving. Likewise, the French groom elites to run their public and private sectors in ways that anathema to egalitarian-minded Americans. Unlike Americans, the French do not even exchange names or occupations with strangers upon first meetings, reserving these as private issues that are only shared between the closest friends.
From a strictly pragmatic perspective, it is reasonable to suggest that the main objective of the authors in writing this book was to make money from their 2-year investment of time and effort, but a secondary objective was clearly to help Americans understand the differences between France and the U.S. To promote cross-cultural understanding. One of the main ways the authors accomplish this objective is by explaining why the French view the world differently from Americans based on several salient geographical issues which are discussed further in section two below.
Geographical Issues in Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong
A relatively large country for Western Europe, France is still small compared to the United States (or even Alaska for that matter), but the former global power still possesses far-flung geographic assets that influence contemporary thinking. For instance, Nadeau and Barlow report that, "France's wide global presence is one reason they see the world differently" (282). Indeed, many Americans may not realize the full extent of France's global geographic holdings, but they are significant and affect day-to-day life in the country. In this regard, Nadeau and Barlow point out that, "France has a reputation for being insular, the French has a history of being acutely continental in their thinking, yet . . . France has overseas departements and about a dozen overseas territories, some very large" (282-83).
These geographic holdings include Corsica off the coast of the Mediterranean, French Guiana (in Latin America), Martinique and Guadeloupe (in the Caribbean), the Reunion Islands (Indian Ocean), and Saint Pierre-Et-Miquelon in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Nadeau and Barlow 283). According to the authors, "These are not colonies: they are departements like any other and they even send representatives to the national assembly" (Nadeau and Barlow 283). Even some of France's Pacific holdings such as Polynesia and New Caledonia still belong to a type of French federation (Nadeau and Barlow 283). All told, French geographical holdings abroad represent just 5% of the French population but fully 20% of the country's geographical area (Nadeau and Barlow 283). French visitors to these far-flung outputs enjoy the same rights and privileges as they do back home because, as Nadeau and Barlow point out, "It's France" (283).
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