FRENCH GEOGRAPHERS
The geographical ideas and concepts, which originated with Ratzel and his
disciples, spread in the neighbouring countries. Alexander von Humboldt, who
wrote and published his thirty volumes of Kosmos in Paris, created intellectual
fervour in French scholars. In the middle of the 19th century, in France as in
Germany, geography was taught by historians, geologists, military personnel
and engineers. Even the chair of geography in the Sorbonne (Paris) was
occupied by a historian who was attached to the Faculty of Letters. The major
contribution made by French scholars is given below-
Phillippe Buache (1752)
Was the first French scholar who criticized the prevalent method of
representation of population, economic and other data in administrative units.
26 He felt that the right method of representation of geographical data is in
the frame of natural region.
According to him, a river basin was the best kind of natural region.27
Subsequendy, Baron Coquebert pirector of French Statistical Office, 1796)
proposed a division of the national territory into166 Schools of Geography
natural regions with a brief description of each of them. This effort create(j
interest in regional divisions in France.
About this time (1870) there occurred a major breakthrough in the expansion
of geographical knowledge. Soon several geographical societies were
established in the various universities of France. The real take off in the field of
geography in France, however, started during the period of Vidal de la Blache
The French geographers were concerned with the unique character of areas.
Paul Vidal de la Blache (1845-1918)
Paul Vidal de la Blache was the one who developed the new geography in
France. He is known as the founder of Human Geography. He was essentially a
scholar of classical languages and literature.
His interest in geography developed in 1865 when he was studying
archaeology at Athens. Later on Vidal de la Blache taught geography at the
University of Nancy from 1872 to 1877, and then joined Ecole as Professor of
Geography. In 1891, he founded a new professional periodical for the
publication of the best geographical writings. The periodical was called Annales
de Geographie.
In 1894, Vidal de la Blache published the first edition of the Atlas Generate
Vidal LablacheP From 1896 to the time of his death (1918), he was Professor of
Geography at the University of Sorbonne. During his career, he devoted
himself to the cause of geography, and trained geography teachers over a
period of about 26 years.
While delivering his first lecture at the Sorbonne University on 2 February
1899, he laid stress upon the relationship between man and his immediate
surroundings (milieu) which could best be studied in small homogeneous
areas. In France, such homogeneous areas are known as pays. In his opinion,
the concept of country is inseparable from its inhabitants.
Vidal de la Blache was a strong opponent and critique of the environmental
deterministic approach. He was influenced by the writings of Ratzel, and from
his second volume of Anthropogeographie, Vidal de la Blache advocated the
concept of ‘possibilism’ as postulated by Febvre. His basic approach towards
the study of man and environment - the two major components of
geographical study - was that nature (milieu) sets limits an * Paul Vidal de la
BlacheSchools of Geography 167 offers possibilities for human settlement, but
the way man reacts or adjusts to these given conditions depends on his own
traditional way of living.
He coined the concept of genre de vie (lifestyle). The concept of genre de vie
(way of living) has been widely used in French geography. It refers to the
inherited traits that members of a human group learn - what is called ‘culture’.
The term genre de vie stands for the complex of institutions, traditions,
attitudes, purposes, and technical skills of people. Vida ) de la Blache pointed
out that the same environment has different meanings for people with
different genre de vie. The lifestyle is the basic factor in determining which of
the various possibilities offered by nature, a particular human group will select.
He was convinced that genre de vie were themselves reflective of nature, even
as they transformed it. He always conceived of human geography as natural,
not a social science (Buttimer, 1971).
Vidal de la Blache’s book Tableau de la Geograpbie de la France was a good
addition to the literature of geography. In this work, Vidal de la Blache
attempted a harmonious blending of physical and human features in the
Tableau (France Plateau).
He also tried a synthesis of pays. Vidal de la Blaches book deals with the
recognizable regional units of France one by one and shows that each pay has
its own distinctive agriculture due to its soil and water supply, and also due to
the economic specialization made possible by the demands of the people living
in towns.
Far from reducing the individuality of each pay, modem trade had accentuated
it by making their agriculture distinctive. Settlement showed a clear
relationship to soil and water; for in some areas it wasscattered and in othersin
the form of compact villages.Many of the pays had for generations been
recognized as separate from, but complementary to their neighbours. These
pays were, however, not homogeneous as in some there were local deposits
such as lemon over chalk which gave sharply contrasting soils reflected in
difference in land use.
Vidal de la Blache was opposed to the idea of drainage basin as a unit of study.
While criticizing the idea of taking drainage basin as the unit of study, he felt
that such a unit will create many complications in understanding the reality of
a region. For example, the Central Massif of France is a well demarcated
natural region, but if it is divided into drainage basin units, then the culture,
institutions, traditions and attitudes of the people cannot be properly
understood.
Regarding the method of geographical study he held the view that the basic
objective of geography is to study the phenomena mutt n interacting in a
segment of the earth surface (pays). In the opinion of Vidal de la Blache, the
relatively small regions (pays) the ideal units to study and to train geographers
in geographical studies.
Vidal de la Blache’s monumental work Human Geography was posthumously
published in 1921 as he died suddenly in 1918. The partially completed work -
Human Geography - was given final shape by Emmanuel de Martonne - son-in-
law of Vidal de la Blache. In this book, Vidal de la Blache started with aims and
objectives of human geography; the principle of terrestrial unity and the
concept of man and environment (milieu); man as a geographical factor; the
patterns of civilizations; circulation (means of transport); and cultural regions
and cities.
According to Vidal de la Blache, it is unreasonable to draw boundaries
between natural and cultural phenomena; they should be regarded as united
and inseparable.
Vidal de la Blache believed that population is a constantly changing
phenomenon. Mankind has in common with all other forms of life the
tendency toward expansion. Man is the most adaptable and mobile organism
on the face of the earth. He ensured that the population did not spread like a
drop of oil; at the beginning it grew in clumps like corals.
The Principle of Terrestrial Unity
Paul Vidal de la Blache developed the idea of ‘terrestrial unity’. In his opinion,
the dominant idea in all geographical progress is that of terrestrial unity. The
concept of the earth as a whole, whose parts are coordinated, where
phenomena follow a de Gnite sequence and obey general laws to which
particular cases are j related, had earlier entered the field of science by way of
astronomy. The lifestyle of most of the societies of the world are in adjustment
to their physical environment. The principle of terrestrial unity is of vital
importance and is universally applicable.
As a result of Vidal de la Blache’s efforts, by 1921, there were departments of
geography in France, one in each of the 16 universities. ^ Interestingly enough,
all the Chairs of Geography were occupied by the pupils of Vidal de la Blache.
Thus, geography in France owes much to Vidal dc la Blache, and he is rightly
considered as the ‘father of human geography’ advocated and pleaded for
‘possibilism’.
LA TRADITION VIDALIENNE
La Blache left a powerful legacy behind him, in the hands of three of his
disciples who have been discussed further:
Jean Brunhes (1869-1930)
Born in 1869, Jean Brunhes was a disciple of Vidal de la Blache. After studying
history and geography, he prepared himself for the conceptual framework of
human geography. He tried to identify the scope and method of human
geography. His main work Geographic Humaine: Essai de Cassification Positive
was published in 19 • He limited human geography to:
1. unproductive occupation of soil ,
2. things connected with the conquest of plant and animal worlds;
3. destructive economy " robber economy’ or violent attack on nature
He considered regi0naj geography ‘the range of observation is well-nigh
unlimited, including epidemics physical aptitudes, moral habits and social
rules, property rights, social organ; ] zation, collectivization, stock companies
and social anarchy in large cities’. AJ1 these may be studied by a geographer as
long as he sees any relationship between them and the facts of the earth
surface.
In his method of geographical study, he emphasized two principles: (i) principle
of activity, and (ii) principle of interaction.
Principle of Activity: All phenomena in geography must be studied in the
light of their activity due to temporal change
Principle of Interaction: Inspired by Blache’s terrestrial whole, it
advocated the interrelationships between various phenomena on earth.
Emmanuel de Martonne (1873-1955):
Emmanuel de Martonne was a pupil of Vidal de la Blache. Martonne, from the
beginning, specialized in physical geography and his special area of
concentration was Central Europe. He had received training in geology, geo-
physics and biology. He studied the physical geography of Carpathians. He was
also interested in studying the problem of glacial erosion of the Alps. In 1904,
he met William Morris Davis in the United States on the occasion of the Eighth
International Geographical Congress and was much impressed by his work on
geomorphology. The most popular works of Martonne include Traite de
Geographie Physique and La France Physique. He inspired many French
geographers to work in the field of physical geography.
Camille Vallaux
The pupil of Vidal de la Blache successively became a high school teacher
inPontivy and Brest, where he discovered a powerful attraction for the sea
beforebeing from 1901-1913 professor of geography at the Naval School.The
originality of Camille Vallaux is to have directed its work towards the
Geographyof Seas and Oceans. His work focused on Brittany- social and
geopolitical issues, the sea and theoceans.
The following publications go to his credit:
Low Brittany, Study of Human Geography(1907), Thesis of
Doctorate,Republished in (1980)
Seas and Oceans(1932)
General geography of the seas(1933)
His fundamental works, in particular his general geography of the seas
published in1933 were not recognized at their fair value until after his
death.His books present the most thorough methodological study in French
Geography,probably the ablest presentation of the concept of human
geography as the study of interrelations.
Other French geographers of the included:
Humanist Albert Damingeon:
Demangeon devoted most of his time in editing Annals, and contributed t0 this
journal 31 articles and 89 notes. 47 Demangcon made valuable contributions
to the spatial variations 0f farmsteads, which he pursued throughout his life.
He wrote on iran$p0ri geography, population and international economics. He
also made a classification of lands and prepared land use maps. He advised his
students t0 work on major population groups of the Far East, the relations of
the Whites and the Negroes, irrigation in arid countries, and the growth of
great cities
Social anarchist Elizee Reclus: He got recognition as a leading French
^ographer with a work of systematic physical geography called La Terre . Elisee
Reclus Schools of Geography 174 (1866-67). He is, however, best remembered
for his 19-volume regi0 geography Nouvelle Geographie Universelle (1875-94).
