Student blog posts from the Great VCU Bike Race Book

Mack, Jamie

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Virginia Commonwealth UniversityVCU Scholars CompassGreat VCU Bike Race Book Student Blog Posts Great VCU Bike Race Book2015Red, White and Bicycle: RVA, France and the BikeRace, Blog 2Jamie MackVirginia Commonwealth UniversityFollow this and additional works at: https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/bike_studentPart of the Higher Education CommonsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA4.0) License.This Blog Post is brought to you for free and open access by the Great VCU Bike Race Book at VCU Scholars Compass. It has been accepted forinclusion in Great VCU Bike Race Book Student Blog Posts by an authorized administrator of VCU Scholars Compass. For more information, pleasecontact libcompass@vcu.edu.Downloaded fromhttps://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/bike_student/9211/28/2016 Bike Race 2015 | Just another Rampages.us sitehttps://rampages.us/rougeblancbleubicyclette/ 1/3Is the nationalist program of this book unique to France? The more I re×ect on this, the more I realize my own education in primary school aimed to instill inchildren a sense of both national and state/local pride. In 4th grade we spent a whole week studyingVirginia’s geographical regions and their staple economic products. In order to put the curriculum into practice, we were assigned a project: Replicate the state of Virginiain a pizza box, using colors and 3-dimensional materials to replicate the varied geography across thestate. Nationalistic pride was a part of every school day through the enforced recitation of the pledge ofallegiance. In both History (or “Social Science”) and English classes, a uniquely “American” view wasupheld to be the morally superior to all other nations.Thinking about this book as a “tool for spreading the gospel of French industrialization,” I am remindedof a Ölm entitled “La Mise à Mort du Travail,” which I watched for my French Ölm class. This documentarydemonstrates how far out of control the mechanization and industrialization of work has spun. Workersin the Ölm are subjected to various injustices at the hands of their bosses, who in most cases have barelyany more power than the workers, because in the end they all must bow down to the corporate rulesand structures.A lot of the professions depicted, such as factory workers and cashiers, require movements that arehighly repetitive and without rest for long periods of time. This has lead to increasing rates of “TroublesMusculaire Skélétique” or TMS. (Sorry, the video is in French without subtitles. But starting around 4:00, they mention TMS)NATIONALIST AGENDAS…THE TOUR OFFRANCE BY TWO CHILDREN PART 2OCTOBER 20, 2015 | LEAVE A COMMENTBike Race 201511/28/2016 Bike Race 2015 | Just another Rampages.us sitehttps://rampages.us/rougeblancbleubicyclette/ 2/3la mise à mort du travail So, to get back to our two French children, perhaps these contemporary issues depicted in thedocumentary are the eventual or indirect result of France’s 20th century agenda, prominent in this littlered book, in which there is a strong emphasis on industrialization and the importance of hard work.The idea behind the creation of this “little red book” is very intriguing. I would like to explore a bit how anationalist program such as this book has shaped the France we know today.Whereas the United States prides itself on being a diverse nation, France has a strong uniÖed nationalidentity. Certainly, regional identities are important, as is said in Dr. Ozierski’s blog post on the subject.However, based on my experience of a short study abroad in France, I found that the generalexpectations on how to  conduct oneself in public did  not vary from region to region. You are expectedto say “bonjour” to shopkeepers and are expected to say “au revoir” and/or “merci” to the driver whenyou exit the public transport bus.  However,  I am not sure if these expectations should be attributed tothe “nation” or to “la société,” society.As I read through “les Programmes ofÖciels” with its list of “devoirs” for children, it is stunning how wideof a breadth of issues it covers. In the préface G. Bruno explains his goal: to teach children about theirLE TOUR DE LA FRANCE PAR DEUX ENFANTSOCTOBER 18, 2015 | LEAVE A COMMENT11/28/2016 Bike Race 2015 | Just another Rampages.us sitehttps://rampages.us/rougeblancbleubicyclette/ 3/3country, its various regions and their riches. But this richness does not always come easy. There is astress on “la noblesse du travail manuel” or “the nobility of manual labor.”Of primary importance is to establish the scene, hence Chapter I is accompanied with a picturedepicting the city gate (“la porte foritiÖée” through which our protagonists leave. After which, there is asmall introduction of the young brothers André and Julien. They are pretending they are not afraid andso must reassure one another of the fear they do not have.We know that these two boys are on a quest to leave the city and deliver packages. But what do thesmall packages contain? All that is known is that these packages must be delivered. Already, the storytakes on a morally authoritative tone. Through dialogue between the two brothers, it is revealed that todeliver these packages is a duty in which God will protect them and help them: “nous faisons notredevoir, Dieu nous aidera.” (“We are doing our duty, God will help us.”)

Red, White and Bicycle: RVA, France and the Bike Race, Blog 2

https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1091&amp;context=bike_student

Red, White and Bicycle: RVA, France and the Bike Race, Blog 2

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