In A Year in Provence, Peter Mayle explores the typical routines of Provençal life and works to convey the culture of the region and the inhabitants. His attempt to assume the small-scale patterns of the Provençals shows his willingness to immerse himself in the culture to attain an authentic perspective and understanding of Provence. He also discovers the lifestyle and values he wishes to embrace through his social interactions with certain foreigners and locals. Peter Mayle uses the customary aspects of social life in Provence and his interactions with native Provençals to create a work of social anthropology that illuminates his comprehensive knowledge of and appreciation for the distinct, rich culture of the region.
Mayle’s attempts to …show more content…
Mayle uses Tony to depict the lifestyle and character of the typical Englishman. For instance, Tony “guided [him] me through the next hectic pages of his Filofax” and “reeled it off with the mock weariness of the indispensable executive, and he was welcome to every second of it” (74). Mayle’s cold tone conveys his dislike for the arrogant and fast-paced attitude that governs the English lifestyle, and in turn allows him to express his preference for the relaxed atmosphere of Provence. Furthermore, the Provençal workers, who transform the Mayle household, demonstrate an opposing lifestyle to that of Tony and the English that Mayle greatly admires. He details that after witnessing the disciplines of the local workers, “[he and his wife] we made a conscious effort to become more philosophical in [their] our attitude to time, to treat days and weeks of delays in the Provençal fashion—that is, to enjoy the sunshine and to stop thinking like city people” (45). Mayle’s intent to pursue the life motto of the workers, or their disregard for rush and time frames, indicates his appreciation for the simple, rural attitudes that provide them with the highest quality of life as in keeping them cheerful and yielding excellent construction work. Moreover, Massot exhibits his …show more content…
Therefore, developing social anthropologists can use Mayle’s memoir as a cultural learning tool. They can reciprocate his strategies for finding and partaking in the genuine encounters and experiences that lend to his thorough and successful socially anthropologic memoir. Through more communicated studies of different regions and cultures, like Mayle’s memoir, ignorance will become less prevalent and more genuine acceptances and understandings by different peoples will be
Mayle’s attempts to …show more content…
Mayle uses Tony to depict the lifestyle and character of the typical Englishman. For instance, Tony “guided [him] me through the next hectic pages of his Filofax” and “reeled it off with the mock weariness of the indispensable executive, and he was welcome to every second of it” (74). Mayle’s cold tone conveys his dislike for the arrogant and fast-paced attitude that governs the English lifestyle, and in turn allows him to express his preference for the relaxed atmosphere of Provence. Furthermore, the Provençal workers, who transform the Mayle household, demonstrate an opposing lifestyle to that of Tony and the English that Mayle greatly admires. He details that after witnessing the disciplines of the local workers, “[he and his wife] we made a conscious effort to become more philosophical in [their] our attitude to time, to treat days and weeks of delays in the Provençal fashion—that is, to enjoy the sunshine and to stop thinking like city people” (45). Mayle’s intent to pursue the life motto of the workers, or their disregard for rush and time frames, indicates his appreciation for the simple, rural attitudes that provide them with the highest quality of life as in keeping them cheerful and yielding excellent construction work. Moreover, Massot exhibits his …show more content…
Therefore, developing social anthropologists can use Mayle’s memoir as a cultural learning tool. They can reciprocate his strategies for finding and partaking in the genuine encounters and experiences that lend to his thorough and successful socially anthropologic memoir. Through more communicated studies of different regions and cultures, like Mayle’s memoir, ignorance will become less prevalent and more genuine acceptances and understandings by different peoples will be