The Price of Progress

Topic : Cultural change, Modernity

Source : FREN 312 and the lectures on 19^th century France and the Industrial Revolution's effect on society during the time period.

Relation : On page 68 and 69 of our ANTHRO textbook an example is given about the industrialization of agriculture in the U.S. and its negative effects. This made me think back to how industrialization first started affecting societies. I have taken many classes which talk about this subject in relation to the Industrial Revolution in France, but the same effects can easily be applied to the U.S.

Description : During the 19^th century French societies were in transition. With the technological advances, many jobs were moving from farms in the country to factories in the city. This resulted in a rural exodus : mass amounts of people following jobs into the cities. Many technological advances were made during this time period. The so-called progress of the Industrial Revolution brought about great cultural change as well. While people living on farms in small villages tended to be more community-minded, those working in factories in the cities started to become more interested in individualism. While those living in the traditional countryside often lived in self-sufficient villages, it was every man for himself in the city.

Commentary/Analysis : I think the question of what constitutes progress is one that is not easy to answer. I can easily say, however, that modernity or progress always has a cost. In this case I think it is the loss of community in the name of a more convenient, although much more impersonal era of modernism. Although this all happened in France in the 19^th century, it happened all over and our society is still changing in this way.   

Valentine's Day

Topic : Cultural Texts

Source : Valentine's Day

Plus, an article I read online :

The Fashioning of a Modern Holiday: St. Valentine's Day, 1840-1870

Leigh Eric Schmidt Winterthur Portfolio , Vol. 28, No. 4 (Winter, 1993), pp. 209-245

Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the 

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Inc.

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1181508

Relation : On page 20 of our ANTHRO textbook, the author describes a cultural text as anything that carries meaning.  The author also states that we both read and maintain cultural texts in our everyday life.  I find that particularly true with Valentine's Day because I can read into what the holiday is all about and start to hate it but I just can't resist cutting out a red paper heart or giving a gift !

Description : With all the Valentine's Day hype lately, I find myself wondering « why ? » and I inevitably start deconstructing it as a cultural text. It's easy to be cynical about Valentine's Day but it's also pretty easy to fall into the ritual gift-giving, chocolate-eating, and heart-shaped fun.  The article I found online was a very thorough (albeit long...) description of how Valentine's Day came to be what it is in it's current form.  According to the article, gift-giving originated from the « courtly model of consumption » in which the noble court-goers would give elaborate gifts to their valentines, often a person chosen by drawing lots.  The rejuvenation of the holiday in the mid-19th century in the United States comes closer to how it is celebrated nowadays ; that is with mass-produced trinkets of affection.  Every store that you walk into during the month of February has something related to Valentine's Day.  And they would be stupid not to, it is a huge area for profit.  But is it really meaningful to pick someone up a mass-produced gift just because you are obligated to do so according to a cultural holiday ?    

Commentary/Analysis :  The tradition of gift-giving on Valentine's Day is truly indicative of our capitalist consumer culture.  I think that giving a gift when it is unexpected (not on a holiday) is more meaningful to the person receiving the gift.  As humans, we do like unexpected circumstances, as long as they are positive.  I think Valentine's Day says a lot about our culture and how we like to attach meaning to an abstract day of the year, or how we like to hold onto old traditions.  It also makes us seem kind of lazy.  Why do we buy something cheap and not at all unique to express our love and deep sentimental feelings ?  Valentine's Day also says a lot about gender roles in our culture.  It is typically the male's duty to bring presents (candy, roses, etc.) to the female on Valentine's Day.  This is a manifestation of typical gender roles with the male being the main breadwinner and the female being the one prone and won over by sentimental gifts.  All of these things tied together make Valentine's Day an interesting cultural text that is hard to ignore.