Village in the Vaucluse

Laurence Wylie’s remarkably warm and human account of life in the rural French village he calls Peyrane vividly depicts the villagers themselves within the framework of a systematic description of their culture. Since 1950, when Wylie began his study of Peyrane, to which he has returned on many occasions since, France has become a primarily industrial nation—and French village life has changed in many ways. The third edition of this book includes a fascinating new chapter based on Wylie’s observations of Peyrane since 1970, with discussions of the Peyranais’ gradual assimilation into the outside world they once staunchly resisted, the flux of the village population, and the general transformation in the character of French rural communities.

A moving, funny, acid and unforgettable scrutiny of the French seen up close., A first-rate book. It is a sociological study—written, however, with grace and humor., A sociological study of life in provincial France, but vividly detailed, full of charming characters and funny anecdotes, and with prose as humane as the author’s photographs., Both because of the range and soundness of its description of the culture of the village, and also because of the vividness and insight with which its people are portrayed, the book is a substantial addition to the literature on European rural communities., A superlatively well-organized and well-and-entertainingly written work that probably will be something of a classic in anthropological analysis.

Laurence William Wylie (1909–1995) was C. Douglas Dillon Professor of the Civilization of France, Emeritus, at Harvard University.