Saturday, January 9, 2016

Week 2: France (Julian Merino)

            During the seventeenth century, France had gone through a well-thought and planned out reinvention of their national aesthetic. Competing among the Dutch and the British, France was on the prowl and determined coming out of war to prove a world presence worthy of attention. France’s current image now could not have been done without the mind of the King Louie XIV. His drive had created the France today with twenty-four hour opened markets and fashion. Applying the lens of this week’s lesson of refinement, France advertised not just product but also mannerisms that could trademark their people. This in turn would create tourism to expand their country. Multiple things need to be in operation however if France truly wanted to transform. Its people needed to be consistent with their rituals so that whatever product they preferred to sell can be sold as a French trademark. The government also has a big part in this endeavor because they control the laws to make refinement possible such as feasible codes and regulation to make industrial efforts. What interests me today is whether France can transform once again such as Korea did? What would push France to want to change their national aesthetic even though it is doing so well in the world eyes today?

Image: http://www.reinventingfabulous.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/France-Heart-1.jpg

Usher, A. P. “Colbert and Governmental Control of Industry in Seventeenth Century France”. The Review of Economics and Statistics 16.11 (1934): 237–240. Web. 08 Jan. 2016.

Whiteman, J.J. “Trade and the Regeneration of France, 1789-91: Liberalism, Protectionism and the Commercial Policy of the National Constituent Assembly”. European History Quarterly31. 2. (2001): 171- 204. Web. 08 Jan. 2016.

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