• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.81-91
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• 1995

Modern geography in France since the end of 19th century was begun with regional geography. France after losing the Franco-Prussian war in 1871 had tried to regain the deteriorated national proudness through the colonial expansion. The social and historical contexts in France had encouraged French geographers to engage in detailed small area studies. In particular, after Blache became a faculty at Sorbonne University his idea on integrative rather than selective description on area studies had gained paradigmatic popularity not only in geography but in other disciplines. The regional geography tradition was then firmly established as a science and as an art by Vidalian school until the beginning of Second World War. However, when industrialization and urbanization were the dominant science since the 1950s spatial analytic geography has become popular research tradition replacing the previledged regional geography. Nevertheless, geography in France is still acknowledged as an interesting and valuable discipline since regional geography tradition had accumulated rich knowledges on various regions. As regional geography provides valuable information and helps to understand various world regions, it should be regenerated as a research tradition which are able to fulfill societal needs accruing nowadays. By doing this, geography can rectify its disciplinary identity which has been disintegrated internally by giving too much emphasis on specialties, and melding into nearby disciplines. Our geography education for the chorography in particular focuses mainly on the listings of simple geographic facts, in this regard. Rather than attracting students' concern and motivation, geography is considered as a subject oriented toward simply memorizing geographic facts. To overcome these problems, regional geography should be discussed openly and popularized in research. Regional geographic methods available and results produced in other countries should be introduced, and critical assessments should be made for selective acknowledgment for nurturing our regional geography.