Physical Education as a Subject in France (School Curriculum, Policies and Discourse): The Body and the Metaphors of the Engine--Elements Used in the Analysis of a Power and Control System during the Second Industrial Revolution

Abstract

International audienceAn analysis of several works by people who contributed greatly to the development of physical education in France from the middle of the nineteenth century to the 1960s enables us to pinpoint the rules underlying the specialized language used in this field and the metaphorical and mythological systems that were set up as systems of control over the body. Among these images, it is particularly interesting to examine how 'man' came to be seen in terms of a steam engine, then as a machine, and even more generally as a humanized form of 'productivity

Nacionalismo, Educação Física e a missão francesa na Força Pública de São Paulo: uma comunidade imaginada (1906-1913)

“…Prioritize an European physical education, in particular, of French origin, translated the representation of discipline, organization, gestures objectivity, so particular of the gymnastic practiced in France in the XIX century, that had as a characteristic a rationalization of the movements in a scienti cally controlled practice [16][17][18] 10,19 . e new physical education of French inspiration was applied having as objective raise the physical strength, bringing economic utility to gestures produced by the soldiers 20 .…”

Physical education at the Brazilian Education Association: modern practices of body education in Rio de Janeiro city from 1928 to 1935

“…The aspirations were quite optimistic because its supporters strongly believed that the objectivity of positive thinking, superior to the metaphysical one, was able to intervene and modify the body, making it more resistant. Tangible applications in the field of medicine and education, but also in body practices regarded as auxiliaries in the modern project of body-machine, are represented by gymnastics, and also games and sports, which, in the twentieth century, are organized under the term physical education [26][27][28] .…”

Georges Demeny e Fernando de Azevedo: uma ginástica científica e sem excessos (Brasil, França, 1900‐1930)

“…Para essa tarefa foram convidados nomes importantes da ginástica francesa, como Fernand Langrage, Georges Demeny, Etienne-Jules Marey e Georges Hébert. A característica principal desse novo método era um ecletismo, que incorporou o método sueco (mecânico), a ginástica de Demeny (economia das energias), o método natural de Hébert e a introdução dos jogos escolares (Gleyse et al, 2002).…”