Denis Saurat (21 March 1890 – 7 June 1958) was an Anglo-French scholar, writer, and broadcaster on a wide range of topics, including explaining French society and culture to the English and what he called "philosophical poetry."

Biography

He was born in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

and died in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

, France, but his most active years were spent in London, England. His views on the connection in the early modern period between the poetry of

Edmund Spenser Edmund Spenser (; 1552/1553 – 13 January 1599) was an English poet best known for ''The Faerie Queene'', an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen of ...

and

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

and the

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

, represented in particular by the

Kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...

, were ahead of their time: without surviving close scholarly analyses, they anticipated later studies such as those of

Frances Yates Dame Frances Amelia Yates (28 November 1899 – 29 September 1981) was an English historian of the Renaissance, who wrote books on esoteric history. After attaining an MA in French at University College London, she began to publish her resear ...

. He also interpreted in light of Philosophical Poetry the Prophetic Books of

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

and discussed Blake's relationship to Milton and Celtic antiquarians. At the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was a reader in French at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

in Scotland. After receiving a doctorate of the

University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (French: ''Université de Bordeaux'') is a public university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Ta ...

, and a ''lauréat des concours d'agrégation'' in 1919, he became associated with the Department of French at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

from 1920, where he was a professor from 1926. He was also director for many years of the French Institute of London (''Institut Français'') in South Kensington. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

his position there and his wish to maintain the autonomy of the Institut led him into a serious clash with

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...

. This concerned not only the politics of the Free French, but also Saurat's resistance to the General's technocratic ambitions for the ''Institut''. Under official pressure to move to

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, Saurat came through with support from

Vere Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough Vere Brabazon Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough, (27 October 1880 – 10 March 1956), was an Anglo-Irish businessman and politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the fourteenth since Canadian Confederation. Born and educated in En ...

. Instead, he resigned from the Institut, retired from the university, and settled in Nice. In his last years he took an active interest in PEN International, composed poems in Occitan, his mother tongue, and wrote best-selling books of speculative non-fiction on

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas (mythology), Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus (dialogue), Timaeus'' and ''Critias (dialogue), Critias'' ...

and the early history of Earth. The term "

Scottish Renaissance The Scottish Renaissance ( gd, Ath-bheòthachadh na h-Alba; sco, Scots Renaissance) was a mainly literary movement of the early to mid-20th century that can be seen as the Scotland, Scottish version of modernism. It is sometimes referred to as ...

" was brought into critical prominence by Saurat in his article "", which was published in the ' in April 1924.I. Ousby ed., ''The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English'' (1995) p. 839.

Works

*''La pensée de Milton'' (1920) as ''Milton: Man and Thinker'' (1925) *''Blake and Milton'' (1922) *''Milton et le matérialisme chrétien en Angleterre'' (1928) as ''Milton and Materialism'' *''The Three Conventions: Metaphysical Dialogues, Principia Metaphysica, and Commentary'' (1926) *''Tendances, essays de critique'' (1928) *''Blake and Modern Thought'' (1929) *''La religion de Victor Hugo'' (1929) *''La littérature et l'occultisme. Études sur la poésie philosophique moderne'' (1929) as ''Literature and Occult Tradition'' (1930) translated by Dorothy Bolton *''Histoire des Religions'' (1933) as ''A History of Religions'' (1934) *''Selected Essays and Critical Writings of

A. R. Orage Alfred Richard Orage (22 January 1873 – 6 November 1934) was a British influential figure in socialist politics and modernist culture, now best known for editing the magazine ''The New Age'' before the First World War. While he was working as a ...

(1935) editor with

Herbert Read Sir Herbert Edward Read, (; 4 December 1893 – 12 June 1968) was an English art historian, poet, literary critic and philosopher, best known for numerous books on art, which included influential volumes on the role of art in education. Read ...

*''Modernes'' (1935) *''La fin de la peur'' (1937) as ''The End of Fear'' *''Perspectives'' (1938) *''French War Aims'' (1940) *''The Christ at Chartres'' (1940) *''The Spirit of France'' (1940) *''Regeneration, with a Letter from General de Gaulle'' (1941) *''Watch Over Africa'' (1941) *''Death and the Dreamer'' (1946) as ''La mort et le rêveur'' (1947) *''Modern French Literature, 1870-1940'' (1946) *''William Blake Selected Poems'' (1947) editor *''Gods of the People'' (1947) *''Angels and Beasts'' (1947) French short stories, editor *''La religion esotérique de Victor Hugo'' (1948) *''Victor Hugo et les dieux du people'' (1948) La Littérature et l'occultisme II *''L'expérience de l'au-delà'' (1951) *''William Blake'' (1954) in French *''L'Atlantide et le règne des géants'' (1954) as ''Atlantis and the Giants'' (1957) *''La religion des géants et la civilisation des insectes'' (1955) *''Commentary on Beelzebub's Tales'' (1969) *''The Denis Saurat Reader'' (2004) *''Early Earth'' (2006) *John Robert Colombo (2003), editor, ''O Rare Denis Saurat'' *John Robert Colombo (2004), editor, ''The Denis Saurat Reader'' *John Robert Colombo (2006), editor, ''Early Earth'' *Jean-François Courouau (2010), author, translator, ''Encaminament Catar''

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saurat, Denis Academics of King's College London Pseudohistorians Atlantis proponents 1890 births 1958 deaths French male non-fiction writers Scottish Renaissance French literary critics French literary historians