James Ronald Lawler (1929–2013) was the foundation professor of

French studies ''French Studies'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for French Studies. It was established in 1947 and covers all periods of French and francophone literature and culture ...

at the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...

(1963-1971) and later the Edward Carson Waller Distinguished Service Professor in Romance Languages and Literatures at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

.James A. Lawler: 1929–2013
The Australian Academy of the Humanities, Annual Report 2013–14, p. 35. Retrieved 20 May 2018.Vale Professor James Lawler
une.edu.au. Retrieved 7 January 2018.

Early life and education

James Lawler was born on 15 August 1929 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. He studied French at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

in the period that Professor A. R. Chisholm was the head of the Department of French. In 1950 he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with first class honours in English and French"New Appointments"
''University of Queensland Gazette'', No. 31, May 1955, pp. 9-10. Retrieved 12 November 2019. and in 1952 graduated with an M.A. with first class honours in French. He undertook research for a doctorate at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

in Paris, France, which he successfully completed in 1954 with a "mention très honorable" for his thesis, ''Style et Poétique chez

Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of t ...

''.

Academic career

In 1963, after two years as lecturer in French at the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

Wallace Kirsop
Scholar of French Poetry over Three Continents: James Ronald Lawler 1929-2019
isfar.org.au. Retrieved 12 November 2019. and six years as a senior lecturer in the Department of French under Professor Ronald Jackson at the University of Melbourne, Lawler became, at the age of just 33, the foundation Professor of French Studies at the

. He proceeded to restructure the French department, introducing new courses in French civilisation and history to accompany the traditional offerings in French language and literature.Beverley Noakes
Vale Jim Lawler
University News: The University of Western Australia, 15 August 2013, uwa.edu.au. Retrieved 12 November 2019. During his tenure at UWA he founded ''Essays in French Literature'', a "top ranking" academic journal that still exists and is now known as '' Essays in French Literature and Culture''. Lawler left Australia for North America in 1971 where he was appointed to a succession of chairs of French: at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

, then at Dalhousie University, in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

(1974–79), and finally at the

(1979–97) where he became the Edward Carson Waller Distinguished Service Professor in Romance Languages and Literatures. While at Dalhousie University he founded the journal ''Dalhousie French Studies''. While at Chicago, he was also a visiting professor at the

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment ('' grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris n ...

and an invited professor in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

(teaching classes in the Master of Arts Program in the Humanities in Japan).Jennifer Vanasco
Graduate Teaching Award: James Lawler
''The University of Chicago Chronicle'', Vol. 16, No. 19, 12 June 1997. Retrieved 13 November 2019. Lawler was a foundation member of the

Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australia ...

Later life

In 1997 Lawler retired and moved to Paris with his wife. He remained active in his literary life and studies and served as the president of both the Association Internationale des Etudes Françaises and of the Association des Amis de

Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he start ...

Legacy

According to Wallace Kirsop, Lawler was for more than fifty years "one of the most distinguished representatives of a remarkable group of ustralianstudents of French poetry from Baudelaire to

Valéry The French name Valery () is a male given name or surname of Germanic origin ''Walaric'' (see Walric of Leuconay), that has often been confused in modern times with the Latin name '' Valerius''—that explains the variant spelling Valéry (). The ...

". He was a popular teacher who enjoyed the "give and take" of the classroom. He preferred teaching smaller groups where he could "sit in front of a text with ... students and discover it with them, explore the many-sidedness of it, the sound, the different ways of entering into a text". Previous students and colleagues remember him as an "inspirational teacher" and as a "mentor" who set other academics on the "path to a career in French".

Personal life

James Lawler was married to Christiane Labossière,Peter Evans
James R. Lawler – My Uncle Jimmy
isfar.org.au. Retrieved 12 November 2019. a French citizen and an anthropology graduate. She worked alongside him at the University of Western Australia and played a major role in establishing the French civilisation courses there. They had two children, Jérôme and Ariane (both born in 1960). He died 28 July 2013 in Paris at the age of 83. His wife predeceased him in December, 2004. His ashes were interred at the Père Lachaise Cemetery columbarium.

Select bibliography

* ''Music and Poetry in Apollinaire'' (Oxford: Blackwell, c. 1957) * ''Form and Meaning in Valéry's Le cimetiere marin'' (Melbourne University Press on behalf of the Australian Humanities Research Council, 1959) * ''An Anthology of French Poetry'' (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1960) * ''Lecture de Valéry: une étude de Charmes'' (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1963) *
The Language of French Symbolism
' (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1969) *
The Poet as Analyst: Essays on Paul Valéry
' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974) * ''The Existentialist Marxism of Jean-Paul Sartre'' (Amsterdam: Grüner, 1976) *
René Char: The Myth and the Poem
' (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, c.1978) *
Rimbaud's Theatre of the Self
' (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992) *
Poetry and Moral Dialectic: Baudelaire’s "Secret Architecture"
' (Madison, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press; London and Cranbury, N.J.: Associated University Presses, 1997)

Honours, awards

* 1974 - Guggenheim Fellowship * 1999 - Prix du rayonnement de la langue française, Académie française * Prix international des amitiés françaises * Officier des Palmes Académiques

References

External links

Lawler, James Ronald: Correspondence and related papers..., 1948-2013 - State Library of Victoria

Fonds James R. Lawler ..., 1929 - 2013 - Bibliothèque Nationale de France
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawler, James 1929 births 2013 deaths 20th-century Australian educators Australian literary critics Literary critics of French Academic staff of the University of Western Australia Academic staff of the Dalhousie University University of Chicago faculty University of Melbourne alumni University of Paris alumni Australian expatriates in the United States Australian expatriates in France Officiers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques University of California, Los Angeles faculty Australian expatriates in Canada Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery