Julien Gracq (; 27 July 1910 – 22 December 2007; born Louis Poirier in

Saint-Florent-le-Vieil Saint-Florent-le-Vieil () is a former commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. On 15 December 2015, it was merged into the new commune Mauges-sur-Loire.Maine-et-Loire Maine-et-Loire () is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indre-e ...

) was a French writer. He wrote novels, critiques, a play, and poetry. His literary works were noted for their dreamlike abstraction, elegant style and refined vocabulary. He was close to the surrealist movement, in particular its leader

André Breton André Robert Breton (; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') o ...

Life

Gracq first studied in Paris at the ''

Lycée Henri IV In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

'', where he earned his

baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

. He then entered the

École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

in 1930, later studying at the ''

École libre des sciences politiques , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

'' (Sciences Po.), both schools of the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

at the time. In 1932, he read

's ''Nadja'', which deeply influenced him. His first novel, ''

The Castle of Argol ''The Castle of Argol'' (french: Au château d'Argol, link=no) is a 1938 novel by the French writer Julien Gracq. The narrative is set at a castle in Brittany, where a man has invited a friend, who also has brought a young woman. The novel is loade ...

'', is dedicated to that surrealist writer, to whom he devoted a whole book in 1948. In 1936, he joined the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...

but quit the party in 1939 after the

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , long_name = Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H27337, Moskau, Stalin und Ribbentrop im Kreml.jpg , image_width = 200 , caption = Stalin and Ribbentrop shaking ...

was signed. During the Second World War, he was a prisoner of war in Silesia with other officers of the French Army. One of the friendships he formed there was with author and literary critic Armand Hoog, who later described Gracq as a passionate individualist and ferociously anti-

Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a Spa town, spa and resort town and in World ...

.Bernhild Boie, « Chronologie », in Julien Gracq, ''Œuvres I'', Paris, Gallimard, Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, p. LXI. In 1950, he published a fierce attack on contemporary literary culture and literary prizes in the review ''Empédocle'' titled '' La Littérature à l'estomac''. When he won the ''

Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward o ...

'' for ''

The Opposing Shore ''The Opposing Shore'' (french: Le Rivage des Syrtes) is a 1951 novel by the French writer Julien Gracq. The story is set at the border between two fictional Mediterranean countries, Orsenna and Farghestan, which have been at war for 300 years. It ...

'' (''Le Rivage des Syrtes'') the following year, he remained consistent with his criticism and refused the prize. Gracq taught history and geography in secondary school (high school) until he retired in 1970. In 1979, he wrote the foreword to a re-edition of the ''Journal de l'analogiste'' (1954) by Suzanne Lilar, a work he called a "sumptuous initiation to poetry" (''"une initiation somptueuse à la poésie"''). In 1989, Gracq's work was published by the ''

Bibliothèque de la Pléiade The ''Bibliothèque de la Pléiade'' (, "Pleiades Library") is a French editorial collection which was created in 1931 by Jacques Schiffrin, an independent young editor. Schiffrin wanted to provide the public with reference editions of the c ...

''. He remained distant from major literary events and faithful to his first publisher,

José Corti José Corti is a bookshop and publishing house located in Paris, France, and was founded in 1925. It is named after its founder, José Corticchiato (14 January 1895 – 25 December 1984). José Corticchiato started his business by publishing the ...

. Gracq lived a quiet life in his native town of Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, on the banks of the river

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

. On 22 December 2007, a couple of days after suffering a dizzy spell, he died at the age of 97 in a hospital in

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...

''The Opposing Shore''

''The Opposing Shore'' (''Le Rivage des Syrtes'', 1951) is Julien Gracq's most famous novel. A novel of waiting, it is set in an old fortress close to a sea which defines the ancestral border between the stagnant principality of Orsenna and the territory of its archenemy, the mysterious Farghestan. Its lonely characters are caught in a no man's land, waiting for something to happen and wondering whether something should be done to bring about change, particularly when change may mean the death of civilisations.

Works

*''Au château d'Argol'', 1938 (novel) (English translation: ''

'') *''Un beau ténébreux'', 1945 (novel) (English translation: ''

A Dark Stranger ''A Dark Stranger'' (french: Un beau ténébreux) is a 1945 novel by the French writer Julien Gracq. It tells the story of an enigmatic guest whose presence at an isolated resort hotel in Brittany strangely affects a small group of fellow vacatione ...

'') *''Liberté grande'', 1946 (poetry) (English translation: ''Great Liberty'') *''Le Roi pêcheur'', 1948 (play) *''André Breton, quelques aspects de l'écrivain'', 1948 (critique) *''La Littérature à l'estomac'', 1949 *''Le Rivage des Syrtes'', 1951 (novel) (English translation: ''

'') *''Prose pour l'Étrangère'', 1952 *''Penthésilée'', 1954 (play; translation of Kleist's ''Penthesilea'') *''Un balcon en forêt'', 1958 (novel) (English translation: ''

Balcony in the Forest ''Balcony in the Forest'' (french: Un balcon en forêt) is a 1958 novel by the French writer Julien Gracq. It tells the story of a French lieutenant, Grange, who is assigned to a concrete antitank blockhouse in the forest of the Ardennes in the au ...

'') *''Préférences'', 1961 *''Lettrines'', 1967 *''

La Presqu'île ''La Presqu’île'' (''The Peninsula'', 1970) is a collection of three short pieces by French writer Julien Gracq that takes its name from its second work, a novella, which is preceded by ''La Route'' and followed by ''Le Roi Cophetua'' (''King ...

'', 1970 *''Le Roi Cophetua'', 1970 (novel) (English translation: ''King Cophetua''); it inspired the film ''

Rendezvous at Bray ''Rendezvous at Bray'' (french: Rendez-vous à Bray) is a 1971 French-Belgian drama film directed by André Delvaux and starring Anna Karina. It was entered into the 21st Berlin International Film Festival. Much of the film may be imagined by t ...

'', directed by

André Delvaux André Albert Auguste Delvaux (; 21 March 1926 – 4 October 2002) was a Belgian film director. He co-founded the film school INSAS in 1962 and is regarded as the founder of the Belgian national cinema. Adapting works by writers such as Joha ...

*''Lettrines II'', 1974 *''Les Eaux Étroites'', 1976 (Allusions, allegories and metaphors on a French river, l'

Èvre The Èvre () is a long river in western France, left tributary of the Loire. Its source is at Vezins, northeast of the village. It flows into the Loire at Le Marillais, east of the village. The Èvre flows through the following communes in t ...

.) (English title: ''

The Narrow Waters ''The Narrow Waters'' (french: Les Eaux étroites) is a 1976 essay collection by the French writer Julien Gracq. The topic of the book is Èvre, a left tributary of the river Loire, located close to where the author grew up. The book was published ...

'') *''En lisant en écrivant'', 1980 (English translation: ''

Reading Writing ''Reading Writing'' (french: En lisant en écrivant) is a 1980 book by the French writer Julien Gracq. It consists of notes and fragments on the relation between reading and writing. An English translation by Jeanine Herman was published in 2006. ...

'') *''La Forme d'une ville'', 1985 (English translation: '' The Shape of a City'') *''Autour des sept collines'', 1988 *''Carnets du grand chemin'', 1992 *''Entretiens'', 2002
''La letteratura da voltastomaco''
Milano, De Piante Editore, 2022, ISBN 979-12-803-6224-7

References

Jean-Louis de Rambures Jean-Louis Vicomte de Bretizel Rambures (; 19 May 1930 – 20 May 2006) was a French journalist, author, translator of literature, literary critic, and cultural attaché. He introduced contemporary German literature to a broader French audience by ...

, "Comment travaillent les écrivains", Paris 1978 (interview with J. Gracq)
Encounters with Julien Gracq"
by Gérard Bertrand * Dominique Perrin, "De Louis Poirier à Julien Gracq", Paris, Classiques Garnier, 2009, 759 p.

External links

Obituary in ''The Times'', 31 December 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gracq, Julien 1910 births 2007 deaths People from Maine-et-Loire 20th-century French novelists 21st-century French novelists French fantasy writers Writers from Pays de la Loire Sciences Po alumni École Normale Supérieure alumni Lycée Henri-IV alumni Prix Goncourt winners French male novelists 20th-century French male writers 21st-century French male writers

Life

''The Opposing Shore''

Works

See also

References

External links