Louis Aragon (, , 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the
surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with
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 ...
and
Philippe Soupault
Philippe Soupault (2 August 1897 – 12 March 1990) was a French writer and poet, novelist, critic, and political activist. He was active in Dadaism and later was instrumental in founding the Surrealist movement with André Breton. Soupault ini ...
the surrealist review ''
Littérature ''Littérature'' was a literary and surrealistic magazine edited by André Breton, Philippe Soupault, and Louis Aragon. Its first issue was published on March 19, 1919. Dwindling circulation would prompt Breton to terminate publication after the Aug ...
''.
He was also a novelist and editor, a long-time member of the
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
and a member of the
Académie Goncourt
The Société littéraire des Goncourt (Goncourt Literary Society), usually called the Académie Goncourt (Goncourt Academy), is a French literary organisation based in Paris. It was founded in 1900 by the French writer and publisher Edmond de Go ...
. After 1959, he was a frequent nominee for the
Nobel Prize in Literature
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, caption =
, awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature
, presenter = Swedish Academy
, holder = Annie Ernaux (2022)
, location = Stockholm, Sweden
, year = 1901
, ...
.
Early life (1897–1939)
Louis Aragon was born in Paris. He was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother, believing them to be his sister and foster mother, respectively. His biological father,
Louis Andrieux, a former senator for
Forcalquier, was married and thirty years older than Aragon's mother, whom he seduced when she was seventeen. Aragon's mother passed Andrieux off to her son as his
godfather.
Aragon was only told the truth at the age of 19, as he was leaving to serve in the
First World War
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 ...
, from which neither he nor his parents believed he would return. Andrieux's refusal or inability to recognize his son would influence Aragon's poetry later on.
Having been involved in
Dadaism from 1919 to 1924, he became a founding member of
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
in 1924, with
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 ...
and
Philippe Soupault
Philippe Soupault (2 August 1897 – 12 March 1990) was a French writer and poet, novelist, critic, and political activist. He was active in Dadaism and later was instrumental in founding the Surrealist movement with André Breton. Soupault ini ...
, under the pen-name "Aragon". In 1923, during the trial of
Germaine Berton
Germaine Berton (7 June 1902, in Puteaux – 6 July 1942, in Paris) was a French anarchist and trade unionist. She is known for the murder of Marius Plateau, an editor for the '' Action Francaise'' journal and a leader in the royalist organisat ...
, Aragon release a 29 portrait piece in ''
La Révolution surréaliste
''La Révolution surréaliste'' (English: ''The Surrealist Revolution'') was a publication by the Surrealists in Paris. Twelve issues were published between 1924 and 1929.
Shortly after releasing the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'', André Breton ...
'' in support of her stating Berton "“use terrorist means, in particular murder, to safeguard, at the risk of losing everything, what seems to her— rightly or wrongly — precious beyond anything in the world”.
In the 1920s, Aragon became a
fellow traveller of 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 ...
(PCF) along with several other surrealists, and joined the Party in January 1927.
In 1933, he began to write for the party's newspaper, ''
L'Humanité
''L'Humanité'' (; ), is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organ of the French Communist Party, and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, ''L'Humanité'' would not exist."
History and profile
Pre-World Wa ...
'', in the "news in brief" section. He would remain a member for the rest of his life, writing several political poems including one to
Maurice Thorez, the general secretary of the PCF. During the
World Congress of Writers for the Defence of Culture (1935), Aragon opposed his former friend André Breton, who wanted to use the opportunity as a tribune to defend the writer
Victor Serge, associated with
Leon Trotsky
Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
's
Left Opposition.
Aragon was also critical of the
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
, particularly after the
20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was held during the period 14–25 February 1956. It is known especially for First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev's "Secret Speech", which denounced the personality cult and dictatorship ...
(1956) during which
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
's
personality cult was
denounced by
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
.
The French surrealists had long claimed
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...
as one of their own, and Aragon published his translation of ''
The Hunting of the Snark
''The Hunting of the Snark'', subtitled ''An Agony in 8 Fits'', is a poem by the English writer Lewis Carroll. It is typically categorised as a nonsense poem. Written between 1874 and 1876, it borrows the setting, some creatures, and eight por ...
'' in 1929, "shortly before he completed his transition from Snarxism to Marxism", as
Martin Gardner puts it. Witness the key stanza of the poem in Aragon's translation:
Gardner, who calls the translation "pedestrian" and deems the rest of Aragon's writings on Carroll's nonsense poetry full of factual errors, says that there is no evidence that Aragon intended any of it as a joke.
The ''Commune'' (1933–1939)
Apart from working as a journalist for ''L'Humanité'', Louis Aragon also became, along with
Paul Nizan
Paul-Yves Nizan (; 7 February 1905 – 23 May 1940) was a French philosopher and writer.
He was born in Tours, Indre-et-Loire and studied in Paris where he befriended fellow student Jean-Paul Sartre at the Lycée Henri IV. He became a member of t ...
, editor secretary of the journal ''
Commune'', published by the ''
Association des Écrivains et Artistes Révolutionnaires
The (AEAR) was a French association of revolutionary artists and writers active between 1932 and 1939.
An association of the same name was formed in 2006.
The AEAR was founded by communist and communist-sympathizing writers in March 1932 as the ...
'' (Association of Revolutionary Writers and Artists), which aimed at gathering intellectuals and artists in a common front
against fascism. Aragon became a member of the directing committee of the ''Commune'' journal in January 1937, along with
André Gide,
Romain Rolland and
Paul Vaillant-Couturier
Paul Vaillant-Couturier (8 January 1892 – 10 October 1937) was a French writer and communist. He participated in the founding of the French Communist Party (PCF) in 1920.
Biography
Born into a family of actors, Vaillant-Couturier studied law ...
. The journal then took the name of "French literary review for the defence of culture" (''« revue littéraire française pour la défense de la culture »''). With Gide's withdrawal in August 1937, Vaillant-Couturier's death in autumn 1937 and Romain Rolland's old age, Aragon became its effective director. In December 1938, he called as
chief editor
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
the young writer
Jacques Decour
Jacques Decour (born Daniel Decourdemanche; 21 February 1910, in Paris – 30 May 1942, in Fort Mont-Valérien), was a French writer, Germanist, essayist, translator and resistant fighter, killed by the Nazis.
Biography
Jacques Decour studied ...
. The ''Commune'' journal was strongly involved in the mobilization of French intellectuals in favor of the
Spanish Republic
The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 A ...
.
Director of ''Ce soir'' (1937–1953)
In March 1937, Aragon was called on by the PCF to head the new evening daily ''
Ce soir
''Ce soir'' (English: Tonight), was a French daily newspaper founded by the French Communist Party and directed by Louis Aragon and Jean-Richard Bloch.
History
The newspaper was established on the initiative of the Communist Party general sec ...
'', which he was charged with launching, along with the writer
Jean-Richard Bloch
Jean-Richard Bloch (25 May 1884 – 15 March 1947) was a French critic, novelist and playwright.
He was a member of the French Communist Party (PCF) and worked with Louis Aragon in the evening daily '' Ce soir''.
Early life
Bloch was born ...
. ''Ce soir'' attempted to compete with ''
Paris-Soir''. Outlawed in August 1939, ''Ce soir'' was re-opened after the Liberation, and Aragon again became its lead, first with Bloch then alone after Bloch's death in 1947. The newspaper, which counted
Emile Danoën
Emil or Emile may refer to:
Literature
*'' Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
* ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life
*'' Emil and the Detecti ...
among its collaborators, closed in March 1953.
World War II (1939–1945)
In 1939, he married Russian-born author
Elsa Triolet
Elsa Triolet (born Ella Yuryevna Kagan; (russian: Элла Юрьевна Каган); – 16 June 1970) was a Russian-French writer and translator.
Biography
Ella Yuryevna Kagan was born into a Jewish family of Yuri Alexandrovich Kagan, a ...
, the sister of
Lilya Brik
Lilya Yuryevna Brik (alternatively spelled ''Lili'' or ''Lily''; russian: link=no, Ли́ля Ю́рьевна Брик; née Kagan; – August 4, 1978) was a Russian author and socialite, connected to many leading figures in the Russian avant ...
, a mistress and then partner of Russian poet
Vladimir Mayakovsky. He had met her in 1928, and she became his
muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
starting in the 1940s. Aragon and Triolet collaborated in the
left-wing French media before and during World War II, going underground for most of the
German occupation
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...
.
Aragon was mobilized in 1939, and awarded the ''
Croix de guerre
The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...
'' (War Cross) and the military medal for acts of bravery. After the
May 1940 defeat, he took refuge in the
Southern Zone. He was one of several poets, along with
René Char
René Émile Char (; 14 June 1907 – 19 February 1988) was a French poet and member of the French Resistance.
Biography
Char was born in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in the Vaucluse department of France, the youngest of the four children of Emile ...
,
Francis Ponge
Francis Jean Gaston Alfred Ponge (; 27 March 1899 – 6 August 1988) was a French essayist and poet. Influenced by surrealism, he developed a form of prose poem, minutely examining everyday objects. He was the third recipient of the Neustadt Inter ...
,
Robert Desnos
Robert Desnos (; 4 July 1900 – 8 June 1945) was a French poet who played a key role in the Surrealist movement of his day.
Biography
Robert Desnos was born in Paris on 4 July 1900, the son of a licensed dealer in game and poultry at the '' H ...
,
Paul Éluard
Paul Éluard (), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement.
In 1916, he chose the name Paul Éluard, a matronymic borrowed from his maternal ...
,
Jean Prévost
Jean Prévost (13 June 1901 – 1 August 1944) was a French writer, journalist, and Maquis (World War II), Resistance fighter.
Biography
Born in Saint-Pierre-lès-Nemours, Prévost was educated (from 1907 to 1911) at the primary school in ...
,
Jean-Pierre Rosnay
Jean-Pierre or Jean Pierre may refer to:
People
* Karine Jean-Pierre b.1977, White House Deputy Press Secretary for President Joe Biden 2021-
* Jean-Pierre, Count of Montalivet (1766–1823), French statesman and Peer of France
* Eugenia Pierre ( ...
, etc., to join the
Resistance
Resistance may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Comics
* Either of two similarly named but otherwise unrelated comic book series, both published by Wildstorm:
** ''Resistance'' (comics), based on the video game of the same title
** ''T ...
, both through literary activities and as an actual organizer of Resistance acts.
Otto Abetz
Heinrich Otto Abetz (26 March 1903 – 5 May 1958) was the German ambassador to Vichy France during the Second World War and a convicted war criminal. In July 1949 he was sentenced to twenty years' hard labour by a Paris military tribunal, he was ...
was the German governor, and produced a series of "black lists" of authors forbidden to be read, circulated or sold in Nazi Occupied France. These included anything written by a Jew, a communist, an Anglo-Saxon or anyone else who was anti-Germanic or anti-fascist. Aragon and
André Malraux were both on these "Otto Lists" of forbidden authors.
During the war, Aragon wrote for the underground press ''
Les Éditions de Minuit
Les Éditions de Minuit (, ''Midnight Press'') is a French publishing house. It was founded in 1941, during the French Resistance of World War II, and is still publishing books today.
History
Les Éditions de Minuit was founded by writer and i ...
'' and was a member of the
National Front Resistance movement. His poetry was published along texts by Vercors (
Jean Bruller
Jean Marcel Adolphe Bruller (26 February 1902 – 10 June 1991) was a French writer and illustrator who co-founded the publishing company Les Éditions de Minuit with Pierre de Lescure. Born to a Hungarian-Jewish father, he joined the French Resi ...
),
Pierre Seghers
Pierre Seghers (5 January 1906, in Paris – 4 November 1987, in Créteil) was a French poet and editor. During the Second World War he took part in the French Resistance movement.
Career
He founded, among other things, the famous line of boo ...
or
Paul Eluard
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
* Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
in Switzerland in 1943 after being smuggled out of occupied France by his friend and publisher
François Lachenal
François Paul Lachenal (Geneva 31 May 1918 – 22 August 1997) was a Swiss publisher and diplomat, who beginning in 1940 played a significant role in publishing the writings of the French authors during the occupation of France by Germany. He ...
.
He participated with his wife in the setting-up of the National Front of Writers in the Southern Zone. This activism led him to break his friendly relationship with
Pierre Drieu La Rochelle, who had chosen
Collaborationism.
Along with Paul Éluard,
Pierre Seghers
Pierre Seghers (5 January 1906, in Paris – 4 November 1987, in Créteil) was a French poet and editor. During the Second World War he took part in the French Resistance movement.
Career
He founded, among other things, the famous line of boo ...
and
René Char
René Émile Char (; 14 June 1907 – 19 February 1988) was a French poet and member of the French Resistance.
Biography
Char was born in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in the Vaucluse department of France, the youngest of the four children of Emile ...
, Aragon would maintain the memory of the Resistance in his post-war poems. He thus wrote, in 1954, ''
Strophes pour se souvenir'' in commemoration of the role of foreigners in the Resistance, which celebrated the ''
Francs-Tireurs et Partisans de la Main d'Oeuvre Immigrée'' (FTP-MOI).
The theme of the poem was the
Red Poster affair, mainly the last letter that
Missak Manouchian
Missak Manouchian (Western hy, Միսաք Մանուշեան; , 1 September 1906 – 21 February 1944) was a French-Armenian poet and communist activist. An Armenian genocide survivor, he moved to France from an orphanage in Lebanon in 1925. H ...
, an Armenian-French poet and Resistant, wrote to his wife
Mélinée before his execution on 21 February 1944. This poem was then set to music by
Léo Ferré
Léo Ferré (24 August 1916 – 14 July 1993) was a French-born Monégasque poet and composer, and a dynamic and controversial live performer, whose career in France dominated the years after the Second World War until his death. He released s ...
.
After the war
At the Liberation, Aragon became one of the leading Communist intellectuals, assuming political responsibilities in the ''
Comité national des écrivains'' (National Committee of Writers). He celebrated the role of the general secretary of the PCF,
Maurice Thorez, and defended the
Kominform's condemnation of the
Titoist
Titoism is a political philosophy most closely associated with Josip Broz Tito during the Cold War. It is characterized by a broad Yugoslav identity, workers' self-management, a political separation from the Soviet Union, and leadership in the ...
regime in
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
.
Sponsored by Thorez, Aragon was elected, in 1950, to the central committee of the PCF. His post, however, did not protect him from all forms of criticism. Thus, when his journal ''Les Lettres françaises'' published a drawing by
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
on the occasion of Stalin's death in March 1953, Aragon was forced to make excuses to his critics, who judged the drawing iconoclastic. Through the years, he had been kept informed of
Stalinist
Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory o ...
repression by his Russian-born wife, and so his political line evolved.
''Les Lettres françaises'' (1953–1972)
In the days following the disappearance of ''Ce soir'', in March 1953, Aragon became the director of ''L'Humanité''s literary supplement, ''
Les Lettres françaises
''Les Lettres Françaises'' (French language, French for "The French Letters") is a French literary publication, founded in 1941 by writers Jacques Decour and Jean Paulhan. Originally a clandestine magazine of the French Resistance in German occup ...
''. Assisted by its chief editor,
Pierre Daix
Pierre Georges Daix (24 May 1922, Ivry-sur-Seine – 2 November 2014, Paris) was a French journalist, writer and art historian. He was a friend and biographer of Pablo Picasso.
As a young man, Daix was an ardent Stalinist. He joined the French Co ...
, Aragon started in the 1960s a struggle against
Stalinism
Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...
and its consequences in Eastern Europe. He published the writings of dissidents such as
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Russian novelist. One of the most famous Soviet dissidents, Solzhenitsyn was an outspoken critic of communism and helped to raise global awareness of political repress ...
or
Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera (, ; born 1 April 1929) is a Czech writer who went into exile in France in 1975, becoming a naturalised French citizen in 1981. Kundera's Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked in 1979, then conferred again in 2019. He "sees himself ...
. The monetary loss caused by ''Les Lettres françaises'' led to its ceasing publication in 1972. It was later re-founded.
In 1956, Aragon supported the
Budapest insurrection, provoking the dissolution of the ''Comité national des écrivains'', which
Vercors quit. The same year, he was nevertheless granted the
Lenin Peace Prize
The International Lenin Peace Prize (russian: международная Ленинская премия мира, ''mezhdunarodnaya Leninskaya premiya mira)'' was a Soviet Union award named in honor of Vladimir Lenin. It was awarded by a pane ...
. He now harshly condemned Soviet totalitarianism, opened his magazines to dissidents, and condemned
show trial
A show trial is a public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal the presentation of both the accusation and the verdict to the public so th ...
s against intellectuals (in particular the 1966
Sinyavsky-Daniel trial). He strongly supported the student movement of
May '68
Beginning in May 1968, a period of civil unrest occurred throughout France, lasting some seven weeks and punctuated by demonstrations, general strikes, as well as the occupation of universities and factories. At the height of events, which h ...
, although the PCF was skeptical about it. The crushing of the
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in
the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Sec ...
in 1968 led him to a critical preface published in a translation of one of
Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera (, ; born 1 April 1929) is a Czech writer who went into exile in France in 1975, becoming a naturalised French citizen in 1981. Kundera's Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked in 1979, then conferred again in 2019. He "sees himself ...
's books (''La Plaisanterie''). Despite his criticisms, Aragon remained an official member of the PCF's central committee until his death.
The publisher
Beside his journalistic activities, Louis Aragon was also CEO of the ''
Editeurs français réunis'' (EFR) publishing house, heir of two publishing houses founded by the Resistance, ''La Bibliothèque française'' and ''Hier et Aujourd'hui''. He directed the EFR along with
Madeleine Braun, and in the 1950s published French and Soviet writers commonly related to the "
Socialist Realism
Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...
" current. Among other works, the EFR published
André Stil's ''Premier choc'', which owed to the future
Goncourt Academician the
Stalin Prize in 1953. But they also published other writers, such as
Julius Fučík,
Vítězslav Nezval,
Rafael Alberti
Rafael Alberti Merello (16 December 1902 – 28 October 1999) was a Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27. He is considered one of the greatest literary figures of the so-called ''Silver Age'' of Spanish Literature, and he won numerou ...
,
Yánnis Rítsos or
Vladimir Mayakovsky. In the beginning of the 1960s, the EFR brought to public knowledge the works of non-Russian Soviet writers, such as
Tchinguiz Aïtmatov
Chinghiz Torekulovich Aitmatov (as transliterated from Russian; ky, Чыңгыз Төрөкулович Айтматов, translit=Chynggyz Törökulovich Aytmatov; 12 December 1928 – 10 June 2008) was a Kyrgyz author who wrote mainly in Russi ...
, or Russian writers belong to the
Khrushchev Thaw
The Khrushchev Thaw ( rus, хрущёвская о́ттепель, r=khrushchovskaya ottepel, p=xrʊˈɕːɵfskəjə ˈotʲ:ɪpʲɪlʲ or simply ''ottepel'')William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, London: Free Press, 2004 is the period ...
, such as
Galina Nicolaëva,
Yevgeny Yevtushenko's ''Babi Iar'' in 1967, etc. The EFR also published the first novel of
Christa Wolf
Christa Wolf (; née Ihlenfeld; 18 March 1929 – 1 December 2011) was a German novelist and essayist.
Barbara Gard ...
in 1964, and launched the poetic collection ''Petite sirène'', which collected works by
Pablo Neruda
Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973), better known by his pen name and, later, legal name Pablo Neruda (; ), was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Nerud ...
,
Eugène Guillevic
Eugène Guillevic ( Carnac, Morbihan, France, August 5, 1907 Carnac – March 19, 1997 Paris) () was a French poet. Professionally, he went by the single name ''Guillevic''.
Life
He was born in the rocky landscape and marine environment of ...
,
Nicolás Guillén, but also less known poets such as
Dominique Grandmont,
Alain Lance or
Jean Ristat
Jean Ristat, (born 1943 in Argent-sur-Sauldre Cher) is a French poet and writer.
Life
Jean Ristat founded the magazine collection ''Digraph'' in 1974, as suggested by his professor of philosophy, Jacques Derrida, which he then put to the recent es ...
.
Back to surrealism
Free from both his marital and editorial responsibilities (having ended publication of ''
Les Lettres Françaises
''Les Lettres Françaises'' (French language, French for "The French Letters") is a French literary publication, founded in 1941 by writers Jacques Decour and Jean Paulhan. Originally a clandestine magazine of the French Resistance in German occup ...
'' — ''
L'Humanité
''L'Humanité'' (; ), is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organ of the French Communist Party, and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, ''L'Humanité'' would not exist."
History and profile
Pre-World Wa ...
s literary supplement – in 1972), Aragon was free to return to his surrealist roots. During the last ten years of his life, he published at least two further novels: ''
Henri Matisse Roman
Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry.
People with this given name
; French noblemen
:'' See the 'List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.''
* Henri I de Montm ...
'' and ''Les Adieux''.
Louis Aragon died on 24 December 1982, his friend
Jean Ristat
Jean Ristat, (born 1943 in Argent-sur-Sauldre Cher) is a French poet and writer.
Life
Jean Ristat founded the magazine collection ''Digraph'' in 1974, as suggested by his professor of philosophy, Jacques Derrida, which he then put to the recent es ...
sitting up with him. He was buried in the parc of
Moulin de Villeneuve
Moulins or Moulin (French language, French for ''Mill (grinding), mill'') may refer to:
Places France
* Diocese of Moulins
* Moulins, Allier, in the Allier department (the largest Moulins)
* Moulins, Aisne, in the Aisne department
* Moulins, Ille ...
, in his property of
Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines
Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France.
Population
Twin towns
* Freudenberg am Main (1993)
* Terras de Bouro (2004)
See also
*Communes of the Yvelines department
...
, alongside his wife Elsa Triolet.
He was and still is a popular poet in France because many of his poems have been set to music and sung by various composers and singers :
Lino Léonardi,
Hélène Martin
Hélène Martin (, 10 December 1928 – 21 February 2021) was a French singer and songwriter.
Biography
Born in Paris, Martin was daughter of a university professor (Sciences Po), and started singing in cabarets in the 1950s.Véronique Mortai ...
,
Léo Ferré
Léo Ferré (24 August 1916 – 14 July 1993) was a French-born Monégasque poet and composer, and a dynamic and controversial live performer, whose career in France dominated the years after the Second World War until his death. He released s ...
(the first one to dedicate an entire LP to Aragon, with his 1961 breakthrough ''
Les Chansons d'Aragon'' album),
Jean Ferrat,
Georges Brassens,
Alain Barrière
Alain Barrière (; born Alain Bellec; 18 November 1935 – 18 December 2019) was a French singer, who was active from the 1950s until his death and was known for participating in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963.
Early life
After growing up ...
,
Isabelle Aubret,
Nicole Rieu
Nicole may refer to:
People
* Nicole (name)
* Nicole (American singer) (born 1958), a contestant in season 3 of the American ''The X Factor''
* Nicole (Chilean singer) (born 1977)
* Nicole (German singer) (born 1964), winner of the 1982 Eurovi ...
,
Monique Morelli
Monique is a female given name. It is the French form of the name Monica. The name has enjoyed some popularity in the United States since about 1955, and is less common in other English-speaking countries except for Canada although mostly used ...
,
Marc Ogeret,
Marjo Tal Marjo Tal (15 January 1915 - 27 August 2006) was a Dutch composer and pianist who wrote the music for over 150 songs and often performed them while accompanying herself on the piano.
Life and career Early life
Tal was born in The Hague, the oldest ...
, et al. Many of his poems put into music by Jean Ferrat have been translated into German by Didier Caesar (alias Dieter Kaiser) and are sung by his Duo.
Bibliography
Novels and short stories
* ''Anicet ou le Panorama, roman'' (1921)
* ''
Les Aventures de Télémaque
:''"Les Aventures de Télémaque" is also the title of a 1922 seven-chapter story by Louis Aragon.''
''Les aventures de Télémaque, fils d'Ulysse'' (English: ''The adventures of Telemachus, son of Ulysses'') is a didactic novel by François F ...
'' (1922)
* ''Le Libertinage'' (1924)
* ''
Le Paysan de Paris'' (1926)
* ''
Le Con d'Irène'' (1927, published under the pseudonym Albert de Routisie)
* ''Les Cloches de Bâle'' ("Le Monde réel", 1934)
* ''Les Beaux Quartiers'' ("Le Monde réel", 1936, Renaudot Prize winner)
* ''Les Voyageurs de l'Impériale'' ("Le Monde réel", 1942)
* ''
Aurélien
:''see also Aurélien (given name), for individuals with the masculine given name.
''Aurélien'' is a novel by Louis Aragon, the fourth of the ''Le Monde réel'' cycle. It was ranked 51st in ''Le Mondes 100 Books of the Century.
Plot
''A ...
'' ("Le Monde réel", 1944)
* ''Servitude et Grandeur des Français. Scènes des années terribles'' (1945)
* ''Les Communistes'' (6 volumes, 1949–1951 et 1966–1967 – "Le Monde réel")
* ''
La Semaine Sainte ''La Semaine Sainte'' is an historical novel by French writer Louis Aragon published in 1958. It sold over 100,000 copies.
An English translation by Haakon Chevalier was published in 1961 under the title ''Holy Week'' by Hamish Hamilton, London, t ...
'' (1958) (published in English in 1959 as
Holy Week
Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...
)
* ''
Le Fou d'Elsa
''Le Fou d'Elsa'' is a 1963 novel written by Louis Aragon.
Synopsis
In this book Aragon's intellectual work is reflected through the description of Arabic and Muslim culture in both poetry and prose. Aragon describes the relationships between th ...
'' (1963)
* ''
La Mise à mort
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on Figure 8 ( ...
'' (1965)
* ''
Blanche ou l'oubli
Blanche may refer to:
People
* Blanche (singer), stage name of Belgian singer and songwriter Ellie Delvaux
*Blanche (given name)
* Blanche (surname)
Places Australia
*Blanche Harbor (South Australia), a bay on the east coast of Eyre Peninsula
** ...
'' (1967)
* ''
Henri Matisse, roman'' (1971)
* ''
Théâtre/Roman'' (1974)
* ''
Le Mentir-vrai'' (1980)
* ''
La Défense de l'infini'' (1986)
* ''
Les Aventures de Jean-Foutre La Bite'' (1986)
Poetry
* ''Le Musée Grévin'', published under the pseudonym François la Colère by the
Editions de Minuit
* ''La Rose et le réséda''
* ''Feu de joie'', 1919
* ''Le Mouvement perpétuel'', 1926
* ''La Grande Gaîté'', 1929
* ''Persécuté persécuteur'', 1930–1931
* ''Hourra l'Oural'', 1934
* ''Le Crève-Cœur'', 1941
* ''Cantique à Elsa'', 1942
* ''Les Yeux d'Elsa'', 1942
* ''Brocéliande'', 1942
* ''Le Musée Grevin'', 1943
* ''Complainte de Robert le Diable'', 1945
* ''La Diane française'', 1945
* ''En étrange pays dans mon pays lui-même'', 1945
* ''Le Nouveau Crève-Cœur'', 1948
* ''Le Roman inachevé'', 1956
* ''Elsa'', 1959
* ''Les Poètes'', 1960
* ''
Le Fou d'Elsa
''Le Fou d'Elsa'' is a 1963 novel written by Louis Aragon.
Synopsis
In this book Aragon's intellectual work is reflected through the description of Arabic and Muslim culture in both poetry and prose. Aragon describes the relationships between th ...
'', 1963
* ''Il ne m'est Paris que d'Elsa'', 1964
* ''Les Chambres, poème du temps qui ne passe pas'', 1969
* ''Demeure de Malkine'', 1970
Essays
* ''Une vague de rêves'', 1924
* ''Treatise on Style'', 1928 (French: ''Traité du style'')
* ''Pour un réalisme socialiste'', 1935
See also
*
''Le Mondes 100 Books of the Century, a list which includes ''Aurélien''
*
:Works by Louis Aragon
References
Further reading
*
Benjamin Ivry
Benjamin Ivry is an American writer on the arts, broadcaster and translator.
Ivry is author of biographies of Francis Poulenc, Arthur Rimbaud, and Maurice Ravel, as well as a poetry collection, ''Paradise for the Portuguese Queen''. The latter ...
(1996). ''Francis Poulenc'', 20th-Century Composers series. Phaidon Press Limited. .
* Polizzotti, Mark (1995). ''Revolution of the Mind: The Life of André Breton'' Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
External links
*
J'arrive où je suis étrangerpoem with music, listenable on-line.
Les Lettres Françaises
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aragon, Louis
1897 births
1982 deaths
Writers from Paris
Dada
French Communist Party members
Lenin Peace Prize recipients
Members of the Front National (French Resistance) movement
French medical writers
French surrealist writers
Bisexual writers
20th-century French poets
20th-century French novelists
20th-century French male writers
French erotica writers
French Communist writers
French Communist poets
Communist members of the French Resistance
French military personnel of World War I
Prix Renaudot winners
Bisexual men
LGBT rights activists from France
French LGBT poets
French LGBT novelists
French male poets
French male novelists