Malcolm de Chazal
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Malcolm de Chazal (12 September 1902 – 1 October 1981) was a
Mauritian Mauritians (singular Mauritian; french: Mauricien; Creole: ''Morisien'') are nationals or natives of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Mauritius is a multi-ethnic society, with notable groups of people of South Asian (notably ...
writer, painter, and visionary, known especially for his ''Sens-Plastique'', a work consisting of several thousand
aphorism An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by ...
s and pensées.


Early life and education

Chazal was born in
Vacoas Vacoas-Phoenix () also known as French: ''Villes Jumelles'' (Twin Cities), is a town in Mauritius, located in the Plaines Wilhems District, the eastern part also lies in the Moka District. The town is administered by the Municipal Council of Vaco ...
of a French family long established in
Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...
and wrote all his works in French. Except for six years at
Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...
, where he received an engineering degree, he spent most of his time in Mauritius where he worked as an agronomist on sugar plantations and later for the Office of Telecommunications.


Writing

In 1940 he began to publish in Mauritius a series of volumes consisting of hundreds of numbered thoughts and ideas entitled ''Pensées.'' In 1945, a seventh volume of ''Pensées'', bound with another collection of unnumbered aphorisms entitled ''Sens-Plastique'' appeared, and two years later a separate ''Sens-Plastique'', Volume II, appeared. It was this latter volume on which the Gallimard edition of 1948 was based that brought Chazal into prominence in France. He was hailed as a surrealist by André Breton and ex Journalist Adeenarain M Tatiah. The following examples may illustrate the novelty and variety of ''Sens-Plastique.'' In the prefaces and afterwords of the various editions of ''Sens-Plastique'' Chazal explained his method of thinking and writing as follows: Chazal's other writings include notably ''La Vie Filtrée'' (1949), a collection of essays that elaborate the ideas found in ''Sens-Plastique'', ''Sens Magique'' (1957) and ''Poèmes'' (1968 ), gnomic verses that dramatize the experiences described in ''Sens-Plastique'', and ''Petrusmok'' (1951), the spiritual history of Mauritius found in its natural surroundings. ''Sens-Plastique'' has been translated into English by
Irving Weiss Irving may refer to: People *Irving (name), including a list of people with the name Fictional characters * Irving, the main character's love interest in Cathy (comic strip) * Lloyd Irving is an action role-playing game released for the Nint ...
in a volume published by Green Integer (2008) as ''Sens-Plastique.''


Works

* 1940 : ''Pensées I'', The General Printing & Stationery Cy Ltd * 1942 : ''Pensées II'', The General Printing & Stationery Cy Ltd * 1942 : ''Pensées III'', The General Printing & Stationery Cy Ltd * 1943 : ''Pensées IV'', The General Printing & Stationery Cy Ltd * 1944 : ''Pensées V'', The General Printing & Stationery Cy Ltd * 1944 : ''Pensées VI'', The General Printing & Stationery Cy Ltd (Pensées I à VII reprinted: Exils, 1999) * 1945 : ''Pensées et Sens-Plastique'', The General Printing & Stationery Cy Ltd * 1945 : ''Pensées VII'', The General Printing & Stationery Cy Ltd * 1946 : ''Histoire de la pensée universelle'', The General Printing & Stationery Cy Ltd * 1947 : ''Sens-plastique II'', The General Printing & Stationery Cy Ltd, Gallimard, repr.. 1948, 1985 * 1949 : ''La Vie filtrée'', Gallimard * 1950 : ''Iésou'', The Almadinah Printing Press, théâtre * 1950 : ''L'Âme de la musique'', The Mauritius Printing Cy Ltd * 1950 : ''La Pierre philosophale'', The Almadinah Printing Press * 1950 : ''Penser par étapes'', P.A. Bettencourt, in Réalités secrètes 1961 * 1951 : ''Petrusmok'', The Standard Printing Est., 1951, La Table Ovale, 1979 * 1951 : ''Mythologie du Crève-Cœur'', The Almadinah Printing Press, 1951 * 1951 : ''Le Rocher de Sisyphe'', The Mauritius Printing Cy Ltd, 1951, Patrice Thierry-L’Ether Vague, 1996 * 1951 : ''Aggenèse I'', The Almadinah Printing Press * 1951 : ''La Clef du cosmos'', The Mauritius Printing Cy Ltd, 1951, Patrice Thierry — L’Ether Vague, 1994 * 1951 : ''Manifeste, Aggenèse II, Révélation de la nuit'', The Almadinah Printing Press, 1951 * 1952 : ''Le Livre de conscience'', The Almadinah Printing Press, 1952, Arma Artis, 1985 * 1952 : ''La Grande révélation'', The Almadinah Printing Press * 1952 : ''La Science immortelle'', The Almadinah Printing Press * 1952 : ''Le Roi du monde'', The Almadinah Printing Press * 1952 : ''Le Pape et la science et la révélation de l’angélisme'', The Almadinah Printing Press * 1952 : ''Le Livre d’or'', The Almadinah Printing Press * 1952 : ''La Bible du mal'', The Almadinah Printing Press * 1952 : ''L'Évangile de l’eau'', The Almadinah Printing Press * 1952 : ''La Fin du monde'', The Almadinah Printing Press * 1952 : ''Le Livre des principes'', The Almadinah Printing Press * 1952 : ''Message aux Français'', in Synthèse * 1953 : ''Judas'', Esclapon * 1953 : ''Judas ou la trahison du prêtre'', Popular Printing * 1953 : ''L’Absolu'', The Almadinah Printing Press * 1953 : ''Pentateuque'', The Almadinah Printing Press * 1953 : ''Préambule à l’absolu'', The Almadinah Printing Press * 1954 : ''Les Deux infinis'', The Almadinah Printing Press * 1954 : ''L’Espace ou Satan'', The Standard Printing Est. * 1954 : ''Les Dieux ou les consciences-univers'', Esclapon Ltd * 1954 : ''Les Désamorantes, suivi de Le Concile des poètes'', The Mauritius Printing Cy Ltd ; * 1954 : ''Le Sens de l’absolu'', The Almadinah Printing Press * 1957 : ''Sens-Magique'', The Almadinah Printing Press, 1957, 1958, Lachenal et Ritter, 1983 * 1958 : ''Sens-Magique'', 2ème édition, Tananarive * 1958 : ''Apparadoxes'', The Almadinah Printing Press * 1968 : ''Poèmes'', Jean-Jacques Pauvert * 1973 : ''L'Île Maurice proto-historique…'', Guillemette de Spéville * 1974 : ''L’Homme et la connaissance'', Jean-Jacques Pauvert * 1974 : ''Sens unique'', 1974, L’Ether Vague, 1985 * 1976 : ''La Bouche ne s’endort jamais'', Saint-Germain-des-Prés, 1976, Patrice Thierry — L’Ether Vague, 1994


Painting

Chazal took up painting in the 1950s at the suggestion of Georges Braque. Unlike the speculative aphoristic character of his best-known writings, his paintings concentrated on natural forms and landscapes in a primitive, emblematic style.


References

* ''Malcolm, le tailleur des visions''. Documentary film, dir. Khal Torabully.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chazal, Malcolm de 1902 births 1981 deaths 20th-century Mauritian writers People from Moka District Mauritian artists