Robèrt Lafont (; March 16, 1923 in

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

– June 24, 2009 in

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) was a French

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and Human self-reflection, reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the wor ...

from

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

. He was a

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

, an author, an historian, an expert in literature and a political theoretician. His name in French reads Robert Lafont.

Biography

Robèrt Lafont was professor

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

at the Paul-Valéry University of

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

. A professional linguist, he was a

polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

, novelist, poet, playwright, essayist and a

medievalist The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. A versatile writer, Lafont wrote nearly a hundred books in Occitan, French, Catalan and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

. The wide scope of themes he explores includes the history of literature and of society, linguistics and

sociolinguistics Sociolinguistics is the descriptive, scientific study of how language is shaped by, and used differently within, any given society. The field largely looks at how a language changes between distinct social groups, as well as how it varies unde ...

and the social-economic imbalance in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. In the essays he wrote in French, Robèrt Lafont tackles the problems encountered not only by the people of Occitania but also the various minorities struggling for official recognition under French rule, such as

Bretons The Bretons (; or , ) are an ethnic group native to Brittany, north-western France. Originally, the demonym designated groups of Common Brittonic, Brittonic speakers who emigrated from Dumnonia, southwestern Great Britain, particularly Cornwal ...

Catalans Catalans ( Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; ; ; or ) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizens of Catalonia, a nationality and autono ...

Basques The Basques ( or ; ; ; ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a Basque culture, common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous peoples, ...

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

ns or Alsatians among others. Lafont is a key figure in the analysis of '' internal colonialism'', as far as '' lo País'' is concerned. On the other hand, the Occitan side of his works stands out as a revolutionary change in the literary production in '' la lenga nòstra'', inasmuch as it completely breaks off with the more usual tradition of folklore and tales. Robèrt Lafont founded the Occitan Committee for Study and Action (COEA) and ran a number of reviews, most notably ''L'Ase negre'' (''The Black Donkey'') in 1946 and ''Viure'' (''Live'') in 1962. He also produced and sponsored social theatre. He became the chairman of the

Institut d'Estudis Occitans The Institut d'Estudis Occitans (English: Occitan Studies Institute or Institute for Occitan Studies; ), or IEO, is a cultural association that was founded in 1945 by a group of Occitan and French writers including Jean Cassou, Tristan Tzara, Is ...

but left in 1981 following internal disagreements with Ives Roqueta in particular. In 1974, he claimed to be interested in running for French presidency but never managed to meet the legal prerequisites.

Works

Poetry

* ''Dire'' (1945–53) (''Tell'') * ''La Loba'' (1959) (''The She-Wolf'') * ''Poèma a l'estrangièra'' (1960) (''A Poem to the Foreign Girl'') * ''Aire liure'' (1974) (''Open Air'') * ''Lausa per un solèu mòrt e reviudat'' (1984) (''A Slate for a Dead Sun Born Again'')

Prose

* ''Vida de Joan Larsinhac'' (''The Life of Joan Larsinhac'') (1951

* ''L'Icòna dins l'iscla'' (1971) (''The Icon on the Island''

* ''Lo Decameronet'' (1983) (''The Little Decameron''

* ''La Fèsta'' (1983–84), (''The Party'') ''Lo Cavalier de març'' (''The March Rider'') & ''Lo Libre de Joan'' (''The Book of Joan'') * ''L'Enclaus'' (1992) (''The Enclosure'')

Drama

* ''Dòm Esquichòte (1973) (

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

) * ''Lei Cascavèus'' (1977) (''The Male Genitals'') * ''La Croisade'' (1983) (''The Crusade''), in French

Essays in French

* ''La Révolution régionaliste'' (''The Regionalist Revolution'') (1967) * ''Sur la France'' (''On

'') (1968) * ''Décoloniser en France'' (''Decolonizing France'') (1971) * ''Le Travail et la langue'' (''Working & the Language'') (1978) * ''Nous, Peuple Européen'' (''We European People'') (1991) * ''La Nation, l'État, les Régions'' (''Nation, State & Regions'') (1993)

External links

*
Jorn Publishing House
*
Video of an Interview
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lafont, Robert 1923 births 2009 deaths Occitan-language writers Occitan linguists 20th-century French non-fiction writers People from Nîmes 20th-century French male writers