Unanimism (French: ''Unanimisme'') is a movement in

French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than Fr ...

begun by

Jules Romains Jules Romains (born Louis Henri Jean Farigoule; 26 August 1885 – 14 August 1972) was a French poet and writer and the founder of the Unanimism literary movement. His works include the play '' Knock ou le Triomphe de la médecine'', and a cycle ...

in the early 1900s, with his first book, ''La vie unanime'', published in 1904. It can be dated to a sudden conception Romains had in October 1903 of a 'communal spirit' or joint 'psychic life' in groups of people. It is based on ideas of

collective consciousness Collective consciousness, collective conscience, or collective conscious (french: conscience collective) is the set of shared beliefs, ideas, and moral attitudes which operate as a unifying force within society.''Collins Dictionary of Sociolog ...

and collective emotion, and on crowd behavior, where members of a group do or think something simultaneously. Unanimism is about an artistic merger with these group phenomena, which transcend the consciousness of the individual. Harry Bergholz writes that "grossly generalizing, one might describe its aim as the art of the psychology of human groups". Because of this collective emphasis, common themes of unanimist writing include politics and friendship. The primary unanimist work is Romains's multi-volume cycle of novels ''

Les Hommes de bonne volonté ''Les Hommes de bonne volonté'' () is an Epic (genre), epic roman-fleuve by France, French writer Jules Romains, published in 27 Volume (bibliography), volumes between 1932 and 1946. It has been classified both as a novel cycle and a novel and, at ...

(Men of Good Will)'', the ideas in which can be traced back to ''La vie unanime''. The narrative jumps from character to character, rather than following one at a time, in an effort to reveal the nature and experience of the group as a whole. Other writers sometimes called ''unanimistes''—many associated with the

Abbaye de Créteil L'Abbaye de Créteil or Abbaye group (french: Le Groupe de l'Abbaye) was a utopian artistic and literary community founded during the month of October, 1906. It was named after the Créteil Abbey, as most gatherings took place in that suburb of P ...

—include

Georges Chennevière Georges Chennevière was the pen name of Leon Debille (22 May 1884 in Paris – 21 August 1927 in Paris) a French poet and playwright. Biography Georges Chennevière studied at the Lycée Condorcet in Paris, where he met Jules Romains with whom h ...

, Henri-Martin Barzun,

Alexandre Mercereau Alexandre Mercereau (22 October 1884, in Paris – 1945) was a French symbolist poet and critic associated with Unanimism and the Abbaye de Créteil. He founded the Villa Médicis Libre, which helped impoverished artists and operated as charitable ...

Pierre Jean Jouve Pierre Jean Jouve (11 October 1887 – 8 January 1976) was a French writer, novelist and poet.Michael Sheringham, 'Jouve, Pierre-Jean', ''Oxford Companion to French Literature''Onlineat answers.com He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Litera ...

Georges Duhamel Georges Duhamel (; ; 30 June 1884 – 13 April 1966) was a French author, born in Paris. Duhamel trained as a doctor, and during World War I was attached to the French Army. In 1920, he published '' Confession de minuit'', the first of a serie ...

Luc Durtain André Robert Gustave Nepveu (March 10, 1881, Paris – January 29, 1959), known under his pseudonym Luc Durtain, was a French poet, novelist, journalist, playwright and a physician by profession. Life Durtain's talents were discovered by Jules ...

Charles Vildrac Charles Vildrac (November 22, 1882 – June 25, 1971), born "Charles Messager",''1971 Britannica Book of the Year'' (for events of 1971), "Obituaries 1971" article, page 532, "Vildrac, Charles" item was a French libertarian playwright, poet a ...

and René Arcos.

References

Further reading