Hervé Bazin (; 17 April 191117 February 1996) was a French writer, whose best-known novels covered semi-autobiographical topics of

teenage rebellion Teenage rebellion is a part of social development in adolescents in order for them to develop an identity independent from their parents or family and a capacity for independent decision-making. They may experiment with different roles, behaviors ...

and

dysfunctional families A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often child neglect or abuse and sometimes even all of the above on the part of individual parents occur continuously and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such ...

Biography

Bazin, born Jean-Pierre Hervé-Bazin 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 ...

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 ...

, France came from a high-bourgeois Catholic family. He was the great-nephew of the writer

René Bazin René François Nicolas Marie Bazin (26 December 1853 – 20 July 1932) was a French novelist. Biography Born at Angers, he studied law in Paris, and on his return to Angers became Professor of Law in the Catholic university. In 1876, Bazin marr ...

. His father was a magistrate who with his wife had been sent to China to take up a diplomatic post. Hervé and his brother were brought up in the ancestral home, the chateau of Le Patys, by their grandmother. When she died, his mother returned from

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

with reluctance. She sent Bazin to a variety of clerical establishments and then to the military academy, the Prytanée de la Fleche, from which he was expelled as incompetent. He opposed his authoritarian mother, ran away several times during his teens, and refused Catholic teachings. At the age of 20 he broke up with his family. Leaving his home for Paris, he took a degree in literature at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

. During fifteen years of writing poetry with little success, Bazin worked in many small jobs. Notable work of this period included founding a poetic review, ''la Coquille'' (''The Shell'', only eight volumes), named after the medieval poet-beggars, the ''coquillards'' of Villon's days, and "À la poursuite d'Iris" in 1948. He won the 1947

Prix Apollinaire The prix Guillaume Apollinaire is a French poetry prize first awarded in 1941. It was named in honour of French writer Guillaume Apollinaire. It annually recognizes a collection of poems for its originality and modernity. Members of the jury The ...

for ''Jour'', his first book of poetry. Following the advice of

Paul Valéry Ambroise Paul Toussaint Jules Valéry (; 30 October 1871 – 20 July 1945) was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. In addition to his poetry and fiction (drama and dialogues), his interests included aphorisms on art, history, letters, mus ...

, he left poetry to focus on prose. Childhood conflicts with his mother inspired the novel ''

Viper in the Fist ''Viper in the Fist'' (French language, French ''Vipère au Poing'') is a novel by Hervé Bazin. It is the first and best known of a trilogy, the rest being ''La Mort du Petit Cheval'' and ''Le Cri de la Chouette''. These three novels are large ...

'' in 1948. The novel portrays the hatred between a mother nicknamed Folcoche (from the French "folle" (crazy) and "cochonne" (pig) and her children, including the narrator Jean Rezeau, called "Brasse-bouillon". Maurice Nadeau described the novel as "

Atrides In Greek mythology, Atreus ( , ; from ἀ-, "no" and τρέω, "tremble", "fearless", gr, Ἀτρεύς ) was a king of Mycenae in the Peloponnese, the son of Pelops and Hippodamia, and the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. Collectively, ...

in duffle-coat" . The book was immensely successful in postwar France, and was followed by ''La Mort du Petit Cheval'' and ''Le Cri de la Chouette'' to create a trilogy. In other works, Bazin returned to the theme of the family. In addition to novels, he also wrote short stories and essays. Bazin became 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 ...

in 1958, replacing

Francis Carco Francis Carco (born François Carcopino-Tusoli) (1886–1958) was a French author, born at Nouméa, New Caledonia. He was a poet, belonging to the ''Fantaisiste'' school, a novelist, a dramatist, and art critic for ''L'Homme libre'' and ''Gil Blas ...

. He became its president in 1973, and was replaced, after his death, by

Jorge Semprún Jorge Semprún Maura (; 10 December 1923 – 7 June 2011) was a Spanish writer and politician who lived in France most of his life and wrote primarily in French. From 1953 to 1962, during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, Semprún lived clande ...

, while the presidency was given to

François Nourissier François Nourissier (Paris, 18 May 1927–Paris, 15 February 2011) was a French journalist and writer. Nourissier was the secretary-general of Éditions Denoël (1952–1955), editor of the review ''La Parisienne'' (1955–1958), and an adviser ...

. Politically, Bazin belonged to the '' Mouvement de la Paix'', in relation with 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 ...

of which he was a sympathizer. He obtained 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 ...

in 1979. This made

Roger Peyrefitte Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

say jokingly: "Hervé Bazin had two prizes which fitted each other: the Lenin Peace Prize and the black humour prize." In 1995, he gave his manuscripts and letters to the record office of the town of Nancy, which already owned the archives of the

Goncourt The Goncourt brothers (, , ) were Edmond de Goncourt (1822–1896) and Jules de Goncourt (1830–1870), both French naturalism writers who, as collaborative sibling authors, were inseparable in life. Background Edmond and Jules were born to m ...

brothers, who originated from the town. Bazin died in

. Due to a juridical imbroglio, the six children of his first marriages obtained, against the will of his last spouse and last son, the auction of the archive at the

Hôtel Drouot Hôtel Drouot is a large auction house in Paris, known for fine art, antiques, and antiquities. It consists of 16 halls hosting 70 independent auction firms, which operate under the umbrella grouping of Drouot. The firm's main location, called D ...

on 29 October 2004. With help from the district's authorities, the university library of Angers managed to preempt almost the whole of the estate, meaning 22 manuscripts and about 9000 letters which were made available to the research community, as the author wished.

Orthography and punctuation

In his 1966 essay ''Plumons l’Oiseau'' (“Let's pluck the bird”): Bazin proposed a nearly

phonemic orthography A phonemic orthography is an orthography (system for writing a language) in which the graphemes (written symbols) correspond to the phonemes (significant spoken sounds) of the language. Natural languages rarely have perfectly phonemic orthographi ...

for the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

called “l’ortografiǝ lojikǝ”(logical orthography). : He also proposed six new “points d’intonation” (

punctuation mark Punctuation (or sometimes interpunction) is the use of spacing, conventional signs (called punctuation marks), and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding and correct reading of written text, whether read silently or aloud. A ...

s): Example:

Published works

* '' Jour'', poems, 1947 * ''A la poursuite d'Iris'', poems, 1948 * ''

Vipère au poing ''Viper in the Fist'' ( French ''Vipère au Poing'') is a novel by Hervé Bazin. It is the first and best known of a trilogy, the rest being ''La Mort du Petit Cheval'' and ''Le Cri de la Chouette''. These three novels are largely autobiographi ...

'' (''

''), autobiographical novel, 1948 * ''

La Tête contre les murs ''Head Against the Wall'' (french: La Tête contre les murs) is a 1959 French drama film directed by Georges Franju which stars Pierre Brasseur, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Mocky, Anouk Aimée, and Charles Aznavour. Called ''The Keepers'' on its ...

'', novel, publié en 1949 * '' La Mort du petit cheval'', autobiographical novel, 1950 Sequel to "Vipère au poing" * ''Le bureau des mariages'', short stories, 1951 * '' Lève-toi et marche'', novel, 1952 * '' Humeurs'', poems, 1953 * ''Contre vents et marées'', 1953 * ''L'Huile sur le feu'', novel, 1954 * ''Qui j'ose aimer'', novel, 1956 * ''La fin des asiles'', essay, 1959 * '' Au nom du fils'', novel, 1960 * '' Chapeau bas'', short stories, 1963 : ''Chapeau bas, Bouc émissaire, La hotte, M. le conseiller du coeur, Souvenirs d'un amnésique, Mansarde à louer, La Clope'' * ''Plumons l'oiseau'', essay, 1966 * '' Le Matrimoine'', novel, 1967 * ''Les bienheureux de La Désolation'', account, 1970 The story of the total population evacuation of the island of

Tristan da Cunha Tristan da Cunha (), colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying approximately from Cape Town in South Africa, from Saint Helena ...

(also known as "La Désolation") following the 1961 volcanic eruption, their refusal of the consumerist society of England, where they had been resettled, and their iron will to come back to their island and repopulate one of the hardest places to live in the world, and live according to their own ideal. Published in English as ''Tristan: A Novel''. * '' Le Cri de la chouette'', autobiographical novel, 1972A sequel to "Vipère au poing" and "La mort du petit cheval" * ''Madame Ex'', novel, 1975 * ''Traits'', 1976 * ''Ce que je crois'', 1977 * ''Un feu dévore un autre feu'', 1978 * ''L'Église verte'', novel, 1981 * ''Qui est le prince?'', 1981 * ''Abécédaire'', 1984 * ''Le Démon de minuit'', 1988 * '' L'École des pères'', novel, 1991 * ''Le grand méchant doux'', 1992 * ''Le Neuvième jour'', 1994

Notes

References

Sources

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 Hervé Bazin, in French)

External links

*
Hervé Bazin
at the library of the

University of Angers The University of Angers (french: Université d'Angers; UA) is a public university in western France, with campuses in Angers, Cholet, and Saumur. It forms part of thAngers-Le Mans University Community History The University of Angers was init ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bazin, Herve 1911 births 1996 deaths People from Angers University of Paris alumni 20th-century French poets 20th-century French male writers Lenin Peace Prize recipients 20th-century French novelists French male essayists French male poets French male novelists French male short story writers French short story writers Prix Guillaume Apollinaire winners 20th-century French essayists