René Barjavel (24 January 1911 – 24 November 1985) was a French author, journalist and critic who may have been the first to think of the
grandfather paradox in
time travel. He was born in
Nyons, a town in the
Drôme
Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019. department in southeastern France. He is best known as a
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
author, whose work often involved the fall of civilisation due to
technocratic hubris and the madness of war, but who also favoured themes emphasising the durability of love.
René Barjavel wrote several novels with these themes, such as ''
Ravage'' (translated as ''Ashes, ashes''), ''Le Grand Secret'', ''
La Nuit des temps'' (translated as ''The Ice People''), and ''
Une rose au paradis''. His writing is poetic, dreamy and sometimes philosophical. Some of his works have their roots in an empirical and poetic questioning of the
existence of God
The existence of God is a subject of debate in the philosophy of religion and theology. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God (with the same or similar arguments also generally being used when talking about the exis ...
(notably ''La Faim du tigre''). He was also interested in the environmental heritage which we leave to future generations. Whilst his works are rarely taught in French schools, his books are very popular in France.
Barjavel wrote ''Le Voyageur imprudent'' (1943), the first novel to present the famous
Grandfather paradox of time travel: ''if one goes backwards in time and kills one of their ancestors before he had children, the traveller cannot exist and therefore cannot kill the ancestor''.
Barjavel died in 1985 and was buried with his ancestors in
Tarendol (commune) cemetery, opposite
Mount Ventoux
Mont Ventoux (; ) is a mountain in the Provence region of southern France, located some northeast of Carpentras, Vaucluse. On the north side, the mountain borders the Departments of France, department of Drôme. At , it is the highest mountain ...
in
Provence. He used these place names in his books; Mount Ventoux appears as the site of the space base in ''Colomb de la lune'', for example, and Tarendol is the name of the hero in the eponymous novel.
René Barjavel Prize
The Intergalactiques science fiction festival, held annually in
Lyon
Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
, has awarded the René Barjavel Prize to the best work of science fiction addressing a chosen topic. The themes of previous prizes are:
* 2013: "The Augmented Man". Winner: ''Impress Genetic inc.'' by Élodie Boivin. Special jury mention to ''Fermata'' by Mathieu Rivero.
* 2014: “Eco-system(s)”
* 2015: "The Reckless Traveler"
* 2016: "The Galactic Empire Lies to You"
* 2018: "Open letter to living people who want to stay that way"
* 2019: "The world suddenly ends, and then the world finally had a reaction...". Winner: ''MAZUKU'' by Atmann Bonnaire
* 2020: "There is someone who lives in my head, and he does not live in this century".
Selected filmography
* ''
Women Without Names'' (1950)
* ''
Midnight Witness'' (1953)
* ''
The Return of Don Camillo'' (1953)
* ''
The Terror with Women
''The Terror with Women'' (French: ''La terreur des dames'') is a 1956 comedy film directed by Jean Boyer and starring Noël-Noël, Jacqueline Gauthier and Yves Robert.The A to Z of French Cinema p.24 It is an adaptation of the 1882 short stor ...
'' (1956)
* ''
The Case of Doctor Laurent'' (1957)
* ''
Chair de poule'' (1963)
Bibliography
Source:
* ''
Colette à la découverte de l'amour'' (1934)
* ''
Roland
Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was mil ...
, le chevalier plus fort que le lion'' (1942)
* ''
Ravage'' (1943) – translated as ''Ashes, Ashes''
* ''
Le Voyageur imprudent'' (1944) – translated as ''Future Times Three''
* ''Cinéma total'' (1944)
* ''Les enfants de l'ombre'' (1946)
* ''
Tarendol'' (1946) – translated as ''The Tragic Innocents''
* ''
Le diable l'emporte'' (1948)
* ''Journal d'un homme simple'' (1951)
* ''Colomb de la lune'' (1962)
* ''La Faim du tigre'' (1966)
* ''
La Nuit des temps'' (1968) – translated as ''The Ice People''
* ''
Les Chemins de Katmandou'' (1969)
* ''Les Années de la lune'' (1972)
* ''
Le Grand Secret'' (1973) – translated as ''The Immortals''
* ''
Les Dames à la licorne'' (1974)
* ''Le Prince blessé'' (1974)
* ''
Brigitte Bardot amie des animaux'' (1974)
* ''Les Années de la liberté'' (1975)
* ''Les Années de l'homme'' (1976)
* ''Si j'étais Dieu ...'' (1976)
* ''Les Jours du monde'' (1977)
* ''Les Fleurs, l'Amour, la Vie'' (1978)
* ''Lettre ouverte aux vivants qui veulent le rester'' (1978)
* ''
Une rose au paradis'' (1981)
* ''La Charrette bleue'' (1981)
* ''
La Tempête'' (1982)
* ''
L'Enchanteur'' (1984)
* ''La Peau de
César'' (1985)
* ''Demain le paradis'', (1986) (not completed, edited after his death)
See also
* ''
L'Étrange Désir de monsieur Bard'' (film, 1954)
* ''
Goubbiah, mon amour'' (film, 1956)
References
External links
Barjaweb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barjavel, Rene
1911 births
1985 deaths
People from Nyons
French science fiction writers
Prix des libraires winners
Prix Maison de la Presse winners
Writers from Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
20th-century French novelists
20th-century French male writers
French male novelists