Alexandre Vialatte - SpeedyLook encyclopedia

Biography

Installed first once at Ambert (Puy-de-Dôme) with its family in 1915, it meets in 1916 the Paul brothers and Henri Pourrat, to which will bind a long friendship, especially with the last. This friendship, punctuated of many hiking in the mounts of the Livradois and the Drill, and of an abundant correspondence, will be a little of “subsidiary” nature.

German-speaking, it is of 1922 with 1928 sub-editor of the Rhenish Review in Germany, in the zone occupied by the French forces. It discovers there the work of Franz Kafka, which it will translate.

In 1938, he is French professor to the college free-Egyptian of Héliopolis, close to the Cairo.

It engages in 1939 and is made prisoner in Alsace in June 1940, which causes in him a psychological collapse which leads it to the psychiatric hospital of Saint-Ylie, close to Dole. After having tried to commit suicide there, it leaves there in 1941. This experiment will be magnificiently reported in the Faithful Shepherd , novel of the soldier who sinks in the madness by walk and will be saved while thinking of the loved woman.

In 1945, it is again corresponding in Germany, where it gives an account of the Procès of Nuremberg.

In 1948, it turns over to Ambert, then settles with Paris (opposite the Prison of Health). He writes, of 1952 until his death, the 898 Chroniques published (except 10) in the daily newspaper auvergnat the Mountain . Its jokes testify to its taste of the nonsense:

“I am a manifestly ignored writer. ”
“Pascal liked Auvergne so much that it was born in Clermont-Ferrand. ”
“In Auvergne, there are more rises than of descents. ”
“the man is not that dust… is to say the importance of the plumeau! ”

It in addition finished the majority of the articles which it wrote by the sentence: And thus Allah is large , without any connection with the subject of the article, but testifying perfectly to its particular humor and anticonventionnel.

Works

Battling the dark one, or the perilous Moult (1928). Republication: Gallimard, coll the Imaginary one, 1982.
Badonce and the Creatures (1937). Republication: Julliard, 2003.
the Faithful Shepherd (1942). Republication: Gallimard, coll the Imaginary one, 2000.
Fruits of Congo (1951). Republication: Gallimard, coll the Imaginary one, 1994.
the Novel of the twelve (collective work, 1957)
red Fluid (1983)
the House of the player of flute (1986)
the Inn of Jerusalem (1986)
the Lady of the Job (1987)
the House of Mr. Inhaber (1989)
Bananas of Konigsbetg Julliard, 1991
Salome Beautiful Letters, 1992
Camille and the Great men Beautiful Letters, 1994
the Lament of the children frivolous the Dilettante, 1999
the Lovers of Subdued Hari the Dilettante, 2005
Fred and Bérénice the Rock, 2007

Without counting a test, 13 collections of chronicles (in addition to the Chronic of the Mountain ), 2 collections of poetry, several volumes of correspondence (with Jean Paulhan and Henri Pourrat, Jean Dubuffet in particular), the translation in French of 9 works of Franz Kafka and 19 other works of various authors, the illustrated chronicles. He was the first translator of Kafka of French German. It is not impossible that part of the “universe kafkaïen” such as included/understood the French was influenced by humor of the translator, and in particular its very personal direction of the absurdity, who showed through inevitably in his translations.

External bonds

Association of the friends of Alexandre Vialatte
Exposure and spectacle starting from the work of Alexandre Vialatte by the Company of the great weeding

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