Émile Chartier

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Émile Chartier, bust of Takada Hiroatsu

Émile-Auguste Chartier (born March 3, 1868 in Mortagne-au-Perche , Normandy ; † June 2, 1951 in Le Vésinet near Paris ) was a French thinker and writer who was highly regarded as the “moral voice” of France between the two world wars enjoyed. With his column form Propos , he shaped a new literary genre . Usually he is known under his pseudonym Alain , which he initially chose because of the popular nature of this first name, but also as a tribute to his Norman compatriot Alain Chartier .

life and work

After his training at the Paris elite university École normal supérieure , the son of a veterinarian worked as a teacher in Pontivy , Lorient , Rouen and then in Paris until 1902 . From around 1903 he published in various daily newspapers under the pseudonym Alain. Around 1906 he developed his own literary genre with the Propos . Although the name comes from a predecessor of the column, it was Alain who made it educational. It refers to short, usually pointed, always appropriately formulated articles, which take up everyday processes of various kinds in order to warm the reader on a philosophical level to today's so-called "positive thinking". These articles initially appeared day after day in La Dépêche de Rouen et de Normandie .

Always written from the language, not based on a concept, and never corrected (in the first series of 3000 pieces), they quickly found great approval. The best of them have been combined into thematic anthologies over the years, such as The Duty to Be Happy . In addition, the modest "professor" exercised great influence as a philosophy teacher, especially from 1909 at the Paris high school Henri IV . His students included Michel Alexandre , Raymond Aron , Pierre Bost , Georges Canguilhem , Julien Gracq , Henri Massis , André Maurois , Jean Prévost , Maurice Schumann and Simone Weil .

Alain upholds free will - also and especially towards our passions, which are known to lurk in dull regions. Brooding doesn't help; you have to want something and decide which steps to take. But he's not a rebel, as Henner Reitmeier emphasized in a short portrait. “Why should he rebel against the situation when a virtue can always be made out of necessity? Why murder a tyrant who can never, ever make me love him? Why swing the pickaxe in a sweaty sweat or order a bulldozer for a lot of money when it is primarily my will that moves the mountains? Alain played the violin and loved the locksmith's shop . You can also work on your happiness in a prison cell or in your body poisoned with heavy metals. It is therefore not surprising to see Alain both as an Epicurean / Stoic and as an admirer of arch-reactionary technocrats like Plato , Descartes , Comte , Goethe . "

The pacifist goes to war

Alain always saw himself as a determined pacifist . Nonetheless, from 1914 onwards he did military service in order to fulfill his civic duties without becoming a war advocate. He wanted to make his own impression. He refused promotion to officer, so that he took part in the entire campaign as a gunner in the heavy artillery. He returned from the First World War in 1917 with a serious injury . His polemic Mars or the Psychology of War was published in 1921. For him, the war arises less from economic or political conflicts of interest (which could ultimately also be settled through negotiation, argues Alain), more from the conflict of opinion. The decisive boycott of the war lies in blocking oneself against the great "persuasion artists", that is, in believing neither in them nor in the alleged inevitability of the war.

In political terms, Alain supported the French radicals , that is, the republican-minded liberals. He wants the obedient, but by no means the respectful citizen, as Alain's student André Maurois emphasizes. In addition to the above-mentioned thinkers and his teacher Jules Lagneau , whom he admired very much, Alain was very fond of Michel de Montaigne , who used to keep his own judgment even when it was not opportune. In fact, Alain campaigned “since the Dreyfus affair and after the First World War to a particularly high degree for the left”. In 1927, like many other critical cultural workers (including Louis Guilloux and the young Sartre ) , he signed the petition published by Europa magazine against the law governing the general organization of the nation in times of war .

In 1934 he was one of the most prominent co-founders of the Comiteé de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes (CVIA) alongside the ethnologist Paul Rivet (socialist) and the physicist Paul Langevin (communist ) . During the Vichy regime , however, he held back with subversive activities, which among other things earned him the resentment of his admirer Simone de Beauvoir .

Alain suffered from painful rheumatoid arthritis long before his retirement (1933). Soon, in his little house in Le Vésinet, he was "only able to move with difficulty from the bed to the table where he was writing or reading." In 1936, he suffered a stroke. He endured all of this with “stoic composure”, writes Maurois. In 1945 - as an old man - he married Gabrielle Landormy, who had been his companion for years, probably above all a listener and servant.

According to Maurois, Alain had turned down all public honors offered to him throughout his life, including a chair at the Sorbonne. "Three weeks before his death, however, he received an unexpected award: he received the Grand Prix National des Lettres , which was awarded for the first time in 1951." His burial in the famous Parisian cemetery Père Lachaise (Division 94) was simple and moving. Today schools in Rouen and Alençon are named Émile Chartiers.

reception

Praise of sleep

In 1927 Alain published a weighty work with the not very tempting title Age and View , translated by Lonja and Jaques Stehelin-Holzing. For another Alain translator, Julius Schmidt from Weimar, it is “a physiology of human life based on a precise examination of the manifestations”. What the French thinker is really interested in is already evident from the titles of the nine “books” into which he has divided this almost 500-page work: Sleep / Dreams / Fairy tales / Games / Signs / Love / The professions / The cult / The natures. The subjects of sleep and dreams should not hide Alain's strong reservations about Freud and his teaching on the unconscious.

The gods

Another extensive work appears in 1933 under the title The Gods . Alain was neither a Christian nor an atheist. He respects religious sentiment because he considers it natural in that it corresponds to the experience of every child. “It begins with the scream,” he notes in the fourth chapter of this book, “which is the only power for the child, namely one that works remotely without contact. Then comes the persuasion and it is the school of will. Recognize the giant, smile at him, call him by name, that is the way to gain something ... ”Alain sees religions,“ not dissimilar to CG Jung , as levels of being and consciousness ”of human beings. In this book, too, Alain's “aperçu-like elegant” language, “which looks for easily memorable formulations that often look like aphorisms ”, serves his educational purpose. Basically, Alain’s great treatises are always propose mosaics. Whereby “memorable” does not mean “clear”, as Henner Reitmeier thinks. In Alain's writings, we often have to “grope through a whispering darkness”. In terms of age and point of view, he himself admits that “a lot has to be guessed at works of art; and what offers the most resistance is not the worst. That's how he saw it in relation to the state. According to his student André Maurois, he avoided forging in order not to pass chants off for thoughts - he preferred to zinc. "

Helmut Kindler expresses himself similarly in his lexicon . Alain had sometimes criticized Alain for the allusive character of his proposal: they always alluded to all sorts of significant connections, but did not really have to prove their existence “because of the short programmatic nature of the proposal”. Winfried Engler even suspects that Alain only wanted to educate "to imitate his own intellectual attitude, which deals with minimal life issues with considerable effort" - and not to "think independently". Because of his “extremely stylish” lecture, the ideological core of this stance - for example, reasons of state , not to say: opportunism - was usually hidden from the audience. "Overarching questions, especially about the effects of the economy, never occurred to him."

Works

Letters
Single issues
  • Petit Traité d'Harmonie pour les aveugles . Institut Alain, Le Vésinet 2008, ISBN 2-90-5753-28-5 (reprint of the Paris 1918 edition).
  • Système des Beaux-arts . Gallimard, Paris 1983, ISBN 2-07-025424-0 (reprint of the Paris 1920 edition).
  • Mars or The Psychology of War ("Mars ou la guerre jugée"). Fischer-Taschenbuchverlag, Frankfurt / Main 1985, ISBN 3-596-25850-2 .
  • Souvenirs concernant Jules Lagneau . 11th edition Gallimard, Paris 1950.
  • The duty to be happy (“Propos sur le bonheur”, 1925). Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / m. 2005, ISBN 978-3-518-06821-2 .
  • Sentiments, passions et signs . New edition Gallimard, Paris 1950.
  • Le citoyen contre les pouvoirs . Slatkine, Geneva 1979 (reprint of the Paris 1926 edition).
  • About love, about work, about play (“Les idées et les âges”, 1927). Verlag Rauch, Düsseldorf 1962 (former title: Age and Intuition ).
  • La visite au musicien . Gallimard, Paris 1961 (reprint of the Paris 1927 edition).
  • Entretiens au bord de la mer . Gallimard, Paris 1998, ISBN 2-07-040609-1 (reprint of the Paris 1931 edition).
  • Idées. Plato , Descartes , Hegel . Paris 1932.
  • About education (“Propos sur l'éducation”, 1932). Schöningh, Paderborn 1963.
  • How people came to their gods (“Les Dieux”, 1933). Szczesny, Munich 1965.
  • Stendhal . Rieder, Paris 1935 (Maîtres des littératures; 20).
  • Souvenirs de guerre . Hartmann, Paris 1937.
  • Entretiens chez le sculpteur . Gallimard, Paris 1969 (reprint of the Paris 1937 edition).
  • Les Saisons de l'esprit . Gallimard, Paris 1981 (reprint of the Paris 1937 edition).
  • Thoughts on religion (“Propos sur la religion”, 1938). Schulte-Bulmke, Frankfurt / M. 1948.
  • Eléments de philosophie (Collection Idées; 13). Gallimard, Paris 1977 (reprint of the Paris 1940 edition).
  • Vigiles de l'esprit . Gallimard, Paris 1962 (reprint of the Paris 1942 edition).
  • Préliminaires à la mythology . Hartmann, Paris 1951 (reprint of the Paris 1943 edition).
  • Rules of the game of art (“Préliminaires à l'ésthetique”). Fischer-Taschenbuchverlag, Frankfurt / M. 1985, ISBN 3-596-27345-5 .
Some Propos issues
  • Propos sur l'esthétique . PUF, Paris 1959 (reprint of the Paris 1923 edition).
  • Propos sur les pouvoirs. Eléments d'une doctrine radicale . Gallimard, Paris 1985, ISBN 2-07-032278-5 (reprint of the Paris 1925 edition).
  • Propos de litterature . Hartmann, Paris 1934.
  • Propos de politique . Rieder, Paris 1934.
  • Propos d'économique . Gallimard, Paris 1956 (reprint of the Paris 1935 edition).
  • Suggestions and opinions on life (“Le cent-un de propos”). White Books Publishing House, Leipzig 1914.
  • Happiness is generous ("60 propos"). Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 1987, ISBN 3-518-01949-X .
  • 81 chapters on the human spirit and passions (“Quatre-vingt-un Chapîtres sur l'esprit et les passions”, 1917). Junius, Hamburg 1991, ISBN 3-88506-420-0 (Junius collection; 20).
  • The art of recognizing yourself and others ("55 propos et un essai"). New edition Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 2002, ISBN 3-518-22067-5 .
  • In the house of the people. Considerations . New edition Insel-Verlag, Frankfurt / M. 2002, ISBN 3-458-33622-2 .
  • Observing oneself means changing. Considerations . Insel-Verlag, Frankfurt / M. 1994, ISBN 3-458-33259-6 .
Work edition
  • Oeuvres (Bibliothèque de la Pléiade; 116, 129, 142). Gallimard, Paris 1960/62 (3 vol.).

literature

Literature (German)

  • Gerhard Hess : Alain in the line of French moralists. A Contribution to Understanding Younger France (Romance Studies; 30). Kraus Reprint, Nendeln / Liechtenstein 1967 (reprint of the Berlin 1932 edition).
  • André Maurois: Alain . In: Ders .: From Proust to Camus. 12 author portraits (“De Proust à Camus”, 1963). Droemer Knaur, Munich 1964.

Literature (french)

  • Paul-Laurent Assoun et al. a. (Ed.): Alain - Freud . Essai pour mesurer un déplacement anthropologique . Institut Alain, Le Vésinet 1992.
  • Georges Bénézé: Généreux Alain . PUF, Paris 1962.
  • Emmanuel Blondel (Ed.): Alain et Rouen 1900-1914 . éditions PTC, Rouen 2007, ISBN 978-2-35038-025-4 .
  • André Carnec: Alain and JJ Rousseau. Contribution à la philosophy de l'éducation . Pensée Universelle, Paris 1977.
  • Suzsanne Dewit: Alain. Essay de bibliographie; 1893 - juin 1961 . Commission belge de bibliographie, Brussels 1961.
  • Didier Gil: Alain, la République ou le matérialisme . Klincksieck, Paris 1990, ISBN 2-86563-257-1 .
  • Henri Giraud: La morale d'Alain . Édition Privat, Toulouse 1970 (also dissertation, University of Dijon 1969).
  • Bernard Halda: Alain (Classiques du XXe siècle; 70). Paris 1965.
  • Gilbert Kahn (Ed.): Alain. Philosophers de la culture et théoricien de la democratie . Les amis d'Alain, Paris 1976 (Colloque de Cérisy-la-Salle).
  • Thierry Leterre: Alain, le premier intellectuel . Stock, Paris 2006, ISBN 2-234-05820-1 .
  • André Maurois : Alain . Gallimard, Paris 1963 (reprint of the Paris 1949 edition).
  • Jean Miquel: Les “Propos” d'Alain . Éditions de la Pensée modern, Paris 1967.
  • Henri Mondor : Alain . 14th edition Gallimard, Paris 1953.
  • Georges Pascal: L'idée de philosophie chez Alain . Bordas, Paris 1970 (also dissertation, Paris 1970).
  • Georges Pascal: Pour connaître la pensée d'Alain . 3rd ed. Bordas, Paris 1957.
  • Ollivier Pourriol: Alain, le grand voleur ( Le Livre de Poche ; 4400). Librairie GF, Paris 2006, ISBN 978-2-253-08380-1 .
  • Olivier Reboul: L'élan humain ou l'education selon Alain (L'enfant; 16). Vrin, Paris 1979.
  • Olivier Reboul: L'homme et ses passions d'après Alain . PUF, Paris 1968 (2 vol.).
  1. La passion . 1968.
  2. La sagesse . 1968.
  • Judith Robinson: Alain, lecteur de Balzac et de Stendhal . Corti, Paris 1958.
  • André Sernin: Alain. Un Sage dans la cité; 1878-1951 . Laffont, Paris 1985, ISBN 2-221-01307-7 .
  • Sergio Solmi: Il pensiero de Alain . Adelphie, Milan 2005, ISBN 88-459-1976-5 (reprint of the Milan 1930 edition).

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Translator Albrecht Fabri in the epilogue to Alain's duty to be happy , Frankfurt / Main edition (Suhrkamp) 1979
  2. ↑ This term, which can hardly be translated, certainly alludes to the idiom à propos and the Latin propositum - to put something in front of you in order to examine it in detail.
  3. ↑ a b c d e Kindler's New Literature Lexicon , Munich 1988 edition
  4. ↑ a b Henner Reitmeier: The Great Stockraus. Ein Relaxikon , Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-926880-20-8 , page 7
  5. ↑ a b c d André Maurois: Alain. In: From Proust to Camus , original 1963, Munich edition 1964, pages 79–98
  6. ↑ "... and the man we valued most, Alain", she notes after the liberation from fascism, "had made himself impossible: we had to provide for relief." (Simone de Beauvoir: The course of things , original 1963, Hamburg 1970 edition, page 12)
  7. ↑ Julius Schmidt: Alain. In: Neuphilologische Zeitschrift , issue 4/1949, pages 25–32
  8. ↑ Some explanations in English are given by Allen G. Wood , accessed on June 9, 2011
  9. ^ The gods , original 1933, Munich 1965 edition How people came to their gods , page 41
  10. ↑ Winfried Engler : Lexicon of French Literature (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 388). 2nd, improved and enlarged edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-520-38802-2 .

Web links

Wikiquote: Émile Chartier  - Quotes
personal data
SURNAME Chartier, Émile
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Alain (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French philosopher, writer and journalist
DATE OF BIRTH March 3, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH Mortagne-au-Perche
DATE OF DEATH June 2, 1951
Place of death Le Vésinet