Frédéric Mistral

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frédéric Mistral

Frédéric Mistral (born September 8, 1830 in Maillane ; † March 25, 1914 ibid) was a French poet and linguist who wrote his works in Provençal. In 1904 he received the Nobel Prize for Literature .

life and work

Frédéric (Provencal: Frederi) Mistral was born the son of a wealthy landowner and attended high school in Avignon. An encounter with the 12 years older poet Joseph Roumanille led him to Provencal literature. In Aix-en-Provence , Mistral studied law until 1851; he then settled in Maillane and founded the Félibrige movement in 1854 with Roumanille, Félix Gras and Théodore Aubanel , which campaigned for the revival and preservation of the Provencal language in literature.

Since 1859 he was at the head of Félibrige and became its most creative representative. In the same year he published his most important work Mirèio (maiden name Mireille), an epic verse in twelve songs. It tells of a rich farmer's daughter who fights for her love for a poor basket weaver and goes on a journey in search of divine support. This work, which bears motifs from the Joan of Arc myth , but also numerous references to Provencal village themes from past centuries, was highly praised by Alphonse de Lamartine , awarded by the Académie française and established Mistral's international reputation. Charles Gounod set it to music in 1863.

Another highlight in Mistral's work is the epic heroic epic Calendau (boy name Calendal) , which appeared in 1867 and is reminiscent of the Aeneid . Due to strong political allusions and polemics, it lags behind the debut Mirèio in literary terms .

After a stay in Paris, Mistral lived in Maillane until his death; In 1876 he married Marie Rivière.

Mistral campaigned - parallel to the nationality movement of the 19th century, which began many times - for the intellectual and cultural independence of Provence from France, which was also centralized in terms of culture and politics , and initially also for political autonomy. He fought against the prevailing cliché of backwardness and looked for points of contact with the Provencal, Mediterranean culture and tradition of antiquity . He mostly translated his epics, poems and stories into French himself , which made it easier for him to be received within the Parisian literary scene. But this also shows the continuous tension between Mistral's striving for regional emancipation and simultaneous dependence on the centralized cultural scene.

Over the course of 20 years he created Lou tresor dóu Félibrige , (the Tresor des Félibrige) a dictionary of the Provencal language , which appeared from 1879 to 1886 and also takes into account numerous Provencal dialects .

In his late work Lou Pouèmo dóu Rose (the poem of the Rhone) from 1897, very pessimistic tones are expressed, which may be due to the general apocalyptic mood at the end of the 19th century, but also Mistral's failed attempts to make the Félibrige movement a lasting success respectively. Stylistically, Lou Pouèmo dóu Rose - the "Rhonelied" - can be assigned to symbolism and decadence poetry .

In 1904 Mistral received the Nobel Prize for Literature together with José Echegaray . The reasoning stated: "With reference to the fresh originality, the ingenious and artistic in his poetry, which faithfully reflects nature and folk life of his homeland, as well as to his significant effectiveness as a Provençal philologist". Mistral was not present at the award ceremony; in his place a minister received the award. Mistral used the prize money associated with the Nobel Prize to expand the Museon Arlaten ethnographic collection in Arles , which he founded in 1896 . The rooms of the Hotel Laval-Castellane house exhibits on Provencal culture and information about Félibrige to the present day.

Frédéric Mistral died in 1914 and was buried in Maillane in the Arles arrondissement .

Frédéric Mistral's tomb in Maillane
Memorial plaque to Frédéric Mistral at the cemetery in Maillane

Works

Monument in Arles
  • La Cansoun de la Coupo (the song of the chalice, 1867, is considered the hymn of Provence)
  • Mirèio (maiden name Mireille, Versepos, 1859, German Mireia , 1880)
  • Calendau (boy's name Calendal, epic, 1867, German 1909)
  • Lis isclo d'or (the gold islands, poems and stories, 1875, German songs and stories, 1910)
  • La Raço Latino (The Romance Race, Poems, 1879)
  • Lou tresor dóu Félibrige (the Tresor des Félibrige, Dictionary of the New Provencal Language, 1879–1886)
  • Nerto (epic, 1884, German 1891)
  • La rèino Jano (The Queen Jana, drama, 1890)
  • Lou Pouèmo dóu Rose (The Poem of the Rhone, Poems, 1897)
  • Moun espelido, remòri e raconte ("(My blossoming,) memories and stories", 1906, German 1908)
  • Discours e dicho (speeches and things said, prose, 1906)
  • La genèsi, traducho en prouvençau (the Genesis, translated in Provençal, 1910)
  • Lis Oulivado (the olive purees, poems, 1912)
  • Prose d'almanach (prose as almanac, posthumously, 1926, 1927–1930)

literature

  • Richard Aldington : Introduction to Mistral . University Press, Carbondale, Ill. 1960.
  • Mario Chini : Federico Mistral (Profili; 39). Bietti, Milan 1939.
  • Ralf Nestmeyer : French poets and their homes . Insel-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2005. ISBN 3-458-34793-3 . In it the chapter The Last Troubadour. Frederic Mistral in Mailiane . P. 239ff.

Web links

Commons : Frédéric Mistral  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ knerger.de: The grave of Frédéric Mistral
personal data
SURNAME Mistral, Frédéric
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mistral, Frederi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French poet and linguist, Nobel laureate in literature
DATE OF BIRTH September 8, 1830
PLACE OF BIRTH Maillane
DATE OF DEATH March 25, 1914
Place of death Maillane