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MODERN PROVENCAL LITERATURE
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See also:MODERN PROVENCAL LITERATURE 1—LiteratUre in the See also:south
of See also:France never died out entirely. Indeed, we have a See also:link which, though too much importance may easily be attached to it, yet undoubtedly connects the products of the troubadours with the Provencal See also:poetry of the See also:present See also:day. The See also:Academy of See also:Toulouse, founded in 1324, was flourishing in the 14th See also:century, and, after many vicissitudes, is flourishing still. [The poets crowned by this See also:body between 1324 and 1498 stand in the same relation to the troubadours as the See also:Meistersinger do to the Minnesdnger: See also:academic correctness takes the See also:place of See also:inspiration. The institution flourished, even to the extent of establishing branches in See also:Catalonia and See also:Majorca; and in 1484, when its prosperity was threatened, a semi-fabulous See also:person, Clemence Isaure, is said to have brought about a revival by instituting fresh prizes. The See also:town of Toulouse never ceased to See also:supply funds
'In accordance with See also:general usage, we are. employing the See also:tern Provencal for the whole of the south of France, See also:save where See also:special See also:reservation is made.
of some See also:kind. In 1513 See also:French poems were first admitted in the competitions, and under See also: In 1539 See also:Francois I. forbade the use of Provencal in See also:official documents—a fact that is worthy of See also:note only as being significant in itself, not as an important See also:factor in the decadence of Provencal letters. On the contrary, just about this See also:time there are signs of a revival. In 1565 the Gascon, Pey de Garros, translated the See also:Psalms into his See also:dialect, and two years later published a See also:volume of poems. His love for his native tongue is genuine, and his command over it considerable; he deplores its neglect, and urges others to follow his example. See also:Auger See also:Gaillard (c. 1530-1595) does infinitely less See also:credit to his See also:province: the popularity of his See also:light pieces was probably due to their See also:obscenity. More in the spirit of Garros is the charming trilingual Salut composed by the famous du Bartas in See also:honour of a visit of See also:Marguerite de See also:Valois to See also:Nerac (1579): three See also:nymphs dispute as to whether she should be welcomed in Latin, French, or Gascon, and the last, of course, wins the day. See also:Provence proper gave See also:birth to a poet of consider-able importance in Louis Bellaud de la Bellaudiere (1532-1588), of See also:Grasse, who, after studying at See also:Aix, enlisted in the royal armies, and was made a prisoner at See also:Moulins in 1572. During his captivity he wrote poems inspired by real love of See also:liberty and of his native See also:country (See also:Don-Don See also:internal, 1584 or 1585). At Aix Bellaud subsequently became the centre of a literary circle which included most of the See also:local celebrities; all of these paid their See also:tribute to the poet's memory in the edition of his works published by his See also:uncle, See also:Pierre See also:Paul, himself the author of pieces of small value, included in the same volume (Lous Passatens, obros et rimos, &c., See also:Marseilles, 1 595). Even when Bellaud is wholly frivolous, and See also:intent on worldly pleasures only, his See also:work has See also:interest as reflecting the merry, careless See also:life of the time. A writer very popular in Provence for the light-hearted productions of his youth was See also:Claude Brueys (1570-1650), remarkable chiefly for comedies that See also:deal largely with duped husbands (Jardin deys musos provensalos, not published till 1628). There is a certain See also:charm, too, in the comedies of Claude's See also:disciple, Gaspard Zerbin (La Perlo deys musos et coumedies prouvensalos, 16J5); and those critics who have read the plays of See also:Jean de Cabanes (1653-1712) and of Seguin (of See also:Tarascon, c. 1640), still in MS., speak highly of them. The most consistently popular See also:form of poetry in the south of France was always the See also:noel. There has been no limit to the See also:production of these; but very rarely does the author deserve special mention. An exception must be made in the See also:case of See also:Nicholas Saboly (1614-1695), who produced the best pieces of this class, both as regards beauty of language and the devotion they breathe. They have deservedly maintained their popularity to the present day. In See also:Languedoc four poets have been cited as the best of the See also:age—Goudelin, See also:Michel, See also:Sage and See also:Bonnet. This is certainly so inthecase of Pierre Goudelin (province Goudouli, 1579-1649), of Toulouse, the most distinguished name in south French literature 1 Moundino, i.e. of Toulouse; a See also:common designation, derived from See also:Raymond, the See also:familiar name of the See also:counts of Toulouse.between the period of the troubadours and that of See also:Jasmin. He had a good classical See also:education, traces of which See also:appeal- in all his poetry, his language and his manner being always admirable, even where his See also:matter is lacking in See also:depth. He is often called " the See also:Malherbe of the South," but resembles that writer only in form: his poetry, taken as a whole, has far more See also:sap. Goudelin essayed and was successful in almost every See also:short genre (See also:Lou Ramelet Moundi, 1617, republished with additions till 1678), the piece of his which is most generally admired being the stanzas to See also:Henri IV., though others will prefer him in his gayer moods. He enjoyed enormous popularity (extending to See also:Spain and See also:Italy), but never prostituted his See also:art to cheap effects. His See also:influence, especially but not exclusively in Provence, has been deep and lasting. The fame of Jean Michel, of See also:Nimes, rests on the Embarras de la foire de See also:Beaucaire, a poem of astonishing vigour, but deficient in See also:taste. See also:Daniel Sage, of See also:Montpellier (See also:Las Foulies, 165o), was a See also:man of loose morals, which are reflected in nearly all his works: his moments of genuine inspiration from other causes are rare. More worthy of being bracketed with Goudelin is the avocat Bonnet, author of the best among the open See also:air plays that were annually performed at See also:Beziers on See also:Ascension Day: a number of these (dated 1616-1657) were subsequently collected, but none can compare with the opening one, Bonnet's Jugement de Pdris. Another very charming poet is See also:Nicolas Fizes, of Frontignan, whose See also:vaudeville, the See also:Opera de Frontignan (167o), dealing with a slight love intrigue, and an idyllic poem on the See also:fountain of Frontignan, show a real poetic See also:gift. A number of Toulouse poets, mostly laureats of the Academy, may be termed followers of Goudelin: of these Francois Boudet deserves mention, who composed an See also:ode, Le Trinfe del Moundi (1678), in honour of his native dialect. The classical revival that may be noted about this time is also generally ascribed to Goudelin's influence. Its most distinguished representative was Jean de Vales, of Montech, who made excellent See also:translations from See also:Virgil and See also:Persius, and wrote a brilliant See also:burlesque of the former in the manner of See also:Scarron (Virgile deguisat, 1648; only four books published). He also composed a See also:pastoral idyll, which, though too See also:long and inclined to obscenity, contains much See also:tender description. The greatest of the pastoral poets was Francois de Cortete (1571-1655), of Prades, whose comedies, Ramounet and Miramoundo (published, unfortunately with alterations, by his son in 1684), are written with such true feeling and in so pure a See also:style that they can be read with real See also:pleasure. A See also:comedy of his dealing with Sancho Panza in the See also:palace of the See also:Duke has been edited. It is difficult to understand the enormous popularity of Daubasse (1664-1727), of See also:Quercy, who belonged to the working classes; he was patronized by the See also:nobility in See also:exchange for panegyrics. See also:Gascony produced two typical works in the 17th century: Ader's Gentilhomme gascoun (161o) and Dastros's Trinfe de la langue gascoune (1642). The former depicts a See also:regular boasting Gascon who distinguishes himself in everything; while the latter is a plea in favour of the Gascon tongue, inspired by a genuine love of country. See also:Gabriel Bedout (See also:Parterre gascoun, 1642) is chiefly noted for his amorous solitari, called forth by the sufferings he endured from a hardhearted See also:mistress. Louis See also:Baron (b. 1612), living peacefully in his native See also:village of Pouyloubrin, celebrated it with See also:great tenderness. In the 18th century the number of authors is much larger, but the bulk of good work produced is not equally great in proportion. The priests are mainly responsible for the literary output of Languedoc. Claude Peyrot (1709-1795) one of them, celebrates his See also:county with true rural spirit in the Printemps rouergat and Quartre sosous. But the See also:chief of the See also:band is the See also:Abbe See also:Favre (1727-1783), the See also:prior of Celleneuve, whose Sermoun de mousse sistre, delivered by a drunken See also:priest against intemperance, is a masterpiece. He also wrote a successful See also:mock-heroic poem (See also:Siege de Caderousse) travesties of See also:Homer and Virgil, a See also:prose novel depicting the country See also:manners of the time (Histoire de Jean See also:Pont pris), and two comedies, which likewise give a vivid picture of the village life he knew so well. Two genuine poets are the See also:brothers See also:Rigaud of Montpellier: Auguste's (1760-1835) description of a vintage is deservedly famous; and Cyrille (1750—1824) produced an equally delightful poem in the Amours de Mounpeie. Pierre Hellies of Toulouse (d. 1724) a poet of the people, whose vicious life finds an See also:echo in his works, has a certain See also:rude charm, at times distantly recalling See also:Villon. In the Province See also:Toussaint See also:Gros (1698-1748), of See also:Lyons, holds undisputed sway. His style and language are admirable, but unfortunately he wasted his gifts largely on trivial pieces d'occasion. Coye's (1711-1777) comedy, the Fiance See also:pare, is See also:bright and still popular, while Germain's description of a visit paid by the See also:ancient gods to Marseilles (La Bourrido dei Dious, 1760) has considerable See also:humour. In Gascony the greatest poet is Cyrien Despourrins (1698-1755), whose pastoral idylls and mournful chansons, which he himself set to See also:music, are imbued with tenderness and charm (most of them were collected at See also:Pau, in 1828). The Revolution produced a large body of literature, but nothing of lasting interest. However, it gave an impetus to thought in the south of France, as elsewhere; and there, as elsewhere, it called forth a spirit of See also:independence that was all in favour of a literary revival. Scholars of the See also:stamp of See also:Raynouard (1761-1863), of Aix, occupied themselves with the brilliant literary traditions of the See also:middle ages; See also:newspapers sprang up (the Provencal Bouil-Abaisso, started by Desanat, and the bilingual Lou Tambourin et le menestrel, edited by See also:Bellot, both in 1841); poets banded together and collected their pieces in volume form (thus, the nine troubaire who published Lou Bouquet prouvengaou in 1823). Much has been written about the precurseurs de Felibrige, and critics are sorely at variance as to the writers that most deserve this appellation. We shall not go far wrong if we include in the See also:list Hyacinthe See also:Morel (1756-1829), of See also:Avignon, whose collection of poems, Lou Saboulet, has been republished by See also:Mistral; Louis Aubanel (1758-1842), of Nimes, the successful translator of See also:Anacreon's Odes; Auguste Tandon, the See also:troubadour of Montpellier," who wrote Fables, conies et autres pieces en vers (1800); See also:Fabre d'Olivet (1767-1825), the versatile litterateur who in 1803 published Le Troubadour: Poesies occitaniques, which, in See also:order to secure their success, he gave out as the work of some medieval poet Diouloufet (1771-1840), who wrote a didactic poem, in the manner of Virgil, See also:relating to silkworm-breeding (Leis magnans) ; Jacques See also:Azais (1778-1856), author of satires, fables, &c.; D'Astros (178o-1863), a writer of fables in See also:Lafontaine's manner; Castil-See also:Blaze (1784-1857), who found time, amidst his musical pursuits, to compose Provencal poems, intended to be set to music; the See also:Marquis de Fare-See also:Alais (1791-1846), author of some light satirical tales (Las Castagnados). While these writers were all more or less academic, and appealed to the cultured few, four poets of the people addressed a far wider public : Verdie (1779-1820), of See also:Bordeaux, who wrote comic and satirical pieces; Jean Reboul (1796-1864), the See also:baker of Nimes, who never surpassed his first effort, L'Ange et l'enfant (1828);1 See also:Victor Gelu (18o6-1885), relentless and brutal, but undeniably powerful of his kind (Fenian et Grouman ; See also:dix chansons provengales, 1840) ; and, greatest of them all, the true and acknowledged forerunner of the felibres, Jacques Jasmin (1798-1864), the hairdresser of See also:Agen, whose poems, both lyrical and narrative, continue to find favour with men of the highest culture and literary attainments, as with the villagers for whom they were primarily intended. While much of this literature was still in the making, an event took place which was destined to See also:eclipse in importance any that had gone before. In 1845 See also:Joseph Roumanille (1818-1891), a gardener's son, of See also:Saint-Remy (Bouches-du-See also:Rhone), became See also:usher in a small school at Avignon, which was attended by See also:Frederic Mistral (q.v.), a native of the same See also:district, then fifteen years of age. The former, feeling the germs of poetry within him, had composed some pieces in French; but, finding that his old See also:mother could not understand them, he was greatly distressed, 1 One of his chief titles to fame is that, together with See also:Alphonse See also:Dumas, he See also:drew the See also:attention of Lamartine to Mistral's Mirbio. Roumanille and Mistral showed their gratitude by republishing the best pieces of these two precurseurs, together with those of Castil-Blaze and others, in Un Liame de Rasin (1865).and determined thenceforth to write in his native dialect only. These poems revealed a new See also:world to See also:young Mistral, and spurred him on to the resolve that became the one purpose of his life—de remettre en lumiere et See also:conscience de sa gloire See also:cette See also:noble See also:race qu'en plein '89 See also:Mirabeau nomme encore la nation provengale. There is no doubt that Mistral's is the more puissant See also:personality, and that his finest work towers above that of his See also:fellows; but in studying the Provencal See also:renaissance, Roumanille's great claims should not be overlooked, and they have never been put forward with more force than by Mistral himself (in the See also:preface to his Isclos d'oro). Roumanille's See also:secular See also:verse cannot fail to appeal to every See also:lover of pure and sincere poetry (Li Margaritedo, 1836-1847; Li Sounjarello, 1852; Li See also:Flour de Sauvi, 1850-1859, &c.), his noels are second only to those of Saboly, his prose works (such as Lou mege de Cucugnan, 1863) sparkling with delightful humour. He it was who in 1852 collected and published Li Prouvengalo, an See also:anthology in which all the names yet to become famous, and most of those famous already (such as Jasmin), are represented. In 1853 he was one of the enthusiastic circle that had gathered See also:round J. B. Gaut at Aix, and whose literary output is contained in the Roumavagi dei Troubaire and in the shortlived See also:journal Lou See also:gay saber (1854). At the same time the first See also:attempt at regulating the See also:orthography of Provencal was made by him (in the introduction to his See also:play, La See also:Part dou bon Dieu, 1853). And in 1854 he was one of the seven poets who, on the 21st of May, foregathered at the See also:castle of Fontsegugne, near Avignon, and founded the Felibrige. [The See also:etymology of this word has given rise to much See also:speculation: the one thing certain about the word is that Mistral came across it in an old Provencal poem, which tells how the Virgin meets Jesus in the See also:Temple, among the seven felibres of the See also:law. The outlines of the constitution, as finally settled in 1876, are as follows: The region of the Felibrige is divided into four mantenengo (Provence, Languedoc, See also:Aquitaine and Catalonia2). At the See also:head of all is a consistori of fifty (called majourau), presided over by the Capoulie, who is chief of the entire Felibrige. The head of each mantenengo is called sendi (who is at the same time a majourau); and at the head of each " school" (as the sub-divisions of the mantenengo are called) is a cabiscau. The See also:ordinary members, unlimited in number, are manteneire. See also:Annual meetings and fetes are organized. The most widely read of the Felibrige publications is the Armana prouvengau, which has appeared annually since 1855, maintaining all the while its See also:original See also:scope and purpose; and though unpretentious in form, it contains much of the best work of the school 3] The other six were Mistral, Aubanel, A.Mathieu (a schoolfellow of Mistral's at Avignon), E. Garcin, A. Tavan and P. Giera (owner of the castle). Of these, See also:Theodore Aubanel (1829-1886, of Avignon, son of a printer and following the same calling) has alone proved himself worthy to See also:rank with Mistral and Roumanille. " Zani," the girl of his youthful and passionate love, took the See also:veil; and this event See also:cast a See also:shadow over his whole life, and determined the character of all his poetry (Lou miougrano entre-duberto, 186o; Li Fiho d'Avignoun, 1883). His is, without a doubt, the deepest nature and temperament among the felibres, and his lyrics are the most poignant. He has a keen sense of See also:physical beauty in woman, and his verse is replete with suppressed See also:passion, but he never sinks to sensuality. His powerful love See also:drama Lou pau dou peccat was received with See also:enthusiasm at Montpellier in 1878, and successfully produced (some years later in Arene's version) by See also:Antoine at his See also:Theatre Libre—no mean criterion. It is the only play of real consequence that the school has yet produced. We need not do more than glance at the work of the See also:fourth of the See also:group of poets who alone, amidst the numerous writers of lyrics and other works that attain a high level of excellence. 2 One of the most pleasing features of the See also:movement is the spirit of fraternity maintained by the felibres with the poets and literary men of northern France, Spain, Italy, See also:Rumania, See also:Germany and other countries. 1In common with so many other productions of the Felibrige, this See also:Almanac is published by the See also:firm J. Roumanille, Libraire-Editour, Avignon. appear to us to have so far secured permanent fame by the magni- direction of the See also:pro-See also:consul C. Sextius Calvinus, conquered the territories between the See also:Alps, the See also:sea and the Rhone (with the province of See also:Narbonne on the right See also:bank of this See also:river). These lands formed the Provincia See also:romana, and the name was retained by Provence. The town of Aix (See also:Aquae Sextiae) was founded to form the See also:capital of this conquered See also:land. In consequence of the See also:conquest of See also:Gaul by See also:Caesar (5o B.c.) and the administrative reforms introduced by See also:Augustus, the territory of the former Provincia was divided into the new provinces of Narbonensis II., of the Maritime Alps and of Viennois, but it still remained an important centre of See also:Roman learning and See also:civilization. Marseilles, which for some time had a prosperous See also:Greek school, and also Aix now became of secondary importance, and See also:Arles was made the chief town of the province, becoming after the See also:capture of Treves by the barbarians (A.D. 418) the capital of Gaul. See also:Christianity spread fairly See also:early into Provence, although the See also:legend that this country was evangelized by See also:Mary Magdalene and some of the apostles cannot be traced farther back than the 12th century. Trophimus established a See also: Provence was See also:united under one ruler during the reigns of See also:Clotaire II. and Dagobert I., but at the See also:death of the latter in 639 was divided again, only to be reunited under the successors of Dagobert II. (679). At this period the name of Provence was restricted to the southern cities, which had passed from the See also:Gothic to the Frankish rule; it did not regain its original signification and denote the country extending as far as Lyonnais till the end of the 8th and the beginning of the 9th centuries.
At the beginning of the 8th century, some See also:Arabs from Spain, who had crossed the See also:Pyrenees and settled down in Septimania, attacked Provence, in 735 took the town of Arles and in 737 captured Avignon, thus becoming masters of one part of the country. See also: Li Roumancero provencal (1887) is a collection of poems See also:instinct with Provencal See also:lore, and in Li Papalino (1891) we have some charming prose tales that bring to life again the Avignon of the popes. Finally, the poet gave us three tales dealing with the period of the Revolution (Li See also:Rouge dou miejour, &c.); their See also:realism and literary art called forth general admiration.' A few lines must suffice for some of the general aspects of the movement. It goes without saying that all is not perfect See also:harmony; but, on the whole, the See also:differences are differences of detail only, not of principle. While Mistral and many of the best felibres employ the dialect of the Bouches-du-Rhone, others, who have since seceded as the Felibrige latin (headed by Roque-See also:Ferrier), prefer to use the dialect of Montpellier, owing to its central position. A third class favour the dialect of See also:Limousin, as having been the literary vehicle of the troubadours; but their claim is of the slenderest, for the felibres are in no sense of the word the See also:direct successors of the troubadours. Nearly all the leaders of the Felibrige are See also:Legitimists and Catholics, their faith being the See also:simple faith of the people, undisturbed by philosophic doubts. There are exceptions, however, chief among them the See also:Protestant Gras, whose Toloza clearly reflects his sympathy with the Albigenses. Yet this did not stand in the way of his election as Capoulie—a See also:proof, if proof were needed, that literary merit outweighs all other considerations in this See also:artistic body of men. Finally, it may be noted that the felibres have often been accused of lack of patriotism towards northern France, of schemes of decentralization, and other heresies; but none of these charges holds good. The spirit of the movement, as represented by its leaders, has never been expressed with greater terseness, force and truth than in the three verses set by Felix Gras at the head of his Carbounie: " I love my village more than thy village; I love my Provence more than thy province; I love France more than all." AuT11oRITIES.–Las Joyas del gay saber, edited by Noulet (vol. iv. of Gatien-Arnoult's Monumens de la litterature roman, &c., Toulouse, 1849); Noulet, .Essai sur l'histoire litteraire See also:des See also:patois du midi de la France aux .X VI' et X VII' siecles (See also:Paris, 1859) and . . . au X VIII' siecle (Paris, 1877) ; Gaut, " Etude sur la litterature et la poesie provencales " (Memoires de l'academie des sciences, See also:lac., d'Aix, tome ix. pp. 247-344, Aix, 1867) ; Mary-Lafon, Histoire litteraire du midi de la France (Paris, 1882) ; Restori, Letteratura provenzale, pp. 200-214 (Milano, 1891); Marieton's articles on Provencal and Felibrige in the Grande encyclopedie; Donnadieu, See also:Les Precurseurs des felibres 1800–1855 ; (Paris, 1888) ; Jourdanne, Histoire du Felibrige, 1854–z896 (Avignon, 1897) ; Hennion, Les Fleurs felibresques (Paris, 1883); Portal, La letteratura provenzale moderna (See also:Palermo, 1893) ; Koschwitz, Ueber See also:die provenzalischen Feliber and ihre Vorganger (See also:Berlin, 1894); Marieton, La Terre provencale (Paris, 1894). (H. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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