A Selection of the �Chroniques� (1881-87): Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Adrian C. Ritchie (English and French Edition) - Softcover

Ritchie, Adrian C.

9783906766997: A Selection of the �Chroniques� (1881-87): Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Adrian C. Ritchie (English and French Edition)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3906766993 ISBN 13: 9783906766997

Publisher: Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, 2002

This selection of Maupassant’s journalistic writings, edited in their original French version, encompasses articles on literary, artistic and social issues. Though many writers of the day, including Zola, Mirbeau, and Bourget, supplement their earnings by journalism, Maupassant was mindful of the warnings of his mentor Gustave Flaubert who insisted that journalism was an unworthy occupation for a self-respecting writer. But in 1880 Maupassant finally signed a contract with Le Gaulois and was soon to discover that a regular newspaper column could help him to hone his literary skills, extend his range, and develop his ideas.
Critics are now aware that to ignore an activity which occupied a considerable portion of Maupassant’s time, during the years when he was most productive, is seriously to distort our view of the scope of a writer whose ideas and convictions are nowhere more clearly delineated than in his chroniques.
Indeed, there is much of interest in these pieces written mostly for Le Gaulois, Gil Blas, and Le Figaro. Today’s reader can learn about the preoccupations of the reading public in France, about French society and its values, about public opinion, and about corruption in public life.
Cette s�lection rassemble une trentaine des quelque deux cents chroniques de Guy de Maupassant, qui, �dit�es ici dans leur langue originale, traitent notamment de questions litt�raires, artistiques et sociales. Beaucoup d’�crivains de son temps, dont Zola, Mirbeau, et Bourget, �crivaient pour la presse pour augmenter les parfois maigres gains que leur procuraient leur activit� litt�raire. Maupassant en revanche se rappelait les conseils de son ma�tre, Flaubert, pour qui �crire dans un journal �tait une occupation indigne d’un v�ritable artiste. Mais en 1880 il se laissa tenter, signa un contrat avec Le Gaulois et devait trouver par la suite que l’obligation de fournir r�guli�rement de la copie �tait une discipline utile qui lui permettait d’acqu�rir une rigueur dans le travail, un m�tier, et de se forger des id�es.
On sait aujourd’hui qu’en n�gligeant un aspect de l’œuvre qui occupait une partie non n�gligeable du temps de Guy de Maupassant, on risquait de fausser notre perspective sur un �crivain qui r�v�lait ses convictions plus clairement dans ses articles �crits pour Le Gaulois, Gil Bas et Le Figaro qu’ailleures. Car ces morceaux sont int�ressants � plus d’un titre. En les lisant, le lecteur se documente sur la soci�t� des ann�es 1880, sur la vie des Fran�ais, sur leurs go�ts litt�raires, sur l’opinion publique, sur la politique et la corruption qui la marquait.

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About the Author:

The Editor: Adrian C. Ritchie is Head of French (Department of Modern Languages), at the University of Wales, Bangor. He has written extensively on Maupassant, and is the editor of Guy de Maupassant: A Selection of the Political Journalism (Peter Lang, 1999).

Language Notes:

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

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