Gérard de Nerval (May 22, 1808 – January 26, 1855) was the
nom-de-plume of the
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
poet, essayist and translator
Gérard Labrunie, one of the most essentially
RomanticRomanticism is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Industrial Revolution...
French poets.
Two years after his birth in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, his mother died in
SilesiaSilesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in present-day Poland, with parts in the Czech Republic and Germany....
whilst accompanying her husband, a military doctor, a member of
NapoleonNapoleon Bonaparte later known as Napoleon I, and previously Napoleone di Buonaparte, was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century.Born in Corsica and trained as an artillery officer in mainland France, Bonaparte rose to prominence...
's
Grande ArméeThe Grande Armée first entered the annals of history when, in 1805, Napoleon I renamed the army that he had assembled on the French coast of the English Channel for the proposed invasion of Britain but failed at the Battle of Trafalgar and re-deployed it East to commence the Campaign of 1805...
.
He was brought up by his maternal great-uncle, Antoine Boucher, in the countryside of Valois at
MortefontaineMortefontaine is the name or part of the name of several communes in France:* Mortefontaine, in the Aisne département* Mortefontaine, in the Oise département* Mortefontaine-en-Thelle, in the Oise département...
.
Gérard de Nerval (May 22, 1808 – January 26, 1855) was the
nom-de-plume of the
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
poet, essayist and translator
Gérard Labrunie, one of the most essentially
RomanticRomanticism is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Industrial Revolution...
French poets.
Biography
Two years after his birth in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, his mother died in
SilesiaSilesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in present-day Poland, with parts in the Czech Republic and Germany....
whilst accompanying her husband, a military doctor, a member of
NapoleonNapoleon Bonaparte later known as Napoleon I, and previously Napoleone di Buonaparte, was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century.Born in Corsica and trained as an artillery officer in mainland France, Bonaparte rose to prominence...
's
Grande ArméeThe Grande Armée first entered the annals of history when, in 1805, Napoleon I renamed the army that he had assembled on the French coast of the English Channel for the proposed invasion of Britain but failed at the Battle of Trafalgar and re-deployed it East to commence the Campaign of 1805...
.
He was brought up by his maternal great-uncle, Antoine Boucher, in the countryside of Valois at
MortefontaineMortefontaine is the name or part of the name of several communes in France:* Mortefontaine, in the Aisne département* Mortefontaine, in the Oise département* Mortefontaine-en-Thelle, in the Oise département...
. On the return of his father from war during 1814, he was sent back to Paris. He frequently returned to the countryside of Valois during holidays and later returned to it in imagination in his
Chansons et légendes du Valois.
His talent for translation was made manifest in his translation of
GoetheJohann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer and polymath. Goethe's works span the fields of poetry, drama, literature, theology, philosophy, humanism and science. Goethe's magnum opus, lauded as one of the peaks of world literature, is the two-part drama Faust...
's
Faust (1828), the work which earned him his reputation; Goethe praised it, and
Hector Berlioz Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande Messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation...
later used sections for his legend-symphony
La Damnation de Faust. Other translations from Goethe ensued; in the 1840s, Nerval's translations introduced
Heinrich HeineChristian Johann Heinrich Heine was a journalist, essayist, literary critic, and one of the most significant German romantic poets. He is remembered chiefly for selections of his lyric poetry, many of which were set to music in the form of lieder by German composers most notably by Robert Schumann...
's poems to French readers of the
Revue des deux mondesThe Revue des Deux Mondes is a French language monthly literary and cultural affairs magazine that has been published in Paris since 1829....
. During the 1820s at college he became lifelong friends with
Théophile GautierPierre Jules Théophile Gautier was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and literary critic.While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and remains a point of reference for many subsequent literary traditions such as Parnassianism, Symbolism,...
and later joined
Alexandre Dumas, pèreAlexandre Dumas, père, born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his numerous historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
in the
Petit CénacleCénacle is the name given to a Parisian literary group of varying constituency that began about 1826 to gather around Charles Nodier. The group sought to revive in French literature the old monarchical spirit, the spirit of mediæval mystery and spiritual submission. The chief members...
, in what was an exceedingly
bohemianBohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits, with few permanent ties...
set, which was ultimately to become the
Club des HashischinsThe Club des Hashischins , was a Parisian group dedicated to the exploration of drug-induced experiences, notably with hashish....
. Nerval's poetry is characterized by
RomanticRomanticism is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Industrial Revolution...
deismDeism or is a religious and philosophical belief that a supreme being created the universe, and that this can be determined using reason and observation of the natural world alone, without a need for either faith or organized religion...
. His passion for the 'spirit world' was matched by a decidedly more negative view of the material one: "This life is a hovel and a place of ill-repute. I'm ashamed that God should see me here." Among his admirers was
Victor HugoVictor-Marie Hugo was a French poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
.
Gérard de Nerval's first nervous breakdown occurred during 1841. In a series of novellas, collected as
Les Illuminés, ou les précurseurs du socialisme (1852), on themes suggested by the careers of Rétif de la Bretonne, Cagliostro and others, he described feelings that followed his third insanity. Increasingly poverty-stricken and disoriented, he finally committed suicide during 1855, hanging himself from a window grating. He left only a brief note to his aunt: "Do not wait up for me this evening, for the night will be black and white." He was interred in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.
Legacy
The influence of Nerval's insistence on the significance of dreams on the
SurrealistSurrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
movement was emphasised by
André BretonAndré Breton was a French writer, poet, and surrealist theorist, and is best known as the principal founder of Surrealism...
. The writers
Marcel ProustValentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust was a French novelist, essayist, and critic, best known as the author of À la recherche du temps perdu , a monumental work of twentieth-century fiction published in seven parts from 1913 to...
and
René DaumalRené Daumal was a French writer and poet. He was born in Boulzicourt, Ardennes, France.In his late teens his avant-garde poetry was published in France's leading journals, and in his early twenties, although courted by André Breton co-founded, as a counter to Surrealism and Dada, a literary...
were also greatly influenced by Nerval's work, as was Artaud.
Umberto EcoUmberto Eco is an Italian medievalist, semiotician, philosopher, literary critic and novelist, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose , an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory...
analyses Gerard de Nerval's
Sylvie (calling it a "masterpiece") to show the use of temporal ambiguity, demystifying the "mists" during his
Six Walks in the Fictional WoodsSix Walks in the Fictional Woods is a book by Umberto Eco. Originally delivered at Harvard for the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures in 1992 and 1993, the six lectures where published in the fall of 1994....
.
In Popular Culture
British progressive rock music band
Pure Reason RevolutionPure Reason Revolution are a British rock group formed at the University of Westminster in 2003. Their music incorporates elements of progressive rock and electro. It has been variously described as 'Astral Folk' and 'New prog'...
draw extensively from Nerval for influence in their lyrics, which often revolve around dreams and use a 'stream of consciousness' technique very similar to Nerval's. The title of their song 'Trembling Willows' is a reference to one of Nerval's poems 'Delfica', and its lyrics take many of the same images. Similarly, the song "In Aurelia" comes from Nerval's masterpiece of the same name.
British rock music band
TrafficTraffic on roads may consist of pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using the public way for purposes of travel...
included a song on their album
When the Eagle FliesWhen the Eagle Flies was the final album released by English rock band Traffic, in 1974, until their 1994 reunion Far From Home. The album featured Jim Capaldi on drums, keyboards and vocals; Rosko Gee on bass guitar; Steve Winwood on guitar, keyboards, and vocals; and Chris Wood on flute and...
called "Dream Gerrard." The lyrics were written by
Vivian StanshallVivian Stanshall was an English singer-songwriter, painter, musician, author, poet and wit, best known for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, for his surreal exploration of the British upper classes in Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, and for narrating Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells.-The great...
as a tribute to Nerval. The song contains surreal lyrics like Nerval's work.
Pet lobster
According to the British television program "
Status AnxietyStatus Anxiety is a nonfiction book by Alain de Botton. It was first published in 2004 by Hamish Hamilton; subsequent publications have been by Penguin Books.-Central thesis:...
", Nerval had a pet
lobsterClawed lobsters compose a family of large marine crustaceans. Lobsters are economically important as seafood, forming the basis of a global industry that nets US$31.8 billion in trade annually....
. He took it for walks in the
Palais RoyalThe Palais-Royal, originally called the Palais-Cardinal, is a palace and an associated garden located in the first arrondissement of Paris...
gardens in Paris on the end of a blue silk ribbon. He regarded them as "peaceful, serious creatures, who know the secrets of the sea, and don't bark".
In an article about the life of Nerval by his contemporary,
Théophile GautierPierre Jules Théophile Gautier was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and literary critic.While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and remains a point of reference for many subsequent literary traditions such as Parnassianism, Symbolism,...
, Nerval is quoted as having said "Why should a lobster be any more ridiculous than a dog? ...or a cat, or a gazelle, or a lion, or any other animal that one chooses to take for a walk? I have a liking for lobsters. They are peaceful, serious creatures. They know the secrets of the sea, they don't bark, and they don't gnaw upon one's
monadic privacy like dogs do. And Goethe had an aversion to dogs, and he wasn't mad."
In the
Sam ShepardSam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play, Buried Child...
and
Patti SmithPatricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer–songwriter, poet and visual artist who was a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses. Called the "Godmother of Punk", she integrated the beat poetry performance style with three-chord rock...
play
Cowboy MouthCowboy Mouth is a 1971 play, written and performed by Sam Shepard and Patti Smith, and directed by Robert Glaudini.-Plot:The play is about Cavale and Slim, two absolute messes living in sin together. Unable to move, yet at complete unrest, Slim swings from blaming Cavale for the disaster that is...
, the character Cavale is obsessed with Nerval, making numerous references to him and claiming that Nerval "hung himself on [her] birthday." It also mentions Nerval having a pet lobster, as above, amidst other fantastic claims. This may be the inspiration for the play's character 'Lobster Man.'
British comedians Michael Flanders and Donald Swann (known as the duo
Flanders and SwannThe British duo "Flanders and Swann" were the actor and singer Michael Flanders and the composer, pianist and linguist Donald Swann who collaborated in writing and performing comic songs....
) make mention of Nerval's pet lobster in the introduction to Swann's setting of "Je Suis Le Ténébreux", featured in their revue "At the Drop of a Hat" (1956).
The continued dispute over whether Nerval ever owned a pet lobster seems to have been finally resolved thanks to the discovery of some personal correspondence in which Gérard, writing to his close childhood friend Laura LeBeau, recounts an embarrassing incident that occurred whilst holidaying in
La RochelleLa Rochelle is a city in south-western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department....
:
"...and so, dear Laura, upon my regaining the town square I was accosted by the mayor who demanded that I should make a full and frank apology for stealing from the lobster nets. I will not bore you with the rest of the story, but suffice to say that reparations were made, and little Thibault is now here with me in the city..." The discovery was reported in an article in the online edition of Harper's Magazine,
Nerval: A Man and his Lobster.
Works by de Nerval
- Voyage en Orient (1851), resulted from his extended hashish-filled voyage of 1842 to Cairo and Beirut. It must have puzzled readers of conventional travel books, for it retells Oriental tales like Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, in terms of the artist and the act of creation.
- La Bohème Galante (1852)
- Les Nuits d'Octobre (1852)
- Sylvie
Sylvie is a novella by Gérard de Nerval wherein a paragraph in a newspaper plunges the narrator into memories of village festivals close to Senlis. He decides to leave Paris and is reminded of his former love, Sylvie. The novella focuses on themes "of love and illusion"....
(1853)
- Petits châteaux de Bohême (1853)
- Les Filles du Feu
Les Filles du feu is a collection of short stories published by the French poet Gérard de Nerval during January 1854, a year before his death...
(1854), a volume of short stories.
- Aurélia
-A feminine Roman given name :For example:* Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla, second daughter of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius* Aurelia Cotta, mother of Julius Caesar* Aurélia de Souza, Portuguese painter...
(1855), his fantasy-ridden interior autobiography— "Our dreams are a second life," he wrote— which influenced the Surrealists.
- Promenades et Souvenirs (1854-56)
- Un homard nommé Thibault (1855)
External links
- Hieronymo's Mad Againe: On Translating Nerval essay by Richard Sieburth
Richard Sieburth is a translator, essayist, and editor .Richard Sieburth is considered an authority on literary modernism. He has taught at many institutions of higher learning, serving as a professor of French and comparative literature at New York University...
, an English translator of Nerval