Marcela Delpastre
Encyclopedia
Marcela Delpastre was an Occitan- and French
-language author from Limousin
. She was born on September 2, 1925 and died on February 6, 1998. She is known in non-Occitan-speaking France
as Marcelle Delpastre.
of Chamberet
in the département of Corrèze
. The daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter of local farmers, she grew up in the heart of Limousin’s countryside civilization. At home, she would hear and learn two languages: Occitan and French. She went to primary school in Surdoux and Saint-Léonard in Haute-Vienne
and then to secondary school in Brive where she took a baccalauréat
in philosophy and literature. She later entered the college of decorative arts of Limoges
where she developed a strong liking for human shapes (faces and feminine curves) and beauty in general.
In 1945, she returned to the family farm in Germont where she spent the rest of her life working the land, something she did "because one has to earn their daily bread"). In the meantime, whether milking the cows or driving a tractor, she’d still think of apt rhymes for the poems she wrote. Poetry accompanied her all day long and she’d always carry a wee jotter and a pen in her pocket. When inspiration came, when the words were there, fine and ready, Marcela took a break and immediately put them down on paper. Indeed, most of her masterpieces probably sprang from a bundle of straw in a stable or in the middle of a field.
From the end of the 1940s to the early years of the following decade, as the exercise books in which she wrote her poems and thoughts were beginning to heap up, Marcela Delpastre sent some of her works to literary journals and arts reviews. She was greatly encouraged by the correspondence she engaged in. As her texts got published, Marcela grew increasingly famous among the well-read people of Limousin.
and met with Robert Joudoux, from the Lemouzi magazine, and Jean Mouzat, another Occitan author.
Marcela Delpastre’s first work in lenga d’òc was called La Lenga que tant me platz (The Language I Love So):
From then on, Marcela decided to write in Limousin, both the tongue and the place, and about Limousin. In the aforementioned magazine were subsequently published a couple of poems, among which Lo Rossinhòl e l’eglantina (The Nightingale & the Wild Rose) and Lo Chamin de tèrra (The Dirt Track). For an easier writing, she also learned the normalized Occitan spelling.
In the mid-1960s, Marcela began collecting and re-inventing traditional tales from her native Limousin. The first book was published in 1970 and its title was: Los Contes dau Pueg Gerjant (The Tales of Mount Gerjant). At the same time, she did the work of an ethnologist
and wrote, in French, Le Tombeau des ancêtres (The Tomb of Our Ancestors) about the customs and beliefs surrounding local religious festivals and cults. In 1968, La Vinha dins l’òrt (The Vine in the Garden) was released: this poem won an award at the Jaufre Rudel competition. Its French version, La Vigne dans le jardin was adapted for the stage by the Radio-Limoges drama company. They adapted more texts by Marcela Delpastre later in the decade, among which featured L’Homme éclaté (The Exploded Man) and La Marche à l’étoile (Walking to the Star). Marcela kept on writing and published other poems in several reviews, such as Lemouzi, Traces, Poésie 1, Vent Terral and Òc.
. It’s with these poems that Marcela Delpastre truly gained recognition from the whole Occitan literary world. In Le Bourgeois et le paysan (The Bourgeois & the Farmer) she went another step farther in portraying the customs, beliefs and oral tradition of Limousin, this time around the theme of fire. Later, in her Bestiari lemosin (The Limousin Bestiary), she focused on wild animals and cattle and mixed reality with mythology
. By the end of the 1970s Marcela also met two very important men for her career: one is Micheu Chapduelh and the other is Jan dau Melhau. She regularly featured in their review, Lo Leberaubre, and grew popular beyond the circle of her readers by giving her opinion in articles and interviews in the local Limousin press (Limousin Magazine, La Montagne, L’Écho, Le Populaire...), but most of all, among Occitan activists thanks to magazines like Òc, Occitans and especially Connaissance des Pays d’Òc, with Ives Roqueta
’s help.
In the last years of her life, Marcela Delpastre (and her friend Jan dau Melhau) spent her time dusting off hundreds of unpublished texts. Suffering from Charcot disease, she died in her bed on February 6, 1998 in her Germont farm, where she was born, where she’d always stayed and worked. Jan dau Melhau, her sole legatee, has since released more of her writings for the Lo Chamin de Sent-Jaume publishing house. The poet’s works are kept at Limoges’s City Library.
A poet, a story-teller, an author and an ethnologist, Marcela Delpastre is now considered one of the ten most important writers of the 20th century, alongside the likes of Joan Bodon
, Bernat Manciet
, Renat Nelli
and Max Roqueta
. The message of this woman, who never left her home land of Limousin, is one of universal significance, one that addresses everybody, and this is probably what makes her words so strong and beautiful.
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
-language author from Limousin
Limousin (province)
Limousin is one of the traditional provinces of France around the city of Limoges. Limousin lies in the foothills of the western edge of the Massif Central, with cold weather in the winter...
. She was born on September 2, 1925 and died on February 6, 1998. She is known in non-Occitan-speaking France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
as Marcelle Delpastre.
Early years
Marcela Delpastre was born on February 2, 1925 in Germont, near the communeCommunes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
of Chamberet
Chamberet
Chamberet is a commune in the Corrèze department in central France.-Population:...
in the département of Corrèze
Corrèze
Corrèze is a department in south central France, named after the Corrèze River.The inhabitants of the department are called Corréziens or Corréziennes according to gender.-History:...
. The daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter of local farmers, she grew up in the heart of Limousin’s countryside civilization. At home, she would hear and learn two languages: Occitan and French. She went to primary school in Surdoux and Saint-Léonard in Haute-Vienne
Haute-Vienne
Haute-Vienne is a French department named after the Vienne River. It is one of three departments that together constitute the French region of Limousin.The chief and largest city is Limoges...
and then to secondary school in Brive where she took a baccalauréat
Baccalauréat
The baccalauréat , often known in France colloquially as le bac, is an academic qualification which French and international students take at the end of the lycée . It was introduced by Napoleon I in 1808. It is the main diploma required to pursue university studies...
in philosophy and literature. She later entered the college of decorative arts of Limoges
Limoges
Limoges |Limousin]] dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....
where she developed a strong liking for human shapes (faces and feminine curves) and beauty in general.
In 1945, she returned to the family farm in Germont where she spent the rest of her life working the land, something she did "because one has to earn their daily bread"). In the meantime, whether milking the cows or driving a tractor, she’d still think of apt rhymes for the poems she wrote. Poetry accompanied her all day long and she’d always carry a wee jotter and a pen in her pocket. When inspiration came, when the words were there, fine and ready, Marcela took a break and immediately put them down on paper. Indeed, most of her masterpieces probably sprang from a bundle of straw in a stable or in the middle of a field.
From the end of the 1940s to the early years of the following decade, as the exercise books in which she wrote her poems and thoughts were beginning to heap up, Marcela Delpastre sent some of her works to literary journals and arts reviews. She was greatly encouraged by the correspondence she engaged in. As her texts got published, Marcela grew increasingly famous among the well-read people of Limousin.
Local literary recognition
In the 1960s, Marcela Delpastre was the helpless witness of the death of her native village of Germont and the painful decline of the millennial farming civilization of Limousin. The tractors replaced the oxen, the machines did the hands and television the evening gatherings... With all of her heart, Marcela now immersed herself into the tales, the legends and the traditions of her home paísOccitania
Occitania , also sometimes lo País d'Òc, "the Oc Country"), is the region in southern Europe where Occitan was historically the main language spoken, and where it is sometimes still used, for the most part as a second language...
and met with Robert Joudoux, from the Lemouzi magazine, and Jean Mouzat, another Occitan author.
Marcela Delpastre’s first work in lenga d’òc was called La Lenga que tant me platz (The Language I Love So):
- "E si m’aproisme a la senta taula, voldriá 'na òstia de pan de blat — per comuniar tot per lo còp emb lo bon Dieu e emb la terra — ensemble belament 'semblats, coma l’alen a la saba daus blats, — dins la lenga que tant me platz."
- "And should I get near the holy table, I’d ask for a host of wheat bread — to receive communion both from Our LordGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
and the earth — the two of them so beautifully alike, as the wind is the sap of corn, — in the language I love so."
From then on, Marcela decided to write in Limousin, both the tongue and the place, and about Limousin. In the aforementioned magazine were subsequently published a couple of poems, among which Lo Rossinhòl e l’eglantina (The Nightingale & the Wild Rose) and Lo Chamin de tèrra (The Dirt Track). For an easier writing, she also learned the normalized Occitan spelling.
In the mid-1960s, Marcela began collecting and re-inventing traditional tales from her native Limousin. The first book was published in 1970 and its title was: Los Contes dau Pueg Gerjant (The Tales of Mount Gerjant). At the same time, she did the work of an ethnologist
Ethnology
Ethnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity.-Scientific discipline:Compared to ethnography, the study of single groups through direct...
and wrote, in French, Le Tombeau des ancêtres (The Tomb of Our Ancestors) about the customs and beliefs surrounding local religious festivals and cults. In 1968, La Vinha dins l’òrt (The Vine in the Garden) was released: this poem won an award at the Jaufre Rudel competition. Its French version, La Vigne dans le jardin was adapted for the stage by the Radio-Limoges drama company. They adapted more texts by Marcela Delpastre later in the decade, among which featured L’Homme éclaté (The Exploded Man) and La Marche à l’étoile (Walking to the Star). Marcela kept on writing and published other poems in several reviews, such as Lemouzi, Traces, Poésie 1, Vent Terral and Òc.
Occitania-wide acclaim
In 1974, Saumes pagans (Pagan Psalms) appeared in the collection called Messatges de l’IEOInstitut d'Estudis Occitans
The Institut d'Estudis Occitans , or IEO, or Occitan Studies Institute, or Institute for Occitan Studies, is a cultural association that was founded in 1945 by a group of Occitan and French writers including Jean Cassou, Tristan Tzara, Ismaël Girard, Max Roqueta, Renat Nelli, and Pierre Rouquette...
. It’s with these poems that Marcela Delpastre truly gained recognition from the whole Occitan literary world. In Le Bourgeois et le paysan (The Bourgeois & the Farmer) she went another step farther in portraying the customs, beliefs and oral tradition of Limousin, this time around the theme of fire. Later, in her Bestiari lemosin (The Limousin Bestiary), she focused on wild animals and cattle and mixed reality with mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
. By the end of the 1970s Marcela also met two very important men for her career: one is Micheu Chapduelh and the other is Jan dau Melhau. She regularly featured in their review, Lo Leberaubre, and grew popular beyond the circle of her readers by giving her opinion in articles and interviews in the local Limousin press (Limousin Magazine, La Montagne, L’Écho, Le Populaire...), but most of all, among Occitan activists thanks to magazines like Òc, Occitans and especially Connaissance des Pays d’Òc, with Ives Roqueta
Ives Roqueta
Ives Roqueta is an Occitan author. For a long time now, Roqueta has played a major role in the country's political and cultural movement. He was the president of the IEO for a number of years and his brother Joan, better known as Joan Larzac, is a writer and an Occitan activist as well...
’s help.
In the last years of her life, Marcela Delpastre (and her friend Jan dau Melhau) spent her time dusting off hundreds of unpublished texts. Suffering from Charcot disease, she died in her bed on February 6, 1998 in her Germont farm, where she was born, where she’d always stayed and worked. Jan dau Melhau, her sole legatee, has since released more of her writings for the Lo Chamin de Sent-Jaume publishing house. The poet’s works are kept at Limoges’s City Library.
A poet, a story-teller, an author and an ethnologist, Marcela Delpastre is now considered one of the ten most important writers of the 20th century, alongside the likes of Joan Bodon
Joan Bodon
Joan Bodon, who was born in Crespin, Aveyron, Occitania on December 11, 1920 and died on February 24, 1975 in Algeria, is an author who wrote exclusively in Occitan although he is credited as being called Jean Boudou in the French translations of his works...
, Bernat Manciet
Bernat Manciet
Bernat Manciet was a major Occitan author.-Biography:Manciet attended school first in his native Sabres and then spent three years in the lycée of Talence where he lived at his uncles', who were priests. They taught him Latin and Ancient Greek...
, Renat Nelli
Renat Nelli
Renat Nelli , who was born in Carcassonne, Aude in 1896 and died in 1982, was one of the major Occitan authors of the 20th century.In Vichy France, Nelli joined the French Resistance and in 1945 was one of the co-founders of the Institut d'Estudis Occitans...
and Max Roqueta
Max Roqueta
Max Roqueta was one of the most famous contemporary Occitan writers. A physician, he was also an activist .-Prose:...
. The message of this woman, who never left her home land of Limousin, is one of universal significance, one that addresses everybody, and this is probably what makes her words so strong and beautiful.
Extracts
Res que me manque, res. Lo temps de naisser, de morir, lo temps de me virar. Lo temps de res. D’esser quela chalor. Queu sang. Quela bufada. Lo temps d’esser ieu-mesme — Res. 'Na polsada de l’esser. ♦ L'Òrt jos la luna http://www.printempsdespoetes.com/le_livre/index.php?http://www.printempsdespoetes.com/le_livre/moteur.php?fiche_poete&cle=537&nom=Marcela+Delpastre Onte se'n van, quilhs que se'n van? Lo paubre auseu, lo chen, la femna — E tu qui parlas tant, onte aniràs? Mas se'n van pas! Demoran qui, que bujan pas, remuedan pas, ni pè ni sòla. E lo temps que se'n vai — Lo temps qu'a pas besonh de ilhs — Lo temps qu'espera pas — Lo temps se'n vai d’aicí a deman mai tòrna pas virar. E tu parier lai entraràs, per la broa tranquilla dau chamin. E tu segur lai entraràs, dins lo silenci priond de l'eternela eternitat. ♦ La Broa dau chamin http://membres.lycos.fr/simorre/linha/delpastre.htm Me desvelhe. Es be jorn. Coma un qui se desvelha E qui la nuech n’a pas barrat sos uelhs, Ai be trauchat l’ivern sens veire nuech ni nèvia E sens sentir lo vent. Me desvelhe. Veiquí. De flors mai de fuelhas se’s perfumada l’auba, E la prima chanta lo vent. M’a fach durmir ni nuech ni nèvia, E lo mes mòrt me ten lo sang: Que me son las fuelhas mai las flors! E lo vent de prima ni lo solelh de l’auba. Las peiras daus chamins que lo giau las trabalha, E la terra daus puegs, Sentan dins las priondors lo levam de la grana E las dents de las raiç. Mas ieu, que me desvelha? E sabe-ieu qu’es jorn! E sabe-ieu si l’auba raia, e que me vòl l’amor! ♦ La Prima http://ujan.free.fr/poelim/prim.htm |
| There is nothing I lack, nothing. The time to be born, to die, the time to turn around. The time for nothing. To be that heat. That blood. That breathing. The time to be myself — Nothing. The breath of being. ♦ The Garden Under the Moon Where do they go, those who leave? The poor bird, the dog, the woman — And you who speaks so much, where will you go? They're not leaving at all! They remain here, not moving, not stirring, neither foot nor sole. And the time that elapses — The time that doesn't need them — The time that doesn't wait — The time that leaves from here to the morrow and then never comes back. And you too will walk in there, along the quiet path. And you sure will walk in there, in the deep silence of eternal eternity. ♦ Along the Path I'm waking up. It's well into the day. Like one who's waking up And whose eyes the night hasn't shut, I've been living through the winter without seeing night nor snow, Without feeling the wind. I'm waking up. That's it. With flowers and leaves the morning has perfumed itself, And springtime sings of the wind. Neither night nor snow have made me sleep, And the dead month is freezing my blood: What are flowers and leaves to me! Or the springtime wind or even the morning sun. The pebbles on the path that frost is working on, And the earth of the hills, Feel deep inside the leaven of the seed And the teeth of the roots. But me, what is waking me? Do I even know it's day yet! Do I even know if the morning's shining, and what loves wants from me! ♦ The Springtime |
Selected bibliography
- 1964 : La lenga que tant me platz (Lemouzi, TulleTulleTulle is a commune and capital of the Corrèze department in the Limousin region in central France. It is also the episcopal see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulle...
) - 1965 : Lo Rossinhòu e l’Eglantina (Lemouzi)
- 1967 : La Vinha dins l’òrt (Escòla Jaufre Rudel)
- 1968 : Lo Chamin de terra (Lemouzi)
- 1970 : Los Contes dau pueg Gerjant (Lemouzi)
- 1974 : Saumes pagans (IEO-Novelum)
- 1996 : Las Vias priondas de la memòria (L’Ostal del Libre, AurillacAurillacAurillac is a commune in the Auvergne region in south-central France, capital of the Cantal department.Aurillac's inhabitants are called Aurillacois, and are also Cantaliens or Cantalous in Occitan....
) - 1997 : Paraulas per questa terra (Lo Chamin de Sent Jaume, MeuzacMeuzacMeuzac is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Limousin region in west-central France.Inhabitants are known as Meuzacois and Meuzacoises.-Geography:...
) - 1997 : Cinq heures du soir & Proses pour l’après-midi, (Payot, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
) - 1998 : Le jeu de patience (Payot, Paris)
- 1998 : Les chemins creux (Presses de la Cité)
- 1999 : Saumes pagans (Lo Chamin de Sent Jaume, Meuzac)
- 1999 : Poèmes dramatiques (Lo Chamin de Sent Jaume, Meuzac)
- 2000 : Le Bourgeois et le paysan, les contes du feu (Payot, Paris)
- 2000 : Poésie modale (Lo Chamin de Sent Jaume, Meuzac)
- 2001 : Le Testament de l’eau douce (Fédérop, GardonneGardonneGardonne is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...
) - 2001 : Les Petits recueils (Lo Chamin de Sent Jaume, Meuzac)
- 2001 : D’una lenga l’autra (Lo Chamin de Sent Jaume, Meuzac)
- 2001 : Ballades (Lo Chamin de Sent Jaume, Meuzac)
- 2002 : Le Chasseur d’ombres: et autres psaumes (Lo Chamin de Sent Jaume, Meuzac)
- 2002 : L’Araignée et la rose: et autres psaumes (Lo Chamin de Sent Jaume, Meuzac)
- 2003 : Bestiari lemosin (Lo Chamin de Sent Jaume, Meuzac)
- 2004 : Mémoires (Lo Chamin de Sent Jaume, Meuzac)
- 2005 : Des trois passages en Limousin (Lo Chamin de Sent Jaume, Meuzac)
External links
- Corrèze.org
- An article in Lire magazine
- A dedicated weblog
- Philippe Gardy: Figuras dau poèta e dau poèma dins l'escritura occitana contemporanèa (Edicions Jorn)
- Plein Chant magazine, special edition, #71/72 (2000–01)
- Lo Leberaubre magazine, special edition, #23/24 (1999), Omenatge a Marcela Delpastre
- Bleu de Paille
- Cardabelle, l'Esprit d'une terre