Pierre Naville
Encyclopedia
Pierre Naville was a French Surrealist writer
and sociologist. He was a prominent member of the 'Investigating Sex' group of Surrealist thinkers.
In politics, he was a Communist and then a Trotskyist, before joining the PSU
. He led a career as an occupational sociologist.
, François Gérard, Max Jacob
, Louis Aragon
and Blaise Cendrars
.
He was co-editor with Benjamin Péret
for the three first numbers of La Révolution Surréaliste
, founded the Bureau de Recherches Surréalistes (1924) and participated in surrealist activities with André Breton
before eventually opposing Surrealism because of his political divergences from the emerging Surrealist orthodoxy.
(PCF), for which he managed the publication Clarté. He was part of a delegation which visited Leon Trotsky
in Moscow in 1927. He returned convinced by Trotsky's arguments and was expelled from the Communist Party in 1928 for deviationism
. From this point onwards he participated in the life of the French Trotskyist extreme left and notably its publications. However, he became less and less convinced by Trotsky's position and broke with the group in 1939. He then organised attempts to create a Marxist left, devoid of Communist and Trotskyist trappings, whose publication was called Revue Internationale.
Initially passing through the PSU, Naville continued to search for a modern left in the PSG, then the UGS, before taking part in the re-establishment of the Parti Socialiste Unifié (PSU) under the Fifth Republic
. He remained loyal to this party in spite of his opposition to the "realists" (Gilles Martinet, Michel Rocard
) and showed total rejection of François Mitterrand
.
at the Centre d'études sociologiques, dedicating his work to the psychosociology of work and the study of automation
, industrial society
, the psychology of comportment, and the strategists and theoreticians of the war, notably Carl von Clausewitz
. He supervised the French translation and publication of the Complete Works of von Clausewitz.
's L'existentialisme est un humanisme (Existentialism is a Humanism), criticising existentialism
.
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and sociologist. He was a prominent member of the 'Investigating Sex' group of Surrealist thinkers.
In politics, he was a Communist and then a Trotskyist, before joining the PSU
Unified Socialist Party (France)
The Unified Socialist Party was a socialist political party in France, founded on April 3, 1960. It was originally led by Édouard Depreux , and by Michel Rocard .- History :...
. He led a career as an occupational sociologist.
Surrealist from its earliest times
In 1922 he founded the avant-garde periodical L'œuf dur (The Tough Egg) together with Philippe SoupaultPhilippe Soupault
Philippe Soupault was a French writer and poet, novelist, critic, and political activist. He was active in Dadaism and later founded the Surrealist movement with André Breton...
, François Gérard, Max Jacob
Max Jacob
Max Jacob was a French poet, painter, writer, and critic.-Life and career:After spending his childhood in Quimper, Brittany, France, he enrolled in the Paris Colonial School, which he left in 1897 for an artistic career...
, Louis Aragon
Louis Aragon
Louis Aragon , was a French poet, novelist and editor, a long-time member of the Communist Party and a member of the Académie Goncourt.- Early life :...
and Blaise Cendrars
Blaise Cendrars
Frédéric Louis Sauser , better known as Blaise Cendrars, was a Swiss novelist and poet naturalized French in 1916. He was a writer of considerable influence in the modernist movement.-Early years:...
.
He was co-editor with Benjamin Péret
Benjamin Péret
Benjamin Péret was a French poet, Parisian Dadaist and a founder and central member of the French Surrealist movement with his avid use of Surrealist automatism.-Biography:...
for the three first numbers of La Révolution Surréaliste
La Révolution surréaliste
La Révolution surréaliste was a publication by the Surrealists in Paris. Twelve issues were published between 1924 and 1929....
, founded the Bureau de Recherches Surréalistes (1924) and participated in surrealist activities with André Breton
André Breton
André Breton was a French writer and poet. He is known best as the founder of Surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism"....
before eventually opposing Surrealism because of his political divergences from the emerging Surrealist orthodoxy.
Politics
In 1926, Naville joined the French Communist PartyFrench Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
(PCF), for which he managed the publication Clarté. He was part of a delegation which visited Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
in Moscow in 1927. He returned convinced by Trotsky's arguments and was expelled from the Communist Party in 1928 for deviationism
Deviationism
A deviationist is a person who expresses a deviation: an abnormality or departure. In Stalinist Communism deviationism is an expressed belief which is not in accordance with official party doctrine for the time and area. Accusations of deviationism often led to purges...
. From this point onwards he participated in the life of the French Trotskyist extreme left and notably its publications. However, he became less and less convinced by Trotsky's position and broke with the group in 1939. He then organised attempts to create a Marxist left, devoid of Communist and Trotskyist trappings, whose publication was called Revue Internationale.
Initially passing through the PSU, Naville continued to search for a modern left in the PSG, then the UGS, before taking part in the re-establishment of the Parti Socialiste Unifié (PSU) under the Fifth Republic
French Fifth Republic
The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, introduced on 4 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing the prior parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system...
. He remained loyal to this party in spite of his opposition to the "realists" (Gilles Martinet, Michel Rocard
Michel Rocard
Michel Rocard is a French politician, member of the Socialist Party . He served as Prime Minister under François Mitterrand from 1988 to 1991, during which he created the Revenu minimum d'insertion , a social minimum welfare program for indigents, and led the Matignon Accords regarding the status...
) and showed total rejection of François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
.
Psycho-Sociology of Work
Appointed director of research at the CNRS in 1947, he worked with Georges FriedmannGeorges Friedmann
Georges Philippe Friedmann , French Sociologist.Georges Friedmann was the founder of a human work sociology after World War II. In 1921, after studying industrial chemistry, he entered a teacher training college on the rue d'Ulm, in Paris, France. During the war, he was an intellectual Marxist...
at the Centre d'études sociologiques, dedicating his work to the psychosociology of work and the study of automation
Automation
Automation is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work in the production of goods and services. In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization...
, industrial society
Industrial society
In sociology, industrial society refers to a society driven by the use of technology to enable mass production, supporting a large population with a high capacity for division of labour. Such a structure developed in the west in the period of time following the Industrial Revolution, and replaced...
, the psychology of comportment, and the strategists and theoreticians of the war, notably Carl von Clausewitz
Carl von Clausewitz
Carl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz was a Prussian soldier and German military theorist who stressed the moral and political aspects of war...
. He supervised the French translation and publication of the Complete Works of von Clausewitz.
Existentialism
He was the primary other contributor mentioned at the end of Jean-Paul SartreJean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the leading figures in 20th century French philosophy, particularly Marxism, and was one of the key figures in literary...
's L'existentialisme est un humanisme (Existentialism is a Humanism), criticising existentialism
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
.
Honours
The laboratory of research in social sciences and management at the University of Évry Val d'Essonne bears his name.Political
- La Révolution et les Intellectuels, 1926
- Les Jacobins noirs (Toussaint-Louverture et la Révolution de Saint-Domingue) with Cyril Lionel Robert James
- La Guerre du Viêt-Nam, 1949
- Le Nouveau Léviathan, 1957–1975
- Trotsky Vivant, 1962
- Autogestion et Planification, 1980
Sociological
- De la Guerre, translated from Carl Von ClausewitzCarl von ClausewitzCarl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz was a Prussian soldier and German military theorist who stressed the moral and political aspects of war...
with Denise Naville and Camille Rougeron - La Psychologie, science du comportement, 1942
- Psychologie, marxisme, matérialisme, 1948
- La Chine Future, 1952
- La Vie de Travail et ses Problèmes, 1954
- Essai sur la Qualification du Travail, 1956
- Le Traité de Sociologie du Travail, 1961–1962
- L'État entrepreneur: le cas de la régie Renault with Jean-Pierre Bardou, Philippe Brachet and Catherine Lévy, 1971
- Sociologie d'Aujourd'hui, 1981
Books about Pierre Naville
- Des sociologies face à Pierre Naville ou l'archipel des savoirs – Centre Pierre Naville
- Les logiques de la découverte et celles de l'action par Pierre Rolle in: Pierre Naville, la passion de la connaissance – Michel Eliard, Presses universitaires de Toulouse-le-Mirail, 1996