29 March 2019

Marie-Hélène Lafon: Le Pays d'en haut : entretiens avec Fabrice Lardreau (2019)

'Versant intime' is a series of books, directed by Fabrice Lardreau, in which figures from the world of literature, the arts, sciences and travel speak about mountains, nature in general, their travels, and their relationship with the fragile beauty of the world: Lardreau himself is a journalist with La Montagne et Alpinisme along with being the author of ten novels and works of non-fiction. Here, in about the first two thirds of the book, Lardreau asks Marie-Hélène Lafon a number of questions.

Lafon was brought up on an isolated farm in the north of Cantal, her parents being peasant farmers who expected her to move away from the land because they realised that it was the end of the peasant farming industry. She describes her early life and her contact with the mountains and nature, and even though she is a transfuge, a former member of the peasant class now become an academic and a notable novelist, her previous experiences have moulded her, being something unforgettable: her novels have evident autobiographical elements, and she describes some of these.

She also describes her cultural experiences, the books and songs that shaped her life. Following the interviewing, Lafon includes a number of influential 'mountain' readings: Jean Ferrat's song La Montagne about people leaving the mountains, a song she saw as old-fashioned in her early teens, a song her mother liked, but which had an effect on her too; Julien Gracq's experiences of walking in the mountains near to where she lived; Jean Giono in the Auvergne rather than Provence; etc.

The most fascinating extract Lafon gives us here is from a collection called Vialatte à la montagne (published in 2011) in which Alexandre Vialatte (1901-71) speaks about Puy-de-Dôme. Lafon's parents used to buy the daily local paper La Montagne, which Lafon didn't read. Vialatte had a weekly column in the paper in which he may have written about mountains, or anything which took his fancy to write about. But even if he was writing about mountains, they may well have just been an excuse for him to digress. In the article Vialatte, in a remarkably amusing excuse for exaggerating the truth about the height of the Puy-de-Dôme, moves on to the Larousse encyclopaedia's mentioning Saint-Ferréol-sur-Arzon having a population of 2001. Vialatte points out that while the count was being made, Larousse forgot that the baker's wife had run off to Paris with the postman's brother-in-law, the butcher's wife had had twins, the sexton had died of cold, and the police sergeant had been eaten by a wolf. (Needless to say, Saint-Ferréol-sur-Arzon doesn't exist, but the reader gets a strong idea of Vialatte's humour.)

And the reader gets a strong idea of Marie-Hélène Lafon's psychology in this highly readable book. I shall be reading more of her work, although the Vialatte excerpt reminds me that I have a book of his his which contains many of his writings from La Montagne: I shall read that first.

Links to my Marie-Hélène Lafon posts:
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Marie-Hélène Lafon: Le Pays d'en haut : entretiens avec Fabrice Lardreau
Marie-Hélène Lafon: Sur la photo
Marie-Hélène Lafon: Les Derniers indiens
Marie-Hélène Lafon: L'Annonce

26 March 2019

Jean-Baptiste Godin and Utopia, Guise, Aisne (02)

Utopian socialist, industrialist and writer Jean-Baptiste André Godin was born in Esquéhéries in Aisne in 1817 to a locksmith father. In 1840, now a locksmith himself, Godin took out a patent on cast iron stoves. Two years later he discovered the socialist ideas of Charles Fourier. He moved his business in domestic appliances to Guise in 1846 and, between 1859-1884, he constructed his Familistère there.

At La Familistère the workers joined in the management and decision-making process, becoming owners of the factory and the central dwelling: Le Pavillon, or Palais social. Godin was driven by the ideas of Fourier mainly, and also those of Saint-Simon, Étienne Cabet and Robert Owen. La Familistère housed 2000 people, and for thirty years, with his partner and later wife Marie Moret, dedicated himself to the community in Guise.

Godin died in 1888, although the cooperative continued until 1968, when La Familistère became a capitalist concern. The buildings were declared historical monuments in 1991 and between 2006 and 2014 they were opened as a museum.

An external view of Le Pavillon Central, or Palais central.

And here, an internal view of the superb Pavillon Central. Formerly the rooms were all apartments, although now many are display rooms giving information on the apartments, the history of La Familistère, different utopias, Godin stoves, etc.



A Cuisiniére No. 1080 'Pot-au-Fer', 1930


Cuisiniére No. 956, 1914.

There are several reconstructions of the apartments, this representing the 1950s.

And this the 1960s. Apartments were quite spacious, having several rooms.

The impressive view from the top of the stairs.


The statue of Godin in front of the Pavillon Central, with a 'map' of the Familistère on one of the sides of the base.

A plate, one of a series, in Godin's former apartment where he lived with Marie Moret. The scene is called 'La Propriété c'est le vol' ('Property is theft'), and is a satire on the anarchist Proudhon's famous quotation.

Bust in bronze of Godin by Tony-Noël, c. 1881.

Bust in marble of Marie Moret, again by Tony-Noël in 1881.

The buanderie, or laundry.

The swimming pool at the side of the laundry.



Next to the buildings there is a jardin d'agrément at the side of the River Oise, the upper part of which ends in the mausoleum where Jean-Baptiste André Godin and Marie Moret lie.

In 1938, the 150th anniverary of Godin's death, members of the Association 'Travailleurs et Pensionnés' of Guise and Brussels had erected this monument to Godin at the side of the mausoleum.

Links to my Utopia posts:
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Hancock Shaker Village, MA
Jean-Baptiste Godin and Utopia, Guise, Aisne (02)

25 March 2019

Arthur Rimbaud quotations, Place de la gare, Charleville-Mézières, Ardennes (08)

Around part of the paved area of the Place de la Gare (also called Square de la Gare)  in Charleville-Mézières are stones set into the pavement containing some of the words of the poems of Arthur Rimbaud. I show these below, with the name of the work in brackets.

'On n'est pas sérieux, quand on a dix-sept ans' ('Roman').

'[...] la grande route par tous les temps [...] je m'évade' ('L'Impossible')

The lines here don't follow on, and aren't even in the order Rimbaud wrote them.

'Les Fleuves m'ont laissé descendre où je voulais'

'J'ai rêvé la nuit verte aux neiges éblouies'

'Et j'ai vu quelque fois ce que l'homme a cru voir !'

'J'ai heurté, savez-vous, d'incroyables Florides'

'J'ai vu des archipels sidéraux !'

'Ô que ma quille éclate ! Ô que j'aille à la mer !

'Glaciers, soleils d'argent, flots nacreux, cieux de braises !'

('Le Bateau ivre')

'Par les soirs bleus d'été, j'irai dans les sentiers'
[...]
'Et j'irai loin, bien loin, [comme un bohémien]'

('Sensation')

'Départ dans l'affection et le bruit neufs !'

('Départ')

'Ô fécondité de l'esprit et immensité de l'univers !'

('Génie')

'J'ai tendu des cordes de clocher à clocher; des guirlandes de fenêtre à fenêtre; des chaînes d'or d'étoile à étoile, et je danse.'

'Je ne pourrai jamais envoyer l'Amour par la fenêtre'

('Phrase')

'Qu'il vienne, qu'il vienne
Le temps dont on s'éprenne'

('Chanson')

'Le chant des cieux, la marche des peuples ! Esclaves ne maudissons pas la vie.'

('Matin')

'des piliers d'acajou supportant un dôme d'émeraudes'

('Fleur')

'Elle est retrouvée.
Quoi ? — L'Éternité.
C'est la mer allée
Avec le soleil'

('L'Éternité')

Again, this is a bit of an odd mixture of pieces from 'Adieu'.
'nous entrerons aux splendides villes'

'J'ai créé toutes les fêtes, tous les triomphes, tous les drames.'

'Il faut être absolument moderne.'

'Un grand vaisseau d'or, au-dessus de moi, agite ses pavillons multicolores sous les brises du matin.'

('Adieu')


And finally, this monument, depicting Rimbaud's head, stands close to the entrance to the station. On the other side is another quotation from 'Adieu': 'je suis rendu au sol avec un devoir à chercher'. Some sites say Michel Gillet sculpted this for the centenary of Rimbaud's death, but then it appears that Gillet died in his eighties in 1991, so the truth seems unclear.


My Arthur Rimbaud posts:
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Yanny Hureaux: Un Ardennais nommé Rimbaud
Arthur Rimbaud and the Vilains bonhommes, Paris 6e
Rimbaud's 'Le Bateau ivre' sculpture, Paris 6e
Arthur Rimbaud, Parc Balnéaire du Prado, Marseille
Arthur Rimbaud in Charleville-Mézières cemetery
Arthur Rimbaud in Roche
Arthur Rimbaud quotations, Charleville-Mézières
Arthur Rimbaud memorial, Charleville-Mézières
Arthur Rimbaud murals in Charleville-Mézières
Rimbaud and Verlaine in Camden Town
Arthur Rimbaud museums in Charleville-Mézières
Arthur Rimbaud in Attigny
Arthur Rimbaud and Hervé Tonglet in Charleville-Mézières

24 March 2019

Arthur Rimbaud memorial, Place de la gare, Charleville-Mézières, Ardennes (08)


The original bust of Arthur Rimbaud in the Place de la gare in Charleville-Mézières was placed there by Rimbaud's brother-in-law Paterne Berrichon (Pierre-Eugène Dufour), the poet, painter and sculptor. It was destroyed in World War I. In 1927 Alphonse Colle replaced the bust, although it too was melted down during the Vichy régime. The third bust by Dumont, seen here and modelled on Colle's, replaced the second bust in 1954.

My Arthur Rimbaud posts:
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Yanny Hureaux: Un Ardennais nommé Rimbaud
Arthur Rimbaud and the Vilains bonhommes, Paris 6e
Rimbaud's 'Le Bateau ivre' sculpture, Paris 6e
Arthur Rimbaud, Parc Balnéaire du Prado, Marseille
Arthur Rimbaud in Charleville-Mézières cemetery
Arthur Rimbaud in Roche
Arthur Rimbaud quotations, Charleville-Mézières
Arthur Rimbaud memorial, Charleville-Mézières
Arthur Rimbaud murals in Charleville-Mézières
Rimbaud and Verlaine in Camden Town
Arthur Rimbaud museums in Charleville-Mézières
Arthur Rimbaud in Attigny
Arthur Rimbaud and Hervé Tonglet in Charleville-Mézières

21 March 2019

Arthur Rimbaud 'chair-poems' in Charleville-Mézières, Ardennes (08)

Alchimie des Ailleurs, by Michel Goulet (2011)

This artwork is a result of a number of organisations working together, and was revealed in October 2011. 

Michel Goulet, the sculptor from Québec, made these eighteen 'chair-poems' in stainless steel as a link between the Musée Arthur Rimbaud and the Maison d'Ailleurs. Here, there are eighteen extracts from Rimbaud's works, each one followed by an unpublished poem by a contemproary Francophone writer. I show each chair, plus the name and nationality of the poet.

Mathieu BROSSEAU (France)

Liliane WOUTERS (Belgium)

Denise DESAUTELS (Québec)

Jean-Pierre VERHEGGEN (Belgium)

NIMROD (Chad)

Samira NEGROUCHES (Algeria)

Marie-Claire BANCOUART (France)

Ferdando d'ALMEIDA (Cameroon)

Vénus KHOURY-GHATA (Lebanon)

Linda Maria BAROS (Rumania)

Michel A. THÉRIEN (Canada)

Alise KOLTZ (Luxembourg)

Jean-Marc DESGENT (Québec)

Amadou Lamine SALL (Senegal)

Christien PRIGENT (France)

Éric BROGNIET (Belgium)

Jean-Paul DAOUST (Québec)

Pierre-Alain TÂCHE (Switzerland)

Michel Goulet also created the literary chairs in Montréal, also (all) viewable on my blog here.

My Arthur Rimbaud posts:
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Yanny Hureaux: Un Ardennais nommé Rimbaud
Arthur Rimbaud and the Vilains bonhommes, Paris 6e
Rimbaud's 'Le Bateau ivre' sculpture, Paris 6e
Arthur Rimbaud, Parc Balnéaire du Prado, Marseille
Arthur Rimbaud in Charleville-Mézières cemetery
Arthur Rimbaud in Roche
Arthur Rimbaud quotations, Charleville-Mézières
Arthur Rimbaud memorial, Charleville-Mézières
Arthur Rimbaud murals in Charleville-Mézières
Rimbaud and Verlaine in Camden Town
Arthur Rimbaud museums in Charleville-Mézières
Arthur Rimbaud in Attigny
Arthur Rimbaud and Hervé Tonglet in Charleville-Mézières