François Mauriac : the making of an intellectual

203 Pages·2006·0.8 MB·English

by  Welch

François Mauriac
The Making of an Intellectual
FAUX TITRE
290
Etudes de langue et littérature françaises
publiées sous la direction de
Keith Busby, M.J. Freeman,
Sjef Houppermans et Paul Pelckmans
François Mauriac
The Making of an Intellectual
Edward Welch
AMSTERDAM - NEW YORK, NY 2006
Photo cover: François Mauriac with Françoise Giroud and Jean-Jacques
Servan-Schreiber at L’Express, circa 1954. © D.R./L’Express/Editingserver.com
Cover design: Pier Post
The paper on which this book is printed meets the requirements of
‘ISO 9706: 1994, Information and documentation - Paper for documents -
Requirements for permanence’.
Le papier sur lequel le présent ouvrage est imprimé remplit les prescriptions
de ‘ISO 9706: 1994, Information et documentation - Papier pour documents
- Prescriptions pour la permanence’.
ISBN-10: 90-420-2112-8
ISBN-13: 978-90-420-2112-9
© Editions Rodopi B.V., Amsterdam - New York, NY 2006
Printed in The Netherlands
Contents

Acknowledgements 7

Conventions of Reference 9

Introduction 11

Chapter 1 Choices and Positionings 29

Chapter 2 Death and Resurrection 59

Chapter 3 Responsibility and Commitment 93

Chapter 4 Commitment and Commodification 133

Chapter 5 Abdication and Alienation 167

Bibliography 185

Index 199
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Acknowledgements

Much of this book was written during a period of research leave
granted by the University of Durham, and funded partially by the Arts
and Humanities Research Council, whose support I gratefully
acknowledge. It represents the culmination of a long engagement with
Mauriac’s work which has benefited from the advice, support and
encouragement of various mauriaciens over the years, and in
particular Toby Garfitt, my doctoral supervisor, Malcolm Scott and
Margaret Parry. I would also like to thank Ron Naylor, who first
introduced me to Mauriac and his world, and planted the seed of later
research.
A number of people took the time and care to comment on
earlier versions of the manuscript. My thanks go to Alex Harrington,
Andrea Noble and Jean-Pierre Le Bourhis for several insightful and
useful observations. Russell Goulbourne and Michael Hawcroft were
particularly generous with their time, rigorous and incisive in their
comments, and encouraging in their support. Their contribution is
greatly valued. Thanks too to Karen Exell for her work on the index.
Finally, I wish to acknowledge the good-humoured and
unfailing support offered by all my friends and family throughout the
writing of the book. Lisa Downing, Katherine Lunn-Rockcliffe and
Tom Westall are to be especially thanked, as are my parents, Derek
and Christine, to whom this book is dedicated.
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Conventions of Reference

Throughout the book, reference is made in the text to the following
works by Mauriac.

BN Bloc-notes, ed. by Jean Touzot (Paris: Seuil, coll.
“Points”, 1993), 5 vols

LV Lettres d’une vie, ed. by Caroline Mauriac (Paris:
Grasset, 1981)

MP Mémoires politiques (Paris: Grasset, 1967)

NLV Nouvelles lettres d’une vie, ed. by Caroline Mauriac
(Paris: Grasset, 1989)

OA Œuvres autobiographiques, ed. by François Durand
(Paris: Gallimard, coll. “Bibl. de la Pléiade”, 1990)

OC Œuvres complètes (Paris: Fayard, 1952), 12 vols

ORTC Œuvres romanesques et théâtrales complètes, ed. by
Jacques Petit (Paris: Gallimard, coll. “Bibl. de la
Pléiade”, 1978-1985), 4 vols

SR Souvenirs retrouvés: entretiens avec Jean Amrouche
(Paris: Fayard/I.N.A., 1981)

References to all other works by Mauriac are footnoted.