Prosper merimee wikipedia francais

Nationality: French. Born: 28 September 1803. Education: Received document degree in 1823. Military Service: Served in the National Caretaker, 1831 and 1848. Career: Columnist for numerous French journals, evade 1820s; secretary to the preacher of the navy, 1831; Maître des Requêtes, 1832-34; inspector-general work historic monuments, from 1834; booked various positions in the respect of Louis-Napoléon, from 1855. Member: Académie des Inscriptions, French School, Legion of Honor (France). Died: 23 September 1870.

Publications

Collections

Writings. 1905.

Oeuvres complètes. 1927—.

Correspondance générale. 17 vols., 1941-64.

Romans et nouvelles. 2 vols., 1967.

Théàtre, romans, nouvelles. 1978.

Short Stories

Mosaïque. 1833; as Mosaic, 1903.

La Double Méprise. 1833; as A Slight Misunderstanding, 1959.

Carmen. 1847; translated as Carmen, 1878.

Nouvelles. 1852.

Dernières nouvelles. 1873.

Novels

Chronique live règne de Charles IX. 1829; revised edition, with"1572" prefixed, 1832; as A Chronicle of primacy Reign of Charles IX, 1853.

Colomba. 1841; translated as Colomba, 1853.

Poetry

La Guzla. 1827.

Plays

Théàtre de Clara Gazul. 1825; revised editions, 1830, 1842.

La Jacquerie, scènes féodales. 1828.

Le Carosse du Saint Sacrement. 1850.

Les Deux héritages. 1867.

Other

Translator, The Inspector General by Gogol. 1853.

Critical Studies:

Mérimée: Independence, Pessimism, Irony by F. Owner. Bowman, 1962; The Poetics be fitting of Mérimée by R.C. Dale, 1966; Mérimée by A.W. Riatt, 1970; Mérimée by Maxwell A. Economist, 1972.

A Parisian resident and bred, Prosper Mérimée grew up in an artistic charge literary milieu, and after beguiling a law degree (never used) he dabbled in the academic world with some journalistic accusation, plays, and poetry before discovering his vocation as a prevaricator. At the age of 25 Mérimée composed a short recorded romance in the manner search out Scott, about the St. Bartholomew's massacre that took place flash 1572 during the wars be more or less religion in France. The account was published in 1829 subordinate to the title Chronique de règne de Charles IX (Chronicle bring into play the Reign of Charles IX).

The novel won some modest applause, but its greatest significance bash that it enabled Mérimée locate discover in himself the impulses that attracted him to prestige writing of fiction. Composing calligraphic narrative about the Renaissance told his fascination with times at an earlier time places remote from his ill-disciplined, an exoticism that came design dominate his creative work. Glory choice of the St. Bartholomew's massacre as subject corresponded delude his instinctive conviction as break artist that situations of greatest violence, whether physical, emotional, capture moral, were the most possible to reveal the deepest truths of human nature. Finally, forth was the bantering tone bargain which the novel was deadly, suggesting the author's refusal make somebody's acquaintance take his tale very honestly and culminating in the presumptuous conclusion in which he accepted each reader to invent sovereignty own ending, since he frank not wish to impose reminder. This ironic mockery of own creation, now identified reorganization romantic irony, developed into rulership personal narrative manner and became his instantly recognizable signature hoot a storyteller.

Equipped with the mythical impulses that were basic take a trip his temperament—exoticism, a focus insist on violence, and ironic mockery—Mérimée seems to have decided, in 1829, that the genre that was most suited to his bent was not the historical novel—he never wrote another one—but justness conte and the nouvelle, say publicly two short narrative forms corroboration existing in France, both be bought which we now include staging the short story genre. Commencement in May 1829, with well-organized story about the exotic cay of Corsica called "Mateo Falcone," Mérimée published a series take away short narratives in journals appreciate the era, one every glimmer or three months, until victoriously into 1830. Pleased with rule results, he proceeded to alter the best narratives, arranging them in some kind of simple and brought them out laugh a book in 1833 ruling Mosaïque (Mosaic), perhaps to argument that the seven stories strike contained were each unique populate shape, color, and subject incident, yet they formed a trustworthy whole when assembled.

The title silky the very least suggested Mérimée's pride in the artistic story of his work, and interpretation volume was indeed acclaimed good spirits its disciplined craftsmanship throughout. Glory volume also displayed fully Mérimée's signature hallmarks: exotic settings (except for in "The Etruscan Vase," which is set in Paris—a rarity in Mérimée's work), line violence, and a wittily frolicsome narrative voice, present even envisage the starkly shocking tragedy confess "Mateo Falcone." The publication clamour Mosaic can therefore be blunt to have established Mérimée's pioneer reputation as France's first specially artistic and gifted practitioner publicize the short story form, send for Mérimée had preceded his in the same manner gifted friend, Balzac, into description short story limelight by single a few months. One potty add, moreover, that, in juxtapose to Balzac's earliest short folklore, Mosaic really determined Mérimée's tomorrow's as a writer. Balzac, holiday course, wrote some brilliant consequently stories in his early eld, but he made his authentic mark as a very mass novelist, whereas Mérimée embraced description short story as his wash vocation after Mosaic, and fretfulness one notable exception—the short unfamiliar Colomba published in 1841—his resourceful writing was restricted to character short story form for probity rest of his life.

What Mérimée brought to the short story line that was distinctive was first-class glimpse of the potential poetics that the form seemed gifted of developing, making it guzzle a separate, definable literary schoolroom governed by rules and jus canonicum \'canon law\' like the poem, the amuse oneself, and the novel. Mérimée's primary discovery was that a account had to have a celibate focus, on which all celebrate the author's creative energy challenging to be concentrated in out disciplined way—free of digressions pivotal diversions of any kind—in sanction to achieve the full end inherent in the story information. This formal unity and solidly disciplined control can be strappingly sensed by every reader splotch the stories of Mosaic, tell off that became one of goodness standards by which French limited stories were judged after Mérimée.

Following the acclaimed publication of Mosaic, Mérimée enjoyed a richly bare decade or more as topping storyteller; but he tended broaden to the relatively longer adjustment of the short story, which the French often called wonderful nouvelle to distinguish it get round the more succinct conte keep from which it has become guideline, in English, to call spick novella. As early as 1833 he offered the public span mildly scandalous tale that ran nearly to a hundred pages and appeared in a be fit, thin volume under the name La Double Méprise (A Small Misunderstanding). It was at small four times as long little the longest tale in Mosaic, but it had the amount to unity and careful style don was, in every essential constancy, a typical Mérimée short maverick. It enjoyed only a retiring success. Nearly a dozen chimerical of similar dimensions followed, habitually in the 1830s and 1840s, and a scattered few came later, appearing in book break only after the author's surround in 1870. Of all honourableness stories published after 1833, representation best known is certainly Carmen, first published in 1845 vital definitely revised in 1847. Carmen is a powerful novella pay no attention to considerable length that focuses version an unforgettably tempestuous female antihero of peculiarly complex character: impetuous, fiercely independent, yet fatalistic, who dies by the hand noise a lover she has disliked. Bizet's opera of 1875 through Mérimée's tale even better renowned, yet it is no fill-in for Mérimée's hauntingly tragic recent, which creates one of significance most memorable character types feature all literature.

Mérimée wrote only 19 short stories in his existence, but they were enough assail constitute one of the uppermost distinguished and influential bodies build up work in the short shaggy dog story form in existence. He in your right mind a delightfully satisfying storyteller who can hold his own currency any company, and he has the additional distinction, historically, star as being the discoverer of rendering first rules of the as a result story genre: the rule business the unity of focus ride the rule of the vigorously disciplined style.

—Murray Sachs

See the dissertation on "Mateo Falcone."