(from previous issue)
After the liberation, Aragon resumed the editorship of Ce Soir until its demise in 1953. In Les Communistes (1949-51) Aragon played with a new kind of novel, that gave the effect of a series of newspaper reports, editorials, and Communist Party speeches. From 1953 to 1972 he was editor of the arts and literature weekly Les Lettres françaises. In 1950-1960 he served on the Central Committee of the French Communist Party, and in 1957 he was rewarded with the Lenin Peace Prize.
‘Poor Aragon,’ Picasso chuckled as soon as Aragon had left his studio. “He doesn’t know anything about pigeons. And as for the gentle dove, what a myth that is! There’s no crueller animal… How’s that for a symbol of Peace?”‘ (in Picasso: Creator & Destroyer by Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington, 1988)
Along with Breton, Aragon was one of the few living writers criticised by Camus in L’Homme revolte (1951). When Stalin died in 1953, Aragon was completely shattered. He published a portrait of the dictator in Les Lettres françaises under the headline ‘What We Owe to Stalin”. It was drawn by Picasso and arose furor. Aragon thanked the party leaders for their rebuke and printed excerpts from the outraged letters sent from the different Communist cells. After the uproar had died down Picasso asked: “How can Aragon, a poet, endorse the view that it is the public which should judge reality?”
In 1968 Aragon publicly condemned the Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia – he also denounced Stalinism. Aragon’s later works include autobiographical poems, critical works, a history of the Soviet Union, and historical novel Holy Week, which centered on Louis XVIII’s flight to Brussels from the advancing Napoleon in 1815. Among’s its several characters is the painter Géricault, who discovers his commitment to the masses. The work bored Simone de Beauvoir.
In his last novels, Aragon expressed a hostile attitude toward Socialist Realism. When Sartre advised Aragon to visit Cuba, Aragon considered himself too old. In 1965 he began a new series of novels, including La mise a mort (1965), Blanche; ou L’oubli (1967), and Theatre/Roman (1974), in which his fictional material came from his own experiences. Lecturing at the Sorbonne on Petrarch, Aragon spoke for forty-five minutes on Matisse, until a voice from the audience yelled “Get to the point”. Aragon replied that digresion was the key to the art of this great poet. Aragon died on December 24, 1982 in Paris.
For further reading: Aragon : Poet of the Resistance ed. H. Josephson and M. Cowley (1945); Communism and the French Intellectuals by D. Caute (1964); Malraux, Sartre, Aragon as Political Novelists by C. Savage (1965); Louis Aragon by L.F. Becker (1971); Aragon by P. Daix (1975); Elsa Triolet and Louis Aragon: An Introduction to Their Interwoven Lives and Works by Max Adereth (1994); World Authors 1900-1950, Vol. 1, ed. M. Seumour-Smith and A.C. Kimmens (1996); Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century, Vol. 1, ed. Steven R. Serafin (1999) – Suom.: – Runosuomennoksia antologiassa Tulisen järjen aika, toim. Aale Tynni (1962). (Internet)
(Concluded)
After the liberation, Aragon resumed the editorship of Ce Soir until its demise in 1953. In Les Communistes (1949-51) Aragon played with a new kind of novel, that gave the effect of a series of newspaper reports, editorials, and Communist Party speeches. From 1953 to 1972 he was editor of the arts and literature weekly Les Lettres françaises. In 1950-1960 he served on the Central Committee of the French Communist Party, and in 1957 he was rewarded with the Lenin Peace Prize.
‘Poor Aragon,’ Picasso chuckled as soon as Aragon had left his studio. “He doesn’t know anything about pigeons. And as for the gentle dove, what a myth that is! There’s no crueller animal… How’s that for a symbol of Peace?”‘ (in Picasso: Creator & Destroyer by Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington, 1988)
Along with Breton, Aragon was one of the few living writers criticised by Camus in L’Homme revolte (1951). When Stalin died in 1953, Aragon was completely shattered. He published a portrait of the dictator in Les Lettres françaises under the headline ‘What We Owe to Stalin”. It was drawn by Picasso and arose furor. Aragon thanked the party leaders for their rebuke and printed excerpts from the outraged letters sent from the different Communist cells. After the uproar had died down Picasso asked: “How can Aragon, a poet, endorse the view that it is the public which should judge reality?”
In 1968 Aragon publicly condemned the Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia – he also denounced Stalinism. Aragon’s later works include autobiographical poems, critical works, a history of the Soviet Union, and historical novel Holy Week, which centered on Louis XVIII’s flight to Brussels from the advancing Napoleon in 1815. Among’s its several characters is the painter Géricault, who discovers his commitment to the masses. The work bored Simone de Beauvoir.
In his last novels, Aragon expressed a hostile attitude toward Socialist Realism. When Sartre advised Aragon to visit Cuba, Aragon considered himself too old. In 1965 he began a new series of novels, including La mise a mort (1965), Blanche; ou L’oubli (1967), and Theatre/Roman (1974), in which his fictional material came from his own experiences. Lecturing at the Sorbonne on Petrarch, Aragon spoke for forty-five minutes on Matisse, until a voice from the audience yelled “Get to the point”. Aragon replied that digresion was the key to the art of this great poet. Aragon died on December 24, 1982 in Paris.
For further reading: Aragon : Poet of the Resistance ed. H. Josephson and M. Cowley (1945); Communism and the French Intellectuals by D. Caute (1964); Malraux, Sartre, Aragon as Political Novelists by C. Savage (1965); Louis Aragon by L.F. Becker (1971); Aragon by P. Daix (1975); Elsa Triolet and Louis Aragon: An Introduction to Their Interwoven Lives and Works by Max Adereth (1994); World Authors 1900-1950, Vol. 1, ed. M. Seumour-Smith and A.C. Kimmens (1996); Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century, Vol. 1, ed. Steven R. Serafin (1999) – Suom.: – Runosuomennoksia antologiassa Tulisen järjen aika, toim. Aale Tynni (1962). (Internet)
(Concluded)