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Remy de Gourmont (4 April 1858 – 27 September 1915) was a French
symbolist Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...
poet,
novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire ...
, and influential
critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or gover ...
. He was widely read in his era, and an important influence on
Blaise Cendrars Frédéric-Louis Sauser (1 September 1887 – 21 January 1961), better known as Blaise Cendrars, was a Swiss-born novelist and poet who became a naturalized French citizen in 1916. He was a writer of considerable influence in the European mo ...
and
Georges Bataille Georges Albert Maurice Victor Bataille (; ; 10 September 1897 – 9 July 1962) was a French philosopher and intellectual working in philosophy, literature, sociology, anthropology, and history of art. His writing, which included essays, novels ...
. The spelling ''Rémy'' de Gourmont is incorrect, albeit common.


Life

Gourmont was born at Bazoches-au-Houlme,
Orne Orne (; nrf, Ôrne or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
family from
Cotentin The Cotentin Peninsula (, ; nrf, Cotentîn ), also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula, is a peninsula in Normandy that forms part of the northwest coast of France. It extends north-westward into the English Channel, towards Great Britain. To its w ...
. He was the son of
Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York ...
Auguste-Marie de Gourmont and his countess, born Mathilde de Montfort. In 1866 he moved to a manor close to Villedieu near La Manche. He studied
law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
at
Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Bibliothèque nationale A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...
. He began to write for general circulation periodicals such as ''
Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'' and '' Le Contemporain''. He took an interest in ancient literature, following the footsteps of Gustave Kahn. During this period, he also met
Berthe Courrière Saint Bertha or Saint Aldeberge (c. 565 – d. in or after 601) was the queen of Kent whose influence led to the Christianization of Anglo-Saxon England. She was canonized as a saint for her role in its establishment during that period of Eng ...
, model for, and heir of, the sculptor
Auguste Clésinger Jean-Baptiste Auguste Clésinger (22 October 1814 – 5 January 1883) was a 19th-century French sculptor and painter. Life Auguste Clésinger was born in Besançon, in the Doubs department of France. His father, Georges-Philippe, was a scul ...
, with whom he formed a lifelong attachment, he and Berthe living together for the rest of their lives. Gourmont also began a literary alliance with
Joris-Karl Huysmans Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (, ; 5 February 1848 – 12 May 1907) was a French novelist and art critic who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans (, variably abbreviated as J. K. or J.-K.). He is most famous for the novel '' À rebour ...
, to whom he dedicated his prose work ''Le Latin mystique'' (Mystical Latin). In 1889 Gourmont became one of the founders of the ''
Mercure de France The was originally a French gazette and literary magazine first published in the 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group. The gazette was published ...
'', which became a rallying point of the Symbolist movement. Between 1893 and 1894 he was the co-editor, along with
Alfred Jarry Alfred Jarry (; 8 September 1873 – 1 November 1907) was a French symbolist writer who is best known for his play ''Ubu Roi'' (1896). He also coined the term and philosophical concept of 'pataphysics. Jarry was born in Laval, Mayenne, France, ...
, of L'Ymagier, a magazine dedicated to symbolist wood carvings. In 1891 he published a polemic called ''Le Joujou Patriotisme'' (Patriotism, a toy) in which he argued that France and Germany shared an aesthetic culture and urged a rapprochement between the two countries, contrary to the wishes of nationalists in the French government. This political essay led to his losing his job at the Bibliothèque Nationale, despite
Octave Mirbeau Octave Mirbeau (16 February 1848 – 16 February 1917) was a French novelist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, journalist and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, whilst still appealing to the ...
's chronicles. During this same period, Gourmont was stricken with lupus vulgaris. Disfigured by this illness, he largely retired from public view appearing only at the offices of the ''Mercure de France''. In 1910, Gourmont met
Natalie Clifford Barney Natalie Clifford Barney (October 31, 1876 – February 2, 1972) was an American writer who hosted a literary salon at her home in Paris that brought together French and international writers. She influenced other authors through her salon and al ...
, to whom he dedicated his ''Lettres à l'Amazone'' (Letters to the Amazon). Gourmont's health continued to decline and he began to suffer from locomotor ataxia and be increasingly unable to walk. He was deeply depressed by the outbreak of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
and died in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
of cerebral congestion in 1915. Berthe Courrière was his sole heir, inheriting a substantial body of unpublished work which she sent to his brother Jean de Gourmont, and dying within the year. Gourmont and Courrière are buried Chopins tomb in Père-Lachaise Cemetery.


Works

Gourmont was a literary critic and essayist of great importance, most notably his ''Le Problème du Style''. Created in response to Antoine Albalat's ''The Art of Writing in Twenty Lessons'' (1899), ''Le Problème du Style'' was a source book for many of the ideas that inspired the literary developments in both England and France and was also admired by T. S. Eliot and
Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...
in that capacity. His novels, in particular ''Sixtine'', explore the theme of Schopenhauerian
Idealism In philosophy, the term idealism identifies and describes metaphysical perspectives which assert that reality is indistinguishable and inseparable from perception and understanding; that reality is a mental construct closely connected to ...
with its emphasis on individual
subjectivity Subjectivity in a philosophical context has to do with a lack of objective reality. Subjectivity has been given various and ambiguous definitions by differing sources as it is not often the focal point of philosophical discourse.Bykova, Marina ...
, as well as the Decadent relationship between sexuality and artistic creativity. In 1922
Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the prominent Huxle ...
translated Gourmont's novel ''A Virgin Heart''. Gourmont's poetic works include ''Litanies de la Rose'' (1892), ''Les Saintes du Paradis'' (1898), and ''Divertissements'' (1912). His anthology ''Hieroglyphes'' (1894), contains his experiments with the possibilities of sound and rhythm. It plunges from perhaps ironic piety to equally ironic blasphemy, reflecting, more than anything else, his interest in medieval
Latin literature Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings written in the Latin language. The beginning of formal Latin literature dates to 240 BC, when the first stage play in Latin was performed in Rome. Latin literature ...
, and his works led to a fad for late Latin literature among authors like
Joris-Karl Huysmans Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (, ; 5 February 1848 – 12 May 1907) was a French novelist and art critic who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans (, variably abbreviated as J. K. or J.-K.). He is most famous for the novel '' À rebour ...
. Pound observed in 1915 that the English
Imagist Imagism was a movement in early-20th-century Anglo-American poetry that favored precision of imagery and clear, sharp language. It is considered to be the first organized modernist literary movement in the English language. Imagism is sometim ...
poetic movement derived from the French Symbolistes, Eliot describing Gourmont as the "critical conscience of his generation".Eliot, T.S. (1928). Preface to ''The Sacred Wood.'' London: Methuen & Co.


Bibliography


Poetry

* ''Litanies de la Rose'' (1892). * ''Fleurs de Jadis'' (1893). * ''Hiéroglyphes'' (1894). * ''Les Saintes du Paradis'' (1899). * ''Oraisons Mauvaises'' (1900). * ''Simone'' (1901). * ''Divertissements'' (1912). * ''Poésies Inédites'' (1921). * ''Rimes Retrouvées'' (1979). * ''L'Odeur des Jacynthes'' (1991).


Fiction

* ''Merlette'' (novel, 1886). * ''Sixtine'' (novel, 1890). * ''Le Fantôme'' (1893). * ''Le Château Singulier'' (1894). * ''Proses Moroses'' (short stories, 1894). * ''Histoire Tragique de la Princesse Phénissa'' (1894). * ''Histoires Magiques'' (1884). * ''Le Pèlerin du Silence'' (1896). * ''Phocas'' (1895). * ''Les Chevaux de Diomède'' (novel, 1897). * ''D'un Pays Lointain. Miracles. Visages de Femmes'' (1898). * ''Le Songe d'une Femme'' (novel, 1899). * ''Une Nuit au Luxembourg'' (1906). * ''Un Cœur Virginal'' (1907). * ''Couleurs, Contes Nouveaux Suivi de Choses Anciennes'' (1908). * ''Lettres d'un Satyre'' (1913). * ''Lettres à l'Amazone'' (1914). * ''Monsieur Croquant'' (1918). * ''La Patience de Grisélidis'' (1920). * ''Lettres à Sixtine'' (1921). * ''Le Vase Magique'' (1923). * ''Fin de Promenade et Trois Autres Contes'' (short stories, 1925). * ''Le Désarroi'' (novel, 2006).


Theatre

* ''Lilith'' (1892). * ''Théodat'' (1893). * ''Le Vieux Roi'' (1897). * ''L'Ombre d'une Femme'' (1923).


Nonfiction

* ''Un Volcan en Éruption'' (1882). * ''Une Ville Ressuscitée'' (1883). * ''Bertrand Du Guesclin'' (1883). * ''Tempêtes et Naufrages'' (1883). * ''Les Derniers Jours de Pompéi'' (1884). * ''En Ballon'' (1884). * ''Les Français au Canada et en Acadie'' (1888). * ''Chez les Lapons, Mœurs, Coutumes et Légendes de la Laponie Norvégienne'' (1890). * ''Le Joujou Patriotisme'' (1891). * ''Le Latin Mystique. Les Poètes de l'Antiphonaire et la Symbolique au Moyen Âge'' (with a preface by
J. K. Huysmans Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (, ; 5 February 1848 – 12 May 1907) was a French novelist and art critic who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans (, variably abbreviated as J. K. or J.-K.). He is most famous for the novel ''À rebour ...
, 1892). * ''L'Idéalisme'' (1893). * ''L'Ymagier'' (with
Alfred Jarry Alfred Jarry (; 8 September 1873 – 1 November 1907) was a French symbolist writer who is best known for his play ''Ubu Roi'' (1896). He also coined the term and philosophical concept of 'pataphysics. Jarry was born in Laval, Mayenne, France, ...
, 1896). * ''La Poésie Populaire'' (1896). * ''Le Livre des Masques'' (1896). * ''Almanach de "L'Ymagier", Zodiacal, Astrologique, Littéraire, Artistique, Magique, Cabalistique et Prophétique'' (1897). * ''Le Deuxième Livre des Masques'' (1898). * ''Esthétique de la Langue Française'' (1899). * ''La Culture des Idées'' (1900). * Preface to ''Les Petites Revues'' (1900). * ''Le Chemin de Velours'' (1902). * ''Le Problème du Style'' (1902). * ''Épilogues: Réflexions sur la Vie, 1895-1898'' (1903). * ''Physique de l'Amour. Essai sur l'Instinct Sexuel'' (1903). * ''Promenades Littéraires'' (1904). * ''Judith Gautier'' (1904). * ''Promenades Philosophiques'' (1905). * ''Dante, Béatrice et la Poésie Amoureuse. Essai sur l'Idéal Féminin en Italie à la Fin du XIIIe Siècle'' (1908). * ''Le Chat de Misère. Idées et Images'' (1912). * ''La Petite Ville'' (1913). * ''Des pas sur le Sable'' (1914). * ''La Belgique Littéraire'' (1915). * ''Pendant l'Orage, Bois d'André Rouveyre'' (1915). * ''Dans la Tourmente (Avril-juillet 1915)'' (with a preface by , 1916). * ''Pendant la Guerre. Lettres pour l'Argentine'' (with a preface by Jean de Gourmont, 1917). * ''Les Idées du Jour'' (1918). ** Vol. I: ''(Octobre 1914-avril 1915)''. ** Vol. II: ''(Mai 1915-septembre 1915)''. * ''Trois Légendes du Moyen Âge'' (1919). * ''Pensées Inédites'' (with a Preface by
Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of t ...
, 1920). * ''Le Livret de "L'Ymagier"'' (1921). * ''Petits Crayons'' (1921). * ''Le Puits de la Vérité'' (1922). * ''Dernières Pensées Inédites'' (1924). * ''Dissociations'' (1925). * ''Nouvelles Dissociations'' (1925). * ''La Fin de l'Art'' (1925). * ''Les Femmes et le Langage'' (1925). * ''Deux Poètes de la Nature: Bryant et Emerson'' (1925). * ''Le Joujou et Trois Autres Essais'' (1926). * ''Lettres Intimes à l’Amazone'' (1926). * ''Promenades Littéraires'' (1929).


In English translation


''A Night in the Luxembourg''
(with preface by
Arthur Ransome Arthur Michell Ransome (18 January 1884 – 3 June 1967) was an English author and journalist. He is best known for writing and illustrating the ''Swallows and Amazons'' series of children's books about the school-holiday adventures of childre ...
, 1912). * "A French View of 'Kultur'," ''The New Republic'' (1915). * ''Theodat, a Play'' (1916).
''Philosophic Nights in Paris''
(1920).
"Dust for Sparrows,"Part IIPart IIIPart IV
''The Dial,'' Vol. LXIX, 1920
Part VPart VIPart VIIPart VIIIPart IX
''The Dial,'' Vol. LXX, 1921.
''The Book of Masks''
(1921). * ''A Virgin Heart'' (1921).
''Decadence, and Other Essays on the Culture of Ideas''
(1922).
''The Natural Philosophy of Love''
(1922).
''Mr. Antiphilos, Satyr''
(1922).
''Very Woman: A Cerebral Novel''
(1922). * ''The Horses of Diomedes'' (1923). * ''Epigrams of Remy de Gourmont'' (1923). * ''Stories in Yellow, Black, White, Blue, Violet, and Red'' (1924). * ''Stories in Green, Zinzolin, Rose, Purple, Mauve, Lilac, and Orange'' (1924). * ''Dream of a Woman'' (1927). * ''The Prostituted Woman: The Sexless One in the Singular Château'' (1929). * ''Letters to the Amazon'' (1931). * ''Lilith, a Play'' (1946). * ''The Angels of Perversity'' (1992). * ''French Decadent Tales'', by Stephen Romer (2013).


Quotation

:Que tes mains soient bénies, car elles sont impures! :Elles ont des péchés cachés à toutes les jointures; :Leur peau blanche s'est trempée dans l'odeur âpre des caresses :Secrètes, parmi l'ombre blanche où rampent les caresses, :Et l'opale prisonnière qui se meurt à ton doigt, :C'est le dernier soupir de Jésus sur la croix. :::::---Oraisons mauvaises


References


Further reading

* Aldington, Richard (1915)
"Remy de Gourmont,"
''The Little Review,'' Vol. II, No. 3, pp. 10–13. * Aldington, Richard (1919)
"Remy de Gourmont,"
''The Living Age,'' Vol. CCCIII, pp. 665–668. * Aldington, Richard (1919)
"Remy de Gourmont, After the Interim,"
''The Little Review,'' Vol. V, No. 10/11, pp. 32–34. * Aldington, Richard (1928). ''Remy de Gourmont: A Modern Man of Letters.'' Seattle: University of Washington Book Store. * Amalric, Jean-Claude (1984). "Shaw, Hamon, and Rémy de Gourmont," ''Shaw,'' Vol. 4, pp. 129–137. * Burke, Kenneth (1921)
"Approaches to Remy de Gourmont,"
''The Dial,'' Vol. LXX, pp. 125–138. * Clayton, T. T. (1919)
"Le Latin Mystique,"
''The Little Review,'' Vol. V, No. 10/11, pp. 27–29. * Cornetz, Victor (1922)
"Remy de Gourmont, J.H. Fabre and the Ants,"
''The Living Age,'' Vol. CCCXV, pp. 105–110. * Ellis, Havelock (1915). "Remy de Gourmont," ''The New Republic,'' Vol. V, No. 59, pp. 166–167. * Ellis, Havelock (1936)
"Remy de Gourmont."
In: ''From Rousseau to Proust.'' London: Constable & Company, pp. 307–327. * Gosse, Edmund (1922)
"Two French Critics: Émile Faguet—Remy de Gourmont."
In: ''Aspects and Impressions.'' London: Cassell & Company, pp. 203–223. * Greene, Henry Copley (1894)
"French Prose Symbolism,"
''The Harvard Monthly,'' Vol. XVIII, pp. 106–121. * Huneker, James Gibbons (1917)
"Remy de Gourmont,"
''The North American Review,'' Vol. CCV, No. 739, pp. 935–942. * Jacob, Paul Emile (1931)
"Remy de Gourmont,"
''Illinois Studies in Language and Literature'', Vol. XVI, No. 2, pp. 7–176. * Krutch, Joseph Wood (1928). "The Nihilism of Remy de Gourmont," ''The Nation'', pp. 357–359. * Lowell, Amy (1915)
"Remy de Gourmont."
In: ''Six French Poets.'' New York: The Macmillan Company, pp. 105–146. * Lewisohn, Ludwig (1916)
''The Poets of Modern France.''
New York: B.W. Huebsch. * Macy, John (1922)
"Remy de Gourmont."
In: ''The Critical Game.'' New York: Boni & Liveright, pp. 153–159. * Manning, Frederic (1919)
"M. De Gourmont and the Problem of Beauty,"
''The Little Review,'' Vol. V, No. 10/11, pp. 19–27. * Papini, Giovanni (1922)
"Remy de Gourmont."
In: ''Four and Twenty Minds''. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, pp. 198–207. * Parker, Robert Allerton (1915). "Remy de Gourmont's Criticism of Morality," ''The Forum,'' Vol. LV, pp. 593–600. * Pound, Ezra (1916)
"Remy de Gourmont,"
''Poetry,'' Vol. VII, No. 4, pp. 197–202. * Pound, Ezra (1919)
"De Gourmont: A Distinction,"
''The Little Review,'' Vol. V, No. 10/11, pp. 1–19. * Powys, John Cowper (1916)
"Remy de Gourmont."
In: ''Suspended Judgements.'' New York: G. Arnold Shaw, pp. 225–254. * Ransome, Arthur (1913)
"Remy de Gourmont."
In: ''Portraits and Speculations.'' London: Macmillan & Co., pp. 161–186. * Rodker, John (1919)
"De Gourmont―Yank,"
''The Little Review,'' Vol. V, No. 10/11, pp. 29–32. * Symons, Arthur (1919)
''The Symbolist Movement in Literature.''
New York: E.P. Dutton & Company.


External links

* * *
Works by Remy de Gourmont
at
JSTOR JSTOR (; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library founded in 1995 in New York City. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary sources as well as current issues of j ...

Works by Remy de Gourmont
at
Hathi Trust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...

Selected Poems by Remy de Gourmont
(in French)
Les Amateurs de Remy de Gourmont
(In French)
Selections
(in English) from ''Le Probléme du Style''
Ezra Pound on Remy de Gourmont

Richard Aldington on Remy de Gourmont
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gourmont, Remy De 1858 births 1915 deaths People from Orne 19th-century French novelists 20th-century French novelists French poets Symbolist novelists Symbolist poets Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery French male poets French male novelists 19th-century French male writers 20th-century French male writers