Laurence Bougault
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Laurence Bougault (25August 197026October 2018) was a French writer and academic. She was also well known as a long-distance adventurer on horseback.


Biography

Bougault studied literature in Lyon in preparation for university studies in Paris. Certified in Modern Letters in 1992, she defended her Ph.D. dissertation in French literature at the
University of Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3 The Sorbonne Nouvelle University (, also known as Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3, Paris 3, Sorbonne Nouvelle and the Sorbonne) is a public liberal arts and humanities university in Paris, France. It is one of the inheritors of the hi ...
under the supervision of Philippe Hamon, which was titled ''Cosmos and Logos in Modern Poetry''. Appointed Assistant Professor at the
University of Rennes The University of Rennes (French: ''Université de Rennes'') is a public university, public research university located in Rennes, Upper Brittany, France. Originally founded in 1460, the university was split into two universities in 1970: Univers ...
in 1998, she moved to
Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
. In 2005, she began directing research at the
Sorbonne University Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...
, under the direction of linguist Olivier Soutet. She supervised the dissertation of Stéphane Gallon at the
University of Rennes The University of Rennes (French: ''Université de Rennes'') is a public university, public research university located in Rennes, Upper Brittany, France. Originally founded in 1460, the university was split into two universities in 1970: Univers ...
, in 2013. Bougault regularly published poems and essays on literary criticism and French stylistics as well as educational works. Her research was centered on two themes: the relationship between aesthetics and ethics in literary work, and the question of the effects of meaning produced by the syntactic choices in modern and contemporary poetry. At the same time, Bougault wrote and published newsletters, poetry, essays and short stories. She received the Discovery grant in 2002 from the country's
Centre National du Livre The Centre national du livre (CNL) is a French établissement public à caractère administratif. The CNL is placed under the administrative supervision of the French Ministry of Culture and Communication (, ). Its vocation and mission is to s ...
(National Center for Books) to continue her research. Whether in poetry or in prose, Bougault's writing sought to address the intensity of the “body-mind” states and the way in which these states work together. In 2004, she founded the International Stylistic Association (AIS), to bring together linguistic researchers to make their work better known. According to an obituary, "she has greatly contributed to giving this discipline the consistency of a field of research."


Long-distance adventurer

As a very young girl, Bougault became passionate about the equestrian world and engaged in long distances travels on horseback. It began in 1997 with a trip to
Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
. For her first long-distance endurance trip in 2001, she crossed southeast Africa from
Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...
, through
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, and northward to
Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...
, a distance of , in eight months. That trip, with two Basuto ponies known for great stamina and courage, resulted in a written account of the adventure: ''Under the Eye of African Horses'', published in French by Belin in 2003. Bougault then began breeding a refined and rare equine, the
Akhal-Teke The Akhal-Teke ( or ; from Turkmen language, Turkmen ''Ahalteke'', ) is a Turkmen horse breed. They have a reputation for speed and endurance, intelligence, thin manes and a distinctive metallic sheen. The shiny coat of the breed led to their ...
, a Turkmen race horse and prized for its endurance, intelligence, and the distinctive sheen of its coat. In 2009, she made a second long-distance trip on an Akhal-Teke from
Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...
,
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
westward to
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
,
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and finally to Paris, a trip of in less than six months. She was interviewed near the conclusion of that trek, after she reached
Fontainebleau Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...
, near Paris.
I think I fulfilled my mission as an “Amazon of peace” especially in Iran and Turkey where the people I met were surprised to see a Westerner who accepted their rules and who conveyed values that were theirs. All this has created strong links between these countries and me.


Last years

Bougault died from an illness at the age of 48 on 26 October 2018 in Rennes, and was survived by her son and parents.


Selected publications


Essays

* ''Poésie et réalité (Poetry and reality)'' , essay based on her dissertation: ''Cosmos et logos dans la poésie moderne'', L’Harmattan, 2005. () * ''Guillevic et la langue'' , actes du colloque éponyme, Rennes, éditions Calliopées, 2009. () * ''Stylistiques?'', actes du colloque éponyme (co-direction), Rennes, PUR, 2010. () * ''Lorand Gaspar et la langue'' (co-direction), éditions styl-m de l’AIS, 2011. * ''Le style, découpeur du réel'' (co-direction), PUR, 2014.


Poems

* ''Le Grand Jouir'', recueil poétique, Le Rewidiage, 1998. * ''Éclats'', recueil de poèmes publiés avec le concours du CNL, éditions du Sandre, 2003. () . Extracts published in ''Poésie Terrestre'', no. 8, December 1996 et ''La femelle du requin'' no. 7, February-March 1997. * ''Espoir'', poème, dans ''Poésie Terrestre'' no. 7, 1996. * ''Le Grand Jouir'', extrait, dans ''Phréatique'' no. 83, Autumn 1997. * ''Ode famélique de Toi'', poème, dans ''L’igloo dans la dune'' no. 92, June 1999. * ''Irradiance'', poème, dans ''L’igloo dans la dune'' no. 94, December 1999. * ''Poétiques'', poèmes, dans ''Hématomes Crochus'' HC9, March 2001. * ''L’attente et le chemin'', dans ''Hématomes Crochus'' HC13, 2003.


Works about horses

* ''Chevauchons ensemble'', Histoires d’amour et de chevaux (avec Jean-Louis Gouraud), éditions du Rocher, 2005. * ''Éclats de chevauchées & Poèmes d’Amour-Cheval'', éd. Cheval-Culture, 2012. * ''Sous l’œil des chevaux d’Afrique (Under the Eye of African Horses)'' coll. ''Les cavalières de l'aventure'', Belin, 2003, () * ''Chevaux entiers et étalons, mieux les connaître, mieux les comprendre'', éd. du Rocher, 2009. () * ''La Liberté du Centaure, petit traité sur le voyage à cheval'', Transboréal, 2010, () * ''Amazone de la Paix'', tome 1 et 2, éd. Cheval-Culture, 2013, () * ''La liberta del cavalcare, piccolo trattato sul viaggio a cavallo'', Ediciclo, () * ''Approches linguistiques du vocabulaire équestre'', coédition Cheval-Culture/Presses Universitaires de Rennes/Cadre noir de Saumur, 2015, () * ''Le Cheval et l’amour'' (avec J.-L. Gouraud), Les Cahiers Arts Equestres, coll. Actes équestres, Actes Sud, 2016. () * ''Égo-Dictionnaire du cheval'', Pietraserena, éd. Dumane, 2017. ()


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bougault, Laurence 1970 births 2018 deaths Writers from Toulouse French poets French essayists French equestrians French women travel writers Academic staff of Rennes 2 University