Françoise Morvan
Encyclopedia
Françoise Morvan is a French writer who specialises in Breton history and culture.
She studied literature in Colombes, then at the Sorbonne
. Her doctoral thesis was in French literature, discussing the work of François-Marie Luzel
and Armand Robin
.
Her subsequent works typically fall into five different areas of literature:
's Desire Under the Elms
led her to translate other dramatic literature, such as John Millington Synge
and parts Seán O'Casey
. She has also created new translations of Chekhov and Shakespeare in collaboration with André Markowicz. She won the 2006 Molière prize for best theatrical adaptation with André Markowicz for her version of Chekhov's Platonov, directed by Alain Francon.
She also creates shows for Breton theatre troupes, notably Le Pain des âmes, D'un Buisson de ronces (Spiritual Bread: of a Thornbush). She also adapted the myth of Sainte Tryphine et le roi Arthur ("Saint Tryphine and King Arthur") from the writings of Luzel.
She has also published the prose works of François-Marie Luzel (eighteen volumes) by scrupulously adhering to Luzel's manuscripts, given in facsimile and always giving the original text where they exist in both the French and Breton languages (Tales of Brittany, Rennes University Press).
She has also published works by Danielle Collobert
, and has contributed over a hundred prefaces, articles and essays to scholarly editions of poetry and literature.
She has also published translations of Marie de France
and the poems of Sylvia Plath
.
She has expanded her work in folklore beyond Brittany to France as a whole and initiated the series "The Great Collections" published by Ouest-France
: it has published the folk-story collections of Jean-François Blade (Gascony), of Amélie Bosquet (Normandy) and Henry Carnoy (Picardy).
from numerous "telephone harrasssment campaigns" by Breton nationalists.
She worked also
* with the Réseau Voltaire, and people like Renaud Marhic, but she stopped the collaboration when the director Thierry Meyssan started to claim there had been no attempt on the Pentagon in Washington in 2001;
* with L'Observatoire du Communautarisme she organised, together with the "Grand Orient de France", a debate in the French Senate on the 24th of November 2006, where she held a speech against the European Charter for Minority Languages, and against defendors of languages like Diwan.
* with Rennes federation of the "Human Rights League".
* with La Libre Pensée (free thought), an organisation that ran the slander campaign against Roparz Hemon
* the political party Parti des Travailleurs (trotskist-communist)
* the magazine Bretagne Ile-de-France, magazine of USBIF, ran by the older generation of the French Communist Party
* the "Grand Orient de France" and the senator Jean-Luc Mélenchon who is an active member of it, and who spoke several times against Diwan.
She studied literature in Colombes, then at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
. Her doctoral thesis was in French literature, discussing the work of François-Marie Luzel
François-Marie Luzel
François-Marie Luzel , often known by his Breton name Fañch an Uhel, was a French folklorist and Breton-language poet.- Early years :...
and Armand Robin
Armand Robin
Armand Robin was a French poet, translator, and journalist.- Life :Robin was born in Plouguernével by Rostrenen and came to Paris. He was unable to settle down for all his life. He traveled to USSR in 1934, and returned shocked by the reality of communism...
.
Her subsequent works typically fall into five different areas of literature:
Theatre
Her translation of Eugene O'NeillEugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
's Desire Under the Elms
Desire Under the Elms
Desire Under the Elms is a play by Eugene O'Neill, published in 1924, and is now considered an American classic. Along with Mourning Becomes Electra, it represents one of O'Neill's attempts to place plot elements and themes of Greek tragedy in a rural New England setting. It is essentially a...
led her to translate other dramatic literature, such as John Millington Synge
John Millington Synge
Edmund John Millington Synge was an Irish playwright, poet, prose writer, and collector of folklore. He was a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival and was one of the cofounders of the Abbey Theatre...
and parts Seán O'Casey
Seán O'Casey
Seán O'Casey was an Irish dramatist and memoirist. A committed socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of note to write about the Dublin working classes.- Early life:...
. She has also created new translations of Chekhov and Shakespeare in collaboration with André Markowicz. She won the 2006 Molière prize for best theatrical adaptation with André Markowicz for her version of Chekhov's Platonov, directed by Alain Francon.
She also creates shows for Breton theatre troupes, notably Le Pain des âmes, D'un Buisson de ronces (Spiritual Bread: of a Thornbush). She also adapted the myth of Sainte Tryphine et le roi Arthur ("Saint Tryphine and King Arthur") from the writings of Luzel.
Critical editions
She published editions of the works of Armand Robin, including his manuscripts, which she first published in their full original form, which had previously been truncated.She has also published the prose works of François-Marie Luzel (eighteen volumes) by scrupulously adhering to Luzel's manuscripts, given in facsimile and always giving the original text where they exist in both the French and Breton languages (Tales of Brittany, Rennes University Press).
She has also published works by Danielle Collobert
Danielle Collobert
Danielle Collobert was a French author, poet and journalist, born in Rostrenen, Côtes-d'Armor on 23 July 1940. She died, by her own hand, in Paris on 23 July 1978....
, and has contributed over a hundred prefaces, articles and essays to scholarly editions of poetry and literature.
She has also published translations of Marie de France
Marie de France
Marie de France was a medieval poet who was probably born in France and lived in England during the late 12th century. She lived and wrote at an undisclosed court, but was almost certainly at least known about at the royal court of King Henry II of England...
and the poems of Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer...
.
Children's literature
La Gavotte du mille pattes (The thousand footed gavotte) was the first of her books of songs, followed by books of stories La Femme du loup gris (The Woman of the gray wolf), L'École des loisirs (School of recreation) and Lutins et lutines (Elves and goblins). She worked in collaboration with illustrators.Folklore
Editing Luzel led her to continue her research in the folklore of the fantastic and supernatural, especially fairies and elves, as in Vie et mœurs des lutins Bretons (Life and manners of Breton elves) and La douce vie des fées des eaux (The sweet life of water-fairies). She considered authentic folk traditions to be an increasingly frail barrier against the commercialization of folklore. She aspired to authenticity by basing her studies on journals giving precise references and citing them specifically in the texts, while including her own form of humour and poetry based on these sources.She has expanded her work in folklore beyond Brittany to France as a whole and initiated the series "The Great Collections" published by Ouest-France
Ouest-France
Ouest-France is a provincial daily French newspaper known for its emphasis on local news and events. The paper is produced in 47 different editions covering events in different French départments within the régions of Brittany, Lower Normandy and Pays de la Loire...
: it has published the folk-story collections of Jean-François Blade (Gascony), of Amélie Bosquet (Normandy) and Henry Carnoy (Picardy).
Breton regionalism
Françoise Morvan has published a provisional autobiographical memoir, which is subtitled "drifting identity and nationalism in Brittany". She has published on the same theme an article which was reproduced by the Breton Information Group (Groupe information Bretagne, or GRIB), which she helped to found. She defended linguist François Falc'hunFrançois Falc'hun
François Falc'hun was a controversial French linguist known for his theories about the origin of the Breton language. He was also an ordained Canon in the Catholic clergy.Falc'hun was professor at the Universities of Rennes and Brest...
from numerous "telephone harrasssment campaigns" by Breton nationalists.
Le Monde comme si
"Le Monde comme si" (The world as if) caused a great controversy in Brittany. It is supposed to be an autobiography, but it is also an indictment of all the Breton cultural movement (emsav), where she mentions the Barzhaz Breizh, the dispute between La Villemarqué and Luzel, the cultural and the political movements in Brittany, their attitude during World War II, the creation of the unified Breton spelling, Per Denez (former professor at Rennes University), and many more people, the Cultural Institute of Brittany, Diwan, the Office for the Breton language, the subsidies given for the Breton language, the Breton flag, among other things.Her struggle
In order to continue her struggle against the Breton movement she wrote many articles in all types of magazines and newspapers.She worked also
* with the Réseau Voltaire, and people like Renaud Marhic, but she stopped the collaboration when the director Thierry Meyssan started to claim there had been no attempt on the Pentagon in Washington in 2001;
* with L'Observatoire du Communautarisme she organised, together with the "Grand Orient de France", a debate in the French Senate on the 24th of November 2006, where she held a speech against the European Charter for Minority Languages, and against defendors of languages like Diwan.
* with Rennes federation of the "Human Rights League".
* with La Libre Pensée (free thought), an organisation that ran the slander campaign against Roparz Hemon
* the political party Parti des Travailleurs (trotskist-communist)
* the magazine Bretagne Ile-de-France, magazine of USBIF, ran by the older generation of the French Communist Party
* the "Grand Orient de France" and the senator Jean-Luc Mélenchon who is an active member of it, and who spoke several times against Diwan.
Principal publications
- by Armand RobinArmand RobinArmand Robin was a French poet, translator, and journalist.- Life :Robin was born in Plouguernével by Rostrenen and came to Paris. He was unable to settle down for all his life. He traveled to USSR in 1934, and returned shocked by the reality of communism...
:- La Fausse parole, reprint.
- Armand Robin. n° spécial, revue Obsidiane, 1985
- Écrits oubliés .1, essais critiques - Armand Robin. UBACS, 1986
- Écrits oubliés .2, traductions - Armand Robin. UBACS, 1986
- Poésie sans passeport, Ubacs, 1989
- Fragments, Gallimard, 1992, ISBN 2070722457
- Le Cycle du pays natal, La part commune, 2000.
- on Armand RobinArmand RobinArmand Robin was a French poet, translator, and journalist.- Life :Robin was born in Plouguernével by Rostrenen and came to Paris. He was unable to settle down for all his life. He traveled to USSR in 1934, and returned shocked by the reality of communism...
:- Armand RobinArmand RobinArmand Robin was a French poet, translator, and journalist.- Life :Robin was born in Plouguernével by Rostrenen and came to Paris. He was unable to settle down for all his life. He traveled to USSR in 1934, and returned shocked by the reality of communism...
: bilan d'une recherche, thèse d'État, Université de Lille III (Tomes 1-2-3), 2685 p, 1990
- Armand Robin
- by François-Marie LuzelFrançois-Marie LuzelFrançois-Marie Luzel , often known by his Breton name Fañch an Uhel, was a French folklorist and Breton-language poet.- Early years :...
, 18 volumes:- Contes Bretons
- Contes populaires de Basse-Bretagne (3 vols)
- Contes inédits (3 vols)
- Contes du boulanger
- Journal de route
- Correspondence Luzel-Renan
- Contes retrouvés (2 vols)
- Veillées bretonnes
- Nouvelles veillées bretonnes
- on François-Marie LuzelFrançois-Marie LuzelFrançois-Marie Luzel , often known by his Breton name Fañch an Uhel, was a French folklorist and Breton-language poet.- Early years :...
:- François Marie Luzel. Enquête sur une expérience de collectage folklorique en Bretagne Presses Universitaires de RennesRennesRennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
et Éditions Terre de Brume, 1994
- François Marie Luzel. Enquête sur une expérience de collectage folklorique en Bretagne Presses Universitaires de Rennes
- Publications on the great collections of French folk literature:
- Jean-François Bladé, Contes populaires de Gascogne, Ouest-FranceOuest-FranceOuest-France is a provincial daily French newspaper known for its emphasis on local news and events. The paper is produced in 47 different editions covering events in different French départments within the régions of Brittany, Lower Normandy and Pays de la Loire...
, 2004, ISBN 2737334462 - Amélie Bosquet, Légendes de Normandie, Ouest-France, 2004, ISBN 273733442X
- Henry Carnoy, Contes de Picardie, Ouest-France, 2005, ISBN 2737334969
- Léon Pinault, Contes du Poitou, Ouest-France, 2005.
- Félix Remize, Paul Sébillot, Henri Pourrat, Contes d'Auvergne, Ouest-France, 2006.
- François-Marie LuzelFrançois-Marie LuzelFrançois-Marie Luzel , often known by his Breton name Fañch an Uhel, was a French folklorist and Breton-language poet.- Early years :...
, Fantômes et dames blanches, Ouest-France, 2007. - François-Marie LuzelFrançois-Marie LuzelFrançois-Marie Luzel , often known by his Breton name Fañch an Uhel, was a French folklorist and Breton-language poet.- Early years :...
, Contes de basse Bretagne, Ouest-France, 2007. - Paul SébillotPaul SébillotPaul Sébillot was a French folklorist, painter, and writer. Many of his works are about his native province, Brittany.-Early life and art:...
, Contes de haute Bretagne, Ouest-France, 2007.
- Jean-François Bladé, Contes populaires de Gascogne, Ouest-France
- Translations:
- Les Trois sœurs. Anton ChekhovAnton ChekhovAnton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
; translated from Russian by André Markowicz and Françoise Morvan. Actes Sud, Collection Babel, 1992. - La Cerisaie. Anton Chekhov ; translated from Russian by André Markowicz and Françoise Morvan. Actes Sud, Collection Babel, 1993.
- L'Homme des bois. Anton Chekhov ; translated from Russian by André Markowicz and Françoise Morvan. Actes Sud, Collection Babel, 1993.
- La Mouette. Anton Chekhov ; translated from Russian by André Markowicz and Françoise Morvan. Actes Sud, Collection Babel, 1993.
- Oncle Vania. Anton Chekhov ; translated from Russian by André Markowicz and Françoise Morvan. Actes Sud, Collection Babel, 1993.
- Ivanov I et II. Anton Chekhov ; translated from Russian by André Markowicz and Françoise Morvan. Actes Sud, Collection Babel, 1995.
- Platovov. Anton Chekhov ; translated from Russian by André Markowicz and Françoise Morvan. Les Solitaires intempestifs, 2004
- Désir sous les ormes, Eugène O'Neill, translated from English by Françoise Morvan (mise en scène by Mathias Langhoff)
- Long voyage du jour à la nuit, Eugène O'Neill, translated from English by Françoise Morvan, preface and notes by Françoise Morvan, ed. de l'Arche.
- Nanny sort ce soir, Seán O'Casey, translated from English by Françoise Morvan, preface and notes de Françoise Morvan, TNS, 2002.
- Théâtre complet. J.M. Synge ; translated from English by Françoise Morvan. Actes Sud, collection Babel, 1996, Les solitaires intempestifs, 2005.
- Le Songe d'une nuit d'été ; translated from English by André Markowicz and Françoise Morvan, presentation and notes de Françoise Morvan, éditions Les Solitaires intempestifs, 2004. ISBN 2-84681-O82-2
- Arbres d'hiver, Syvia Plath, translation and notes by Françoise Morvan, Poésie/Gallimard.
- Quand la poésie jonglait avec l'image, quatre livres pour enfants de Samuel Marchak translations by Françoise Morvan, édition MeMo, Nantes, 2005.
- "P'tigars-P'tidoigt", conté par Alexandre Afanassiev, illustré par Étienne Beck, et traduit par Françoise Morvan et André Markowicz, éditions Memo, Nantes, 2007.
- Les Trois sœurs. Anton Chekhov
- Vie et mœurs des lutins Bretons, Actes Sud, collection Babel, 1998, ISBN 2742717838
- La douce vie des fées des eaux, Actes Sud, collection Babel, 1999, ISBN 2742724060
- La Gavotte du mille-pattes, Actes-Sud, 1996
- Lutins et lutines, librio, 2001, ISBN 2290318639
- Les Lais de Marie de France, Librio, 2002.
- Essays:
- Le Monde comme si - Nationalisme et dérive identitaire en Bretagne, Actes Sud, 2002, réédition Babel, 2005. ISBN 2742755527
- Henri Fréville, Archives secrètes de Bretagne, 1940-1944, Ouest-FranceOuest-FranceOuest-France is a provincial daily French newspaper known for its emphasis on local news and events. The paper is produced in 47 different editions covering events in different French départments within the régions of Brittany, Lower Normandy and Pays de la Loire...
, Rennes, 1985 (réédité en 2004 et 2008, édition revue et corrigée par Françoise Morvan), ISBN : 978-2-7373-4453-4.