Gérard de Cortanze
Encyclopedia
Gerard de Cortanze is a French writer, essayist, translator and literary critic.
He won the Prix Renaudot
in 2002 for his historical novel Assam.
He was awarded chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 2009.
, J.M.G. Le Clézio, and the history of Surrealism
. He collaborated with Le Figaro Magazine, as well as literary writing and is responsible for the Folio Biographies collection launched by Gallimard in 2005.
He translated works of Spanish writers, such as the Mexican Jose Emilio Pacheco
, the Nicaraguan Rubén Darío
, Argentine exile in France Juan José Saer
, the notebooks of the Spanish painter Antonio Saura
(1930–1998), and poems, like those of Peruvian poet Cesar Vallejo
(1892–1938) and the Chilean Vicente Huidobro
(1893–1948).
He is President of the Jury Prize for the Jean Monnet
prize, European department of Charente, awarded annually since 1995, to reward a European writer for a book written or translated into French.
The award-winning Assam tells the story of Aventino Roero Di Cortanze, an Italian aristocrat at the time of the French invasion of Italy. The first section of the story dramatizes his response to the invasion and his involvement in the battle scenes, which are perhaps modelled on those in War and Peace
or Red Badge of Courage. The second section describes a trip to south Asia under the influence of a friend who is eager to find a way to develop an Indian tea trade within Italy to compete with the tea trade with China that Britain was developing at this time. In the third section, Aventino returns to occupied Italy and must choose between cooperation with the victorious French, joining the Austrians (themselves traditional enemies of his native Piedmont) and the promotion not only of Italian unity, but also an independent resistance
movement or in other words an Italian maquis
. This story, a French novel in which the French are the aggressors, naturally raises questions of France's own experience of being invaded by a major continental power in the 20th century.
He won the Prix Renaudot
Prix Renaudot
The Prix Théophraste-Renaudot or Prix Renaudot is a French literary award which was created in 1926 by ten art critics awaiting the results of the deliberation of the jury of the Prix Goncourt....
in 2002 for his historical novel Assam.
He was awarded chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 2009.
Career
He published essays on Paul AusterPaul Auster
Paul Benjamin Auster is an American author known for works blending absurdism, existentialism, crime fiction and the search for identity and personal meaning in works such as The New York Trilogy , Moon Palace , The Music of Chance , The Book of Illusions and The Brooklyn Follies...
, J.M.G. Le Clézio, and the history of Surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
. He collaborated with Le Figaro Magazine, as well as literary writing and is responsible for the Folio Biographies collection launched by Gallimard in 2005.
He translated works of Spanish writers, such as the Mexican Jose Emilio Pacheco
José Emilio Pacheco
José Emilio Pacheco Berny is a Mexican essayist, novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the major Mexican poets of the second half of the 20th century....
, the Nicaraguan Rubén Darío
Rubén Darío
Félix Rubén García Sarmiento , known as Rubén Darío, was a Nicaraguan poet who initiated the Spanish-American literary movement known as modernismo that flourished at the end of the 19th century...
, Argentine exile in France Juan José Saer
Juan José Saer
Juan José Saer was one of the most important Argentine novelists of the last fifty years.Born to Syrian immigrants in Serodino, a small town in the Santa Fe Province, he studied law and philosophy at the National University of the Littoral, where he taught History of Cinematography. Thanks to a...
, the notebooks of the Spanish painter Antonio Saura
Antonio Saura
Antonio Saura was a Spanish artist and writer, one of the major post-war painters to emerge in Spain in the fifties whose work has marked several generations of artists and whose critical voice is often remembered.-Biography:He began painting and writing in 1947 in Madrid while suffering from...
(1930–1998), and poems, like those of Peruvian poet Cesar Vallejo
César Vallejo
César Abraham Vallejo Mendoza was a Peruvian poet. Although he published only three books of poetry during his lifetime, he is considered one of the great poetic innovators of the 20th century in any language. Thomas Merton called him "the greatest universal poet since Dante"...
(1892–1938) and the Chilean Vicente Huidobro
Vicente Huidobro
Vicente García-Huidobro Fernández was a Chilean poet born to an aristocratic family. He was an exponent of the artistic movement called Creacionismo , which held that a poet should bring life to the things he or she writes about, rather than just describe them.Huidobro was born into a wealthy...
(1893–1948).
He is President of the Jury Prize for the Jean Monnet
Jean Monnet
Jean Omer Marie Gabriel Monnet was a French political economist and diplomat. He is regarded by many as a chief architect of European Unity and is regarded as one of its founding fathers...
prize, European department of Charente, awarded annually since 1995, to reward a European writer for a book written or translated into French.
The award-winning Assam tells the story of Aventino Roero Di Cortanze, an Italian aristocrat at the time of the French invasion of Italy. The first section of the story dramatizes his response to the invasion and his involvement in the battle scenes, which are perhaps modelled on those in War and Peace
War and Peace
War and Peace is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in 1869. The work is epic in scale and is regarded as one of the most important works of world literature...
or Red Badge of Courage. The second section describes a trip to south Asia under the influence of a friend who is eager to find a way to develop an Indian tea trade within Italy to compete with the tea trade with China that Britain was developing at this time. In the third section, Aventino returns to occupied Italy and must choose between cooperation with the victorious French, joining the Austrians (themselves traditional enemies of his native Piedmont) and the promotion not only of Italian unity, but also an independent resistance
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
movement or in other words an Italian maquis
Maquis
Maquis or macchia is a type of high ground in Corsica covered in thick vegetation, where privateers used to hide. The name has been adopted by a variety of guerilla movements in francophone countries.Maquis may also refer to:-Geography:...
. This story, a French novel in which the French are the aggressors, naturally raises questions of France's own experience of being invaded by a major continental power in the 20th century.
Novels
- Gérard de Cortanze, René Major, Le livre de la morte, Paris, Aubier-Montaigne, coll. « Écrit Sur Parole », 1980 (reprint 1992), ISBN 9782700702194
- Les enfants s'ennuient le dimanche, Paris, Hachette, 1985, ISBN 9782010115202; Arles, Actes Sud, coll. « Babel », 1999, ISBN 9782742725090
- Giuliana, Paris, Belfond, 1986, ISBN 9782714419279; Arles, Actes Sud, coll. « Babel », 1999, ISBN 9782742718887
- Elle demande si c'est encore la nuit, Paris, Belfond, 1988, ISBN 9782714421364; Paris-Monaco, Éditions du Rocher, 1991
- L'amour dans la ville, Paris, Albin Michel, 1993, ISBN 9782226062239; Paris, LGF, coll. « Livre de Poche », 1996, ISBN 9782253139904
- L'ange de mer, Paris, Flammarion, coll. « Littérature française », 1996, ISBN 9782080671080
- Une chambre à Turin, Paris-Monaco, Éditions du Rocher, 2001, ISBN 9782268039732; Paris, Gallimard, coll. « Folio », 2002, ISBN 9782070423873
- Le cycle des vice-rois
- Assam, Paris, Albin Michel, 2002, ISBN 9782226133939
- Aventino, Paris, Albin Michel, 2005, ISBN 9782226155238
- Les vice-rois, Arles, Actes Sud, 1998, ISBN 9782742718474; Paris, J'ai lu, coll. « J'ai lu Roman », 2006, ISBN 9782290300022
- Cyclone, Arles, Actes Sud, 2000, ISBN 9782742728473; Paris, J'ai lu, coll. « J'ai lu Roman », 2003, ISBN 9782290323106
- Banditi, Paris, Albin Michel, 2003, ISBN 9782226149657
- Spaghetti!, Paris, Gallimard, coll. « Haute enfance », 2005, ISBN 9782070775170
- Laura, Paris, Plon, 2005, ISBN 9782259203777
- Miss monde, Paris, Gallimard, coll. « Haute enfance », 2007, ISBN 9782070780846
- Claude Arnaud, Elisabeth Barillé, Gérard de Cortanze, Daniel Maximin, Paris *Portraits, Paris, Gallimard, coll. « Folio », 2007, ISBN 9782070342457, « Le géorama Montparnasse »
- De Gaulle en maillot de bain, Paris, Plon, 2007, ISBN 9782259203005
- Indigo, Paris, Plon, 2009, ISBN 9782259203012
- La belle endormie, Monaco-Paris, Le Serpent à Plumes, 2009, ISBN 9782268068022
- Miroirs, Paris, Plon, 2011, ISBN 9782259211963
Poetry
- Altérations, Éditions d'Atelier, 1973
- Au seuil: La fêlure, PJO, 1974
- U. Cenote, Alain Anseuw éditeur, 1980
- Los Angelitos, Richard Sébastian Imprimeur, 1980
- La Muerte solar, Pre-textos, 1985 (ISBN 9788485081660)
- Jours dans l'échancrure de la nuque, Paris, La Différence, coll. « Littérature », 1988, 219 p. ISBN 9782729102883
- La Porte de Cordoue, Paris, La Différence, coll. « Littérature », 1989, 143 p. ISBN 9782729104498
- Le Mouvement des choses, Paris, La Différence, coll. « Clepsydre », 1999, 189 p. ISBN 9782729112462. Prix SGDL-Charles Vildrac, 1999.