Jules Roy
Encyclopedia
Jules Roy was a French writer. "Prolific and polemical" Roy, born an Algeria
n pied noir and sent to a Roman Catholic seminary, used his experiences as the French colony and during his service in the Royal Air Force
during the Second World War to inspire a number of his words. He began writing in 1946, while still in service, and continued to publish fiction and historical works after his resignation in 1953 in protest of the First Indochina War
. He was an outspoken critic of French colonialism and the Algerian War of Independence
and later civil war
, as well as a strongly religious man.
, Roy was a white settler in French Algeria. He was born in Rovigo
, Algeria
, and spent his childhood on the farm of his maternal grand-parents, the Pâris, petits colons who lived at the village of Sidi Moussa
, about eight kilometres north of the town. Roy was the fruit of an adulterous liaison between Mathilde Roy, the wife of a policeman, and Henri Dematons, a school-teacher.
In 1995, Roy, who had been living in France for many years, returned to Algeria and visited his mother's grave in the small pied noir cemetery at Sidi Moussa. During World War II
, Roy commanded a Royal Air Force
squadron which was engaged in bombing the Ruhr Basin
; he described the missions in La Vallée heureuse (Charlot, 1946). In June 1953 he resigned from the army, a colonel, in protest at the government's policies in the First Indochina War
.
His Le Voyage en Chine (Julliard, 1965) recounts the story of a visit to Mao Zedong
's China
during which he planned to make a film portraying what he had imagined to be the successful transformation of the society, only to be disappointed at the lack of access to real conditions. Manès Sperber
points out that unlike most such "pilgrims to Utopia", Roy did not only look for what he had already found, but also criticizes him for failing to see through the propaganda-laden words of the people he interviewed. Sperber holds that events such as the 1953 Berlin uprising
teach us the "unforgettable lesson" that even people who have spent the decisive years of their lives under a monopolitical system can still rise up against it; this — and reflection on the failure of the Hundred Flowers Campaign
and the subsequent crackdown, events of which Roy well knew — shows up the avoidability of his mistake in taking the platitudinous eulogies of the stage-managed interviews at face value.
Roy spent the last years of his life in Vézelay
, following his interest in the life of Mary Magdalene
. He married Mirande Grimal, and had children, Jean-Louis and Genevieve. Following divorce he married Tatiana Soukoroukoff in 1965. Both children survived him.
Non-fiction
Essays
Poetry
Drama
Pamphlet
Short story
Correspondence
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
n pied noir and sent to a Roman Catholic seminary, used his experiences as the French colony and during his service in the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
during the Second World War to inspire a number of his words. He began writing in 1946, while still in service, and continued to publish fiction and historical works after his resignation in 1953 in protest of the First Indochina War
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
. He was an outspoken critic of French colonialism and the Algerian War of Independence
Algerian War of Independence
The Algerian War was a conflict between France and Algerian independence movements from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria's gaining its independence from France...
and later civil war
Algerian Civil War
The Algerian Civil War was an armed conflict between the Algerian government and various Islamist rebel groups which began in 1991. It is estimated to have cost between 150,000 and 200,000 lives, in a population of about 25,010,000 in 1990 and 31,193,917 in 2000.More than 70 journalists were...
, as well as a strongly religious man.
Life and work
Like his friend Albert CamusAlbert Camus
Albert Camus was a French author, journalist, and key philosopher of the 20th century. In 1949, Camus founded the Group for International Liaisons within the Revolutionary Union Movement, which was opposed to some tendencies of the Surrealist movement of André Breton.Camus was awarded the 1957...
, Roy was a white settler in French Algeria. He was born in Rovigo
Bougara
Bougara is a town in the Mitidja plain in Algeria, about 20 kilometers due south of Algiers. Located on the N29, the main road between Blida and Larbaâ, it is the capital of Bougara District, in Blida Province. In 1998 it had a population of 34,100....
, Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, and spent his childhood on the farm of his maternal grand-parents, the Pâris, petits colons who lived at the village of Sidi Moussa
Sidi Moussa
Sidi Moussa is a suburb of the city of Algiers in northern Algeria....
, about eight kilometres north of the town. Roy was the fruit of an adulterous liaison between Mathilde Roy, the wife of a policeman, and Henri Dematons, a school-teacher.
In 1995, Roy, who had been living in France for many years, returned to Algeria and visited his mother's grave in the small pied noir cemetery at Sidi Moussa. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Roy commanded a Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
squadron which was engaged in bombing the Ruhr Basin
Ruhr
The Ruhr is a medium-size river in western Germany , a right tributary of the Rhine.-Description:The source of the Ruhr is near the town of Winterberg in the mountainous Sauerland region, at an elevation of approximately 2,200 feet...
; he described the missions in La Vallée heureuse (Charlot, 1946). In June 1953 he resigned from the army, a colonel, in protest at the government's policies in the First Indochina War
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
.
His Le Voyage en Chine (Julliard, 1965) recounts the story of a visit to Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
's China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
during which he planned to make a film portraying what he had imagined to be the successful transformation of the society, only to be disappointed at the lack of access to real conditions. Manès Sperber
Manès Sperber
Manès Sperber was an Austrian-French novelist, essayist and psychologist. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Jan Heger and N.A. Menlos....
points out that unlike most such "pilgrims to Utopia", Roy did not only look for what he had already found, but also criticizes him for failing to see through the propaganda-laden words of the people he interviewed. Sperber holds that events such as the 1953 Berlin uprising
Uprising of 1953 in East Germany
The Uprising of 1953 in East Germany started with a strike by East Berlin construction workers on June 16. It turned into a widespread anti-Stalinist uprising against the German Democratic Republic government the next day....
teach us the "unforgettable lesson" that even people who have spent the decisive years of their lives under a monopolitical system can still rise up against it; this — and reflection on the failure of the Hundred Flowers Campaign
Hundred Flowers Campaign
The Hundred Flowers Campaign, also termed the Hundred Flowers Movement, refers mainly to a brief six weeks in the People's Republic of China in the early summer of 1957 during which the Communist Party of China encouraged a variety of views and solutions to national policy issues, launched...
and the subsequent crackdown, events of which Roy well knew — shows up the avoidability of his mistake in taking the platitudinous eulogies of the stage-managed interviews at face value.
Roy spent the last years of his life in Vézelay
Vézelay
Vézelay is a commune in the Yonne department in Burgundy in north-central France. It is a defendable hill town famous for Vézelay Abbey. The town and the Basilica of St Magdelene are designated UNESCO World Heritage sites....
, following his interest in the life of Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...
. He married Mirande Grimal, and had children, Jean-Louis and Genevieve. Following divorce he married Tatiana Soukoroukoff in 1965. Both children survived him.
Works
Novels- Le tonnerre et les anges, Grasset, 1975.
- Le Désert de Retz, Grasset, 1978.
- Les Chevaux du soleil, Grasset, 1980, 6 volumes ; one volume edition, Omnibus, 1995.
- La Saison des Za, Grasset, 1982.
Non-fiction
- Ciel et terre, Alger, Charlot, 1943 (épuisé).
- La Vallée heureuse, Charlot, 1946, with a preface by Pierre Jean JouvePierre Jean JouvePierre Jean Jouve was a French writer, novelist and poet. No more info at the moment.-References:...
; Gallimard, 1948 ; Éditions Julliard, 1960 ; Albin Michel, 1989. - Le Métier des armes, Gallimard, 1948 ; Julliard, 1960.
- Retour de l'enfer, Gallimard, 1953 ; Julliard, 1960.
- Le Navigateur, Gallimard, 1954 ; Julliard, 1960.
- La Femme infidèle, Gallimard, 1955 ; Julliard, 1960.
- Les Flammes de l'été, Gallimard, 1956 ; Julliard, 1960 ; Albin Michel, 1993.
- Les Belles Croisades, Gallimard, 1959 ; Julliard, 1960.
- La Guerre d'Algérie, Julliard, 1960 ; Christian Bourgois, 1994.
- La Bataille de Dien Bien Phu, Julliard, 1963 ; Albin Michel, 1989.
- Le Voyage en Chine, Julliard, 1965.
- La Mort de Mao, Christian Bourgois, 1969 ; Albin Michel, 1991.
- L'Amour fauve, Grasset, 1971.
- Danse du ventre au-dessus des canons, Flammarion, 1976.
- Pour le lieutenant Karl, Christian Bourgois, 1977.
- Pour un chien, Grasset, 1979.
- Une affaire d'honneur, Plon, 1983.
- Beyrouth viva la muerte, Grasset, 1984.
- Guynemer, l'ange de la mort, Albin Michel, 1986.
- Mémoires barbares, Albin Michel, 1989.
- Amours barbares, Albin Michel, 1993.
- Un après-guerre amoureux, Albin Michel, 1995.
- Adieu ma mère, adieu mon cœur, Albin Michel, 1996.
- Journal, t. 1, Les années déchirement, 1925-1965, Albin Michel, 1997.
- Journal, t. 2, Les années cavalières, 1966-1985, Albin Michel, 1998.
- Journal, t. 3, Les années de braise, 1986-1996, Albin Michel, 1999.
- Lettre à Dieu, Albin Michel, 2001.
Essays
- Comme un mauvais ange, Charlot, 1946 ; Gallimard, 1960.
- L'Homme à l'épée, Gallimard, 1957 ; Julliard, 1960.
- Autour du drame, Julliard, 1961.
- Passion et mort de Saint-Exupéry, Gallimard, 1951 ; Julliard, 1960 ; La Manufacture, 1987.
- Le Grand Naufrage, Julliard, 1966 ; Albin Michel, 1995.
- Turnau, Sienne, 1976 (hors commerce).
- Éloge de Max-Pol Fouchet, Actes Sud, 1980.
- Étranger pour mes frères, Stock, 1982.
- Citoyen Bolis, tambour de village, Avallon, Voillot,1989.
- Vézelay ou l'Amour fou, Albin Michel, 1990.
- Rostropovitch, Gainsbourg et Dieu, Albin Michel, 1991.
Poetry
- Trois Pières pour des pilotes, Alger, Charlot, 1942.
- Chants et prières pour des pilotes, Charlot, 1943 ; Gallimard, 1948 ; Julliard, 1960.
- Sept Poèmes de ténèbres, Paris, 1957.
- Prière à Mademoiselle Sainte-Madeleine, Charlot, 1984 ; Bleu du Ciel, Vézelay, 1986.
- Chant d'amour pour Marseille, Jeanne Laffitte, 1988.
- Cinq Poèmes, Avallon, Voillot,1991.
- La nuit tombe, debout camarades !, Gérard Oberlé, 1991.
- Poèmes et prières des années de guerre (1939–1945), Actes Sud, 2001.
Drama
- Beau Sang, Gallimard, 1952 ; Julliard, 1960.
- Les Cyclones, Gallimard, 1953 ; Julliard, 1960.
- Le Fleuve rouge, Gallimard, 1957 ; Julliard, 1960.
- La Rue des Zouaves suivi de Sa Majesté Monsieur Constantin, Julliard, 1970.
- Lieutenant Karl, dramatique télé (Michel Wyn), INA, 1977.
- Mort au champ d'honneur' Albin Michel, 1995.
Pamphlet
- J'accuse le général Massu, Seuil, 1972.
Short story
- L'Œil de loup du roi de Pharan, Sétif, 1945.
Correspondence
- D'une amitié. Correspondance (1937–1962), Édisud, 1985, with the poet Jean AmroucheJean AmroucheJean-Elmouhoub Amrouche was a French-language Algerian poet. Born to a Catholic family in Kabylie in Algeria, Amrouche emigrated with his family to Tunisia while still young...