René Daumal
Encyclopedia
René Daumal was a French
spiritual
para-surrealist writer and poet
. He was born in Boulzicourt
, Ardennes
, France
.
In his late teens his avant-garde poetry was published in France's leading journals, and in his early twenties, although courted by André Breton
co-founded, as a counter to Surrealism
and Dada
, a literary journal, "Le Grand Jeu" with three friends, collectively known as the Simplists, including poet Roger Gilbert-Lecomte
. He is known best in the U.S. for two novels A Night of Serious Drinking
and the allegorical novel Mount Analogue: A Novel of Symbolically Authentic Non-Euclidean Adventures in Mountain Climbing
both based upon his friendship with Alexander de Salzmann, a pupil of G. I. Gurdjieff
.
Daumal was self-taught in the Sanskrit
language and translated some of the Tripitaka
Buddhist canon into the French language, as well as translating the literature of the Japanese Zen
scholar D.T. Suzuki into French.
He married Vera Milanova, the former wife of the poet Hendrik Kramer; after Daumal's death, she married the landscape architect Russell Page
.
Daumal's sudden and premature death of tuberculosis
on 21 May 1944 in Paris
may have been hastened by youthful experiments with drugs and psychoactive chemicals, including carbon tetrachloride
.
He died leaving his novel Mount Analogue unfinished, having worked on it until the day of his death.
The motion picture The Holy Mountain by Alejandro Jodorowsky
is based largely on Daumal's Mount Analogue.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
spiritual
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
para-surrealist writer and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
. He was born in Boulzicourt
Boulzicourt
Boulzicourt is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France.-Population:...
, Ardennes
Ardennes (département)
Ardennes is a department in the northeast part of France named after the Ardennes area.- History :The department is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was named after the Ardennes hills, which are located in northeast France, southern...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
In his late teens his avant-garde poetry was published in France's leading journals, and in his early twenties, although courted by André Breton
André Breton
André Breton was a French writer and poet. He is known best as the founder of Surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism"....
co-founded, as a counter to 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....
and Dada
Dada
Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
, a literary journal, "Le Grand Jeu" with three friends, collectively known as the Simplists, including poet Roger Gilbert-Lecomte
Roger Gilbert-Lecomte
Roger Gilbert-Lecomte was a French avant-garde poet and co-founder of the artistic group and magazine Le Grand Jeu. The group, associated with surrealists, was "excommunicated" from the movement by André Breton...
. He is known best in the U.S. for two novels A Night of Serious Drinking
A Night of Serious Drinking
A Night of Serious Drinking is an allegorical novel by the French surrealist writer René Daumal detailing what is ostensibly an extremely simple plot in which the narrator overly imbibes alcohol; what unfolds however is a novel which explores the extremities of heaven and hell....
and the allegorical novel Mount Analogue: A Novel of Symbolically Authentic Non-Euclidean Adventures in Mountain Climbing
Mount Analogue
Mount Analogue can refer to:* Mount Analogue , a mountain* Mount Analogue: A Novel of Symbolically Authentic Non-Euclidean Adventures in Mountain Climbing, a novel by René Daumal...
both based upon his friendship with Alexander de Salzmann, a pupil of G. I. Gurdjieff
G. I. Gurdjieff
George Ivanovich Gurdjieff according to Gurdjieff's principles and instructions, or the "Fourth Way."At one point he described his teaching as "esoteric Christianity."...
.
Daumal was self-taught in the Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
language and translated some of the Tripitaka
Tripiṭaka
' is a traditional term used by various Buddhist sects to describe their various canons of scriptures. As the name suggests, a traditionally contains three "baskets" of teachings: a , a and an .-The three categories:Tripitaka is the three main categories of texts that make up the...
Buddhist canon into the French language, as well as translating the literature of the Japanese Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
scholar D.T. Suzuki into French.
He married Vera Milanova, the former wife of the poet Hendrik Kramer; after Daumal's death, she married the landscape architect Russell Page
Russell Page
Montague Russell Page was a British gardener, garden designer and landscape architect.Former partner of Geoffrey Jellicoe and author of The Education of a Gardener . In this book he includes some reference to Islamic and classical gardens...
.
Daumal's sudden and premature death of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
on 21 May 1944 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
may have been hastened by youthful experiments with drugs and psychoactive chemicals, including carbon tetrachloride
Carbon tetrachloride
Carbon tetrachloride, also known by many other names is the organic compound with the formula CCl4. It was formerly widely used in fire extinguishers, as a precursor to refrigerants, and as a cleaning agent...
.
He died leaving his novel Mount Analogue unfinished, having worked on it until the day of his death.
The motion picture The Holy Mountain by Alejandro Jodorowsky
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky, known as Alejandro Jodorowsky, is a Chilean filmmaker, playwright, actor, author, comic book writer and spiritual guru...
is based largely on Daumal's Mount Analogue.
Works by René Daumal in English translation
- Le Contre-Ciel (Le contre-ciel), Woodstock, New York: Overlook Press, 2005.
- A Fundamental Experiment, New York / Madras: Hanuman Books, 1987.
- The Lie of the Truth and Other Parables from the Way of Liberation, New York / Madras: Hanuman Books, 1989.
- Mount AnalogueMount AnalogueMount Analogue can refer to:* Mount Analogue , a mountain* Mount Analogue: A Novel of Symbolically Authentic Non-Euclidean Adventures in Mountain Climbing, a novel by René Daumal...
(Le mont analogue), Woodstock, New York: Overlook Press, 2004. - Mugle and the Silk (Mugle; La soie), New York, Edwin Mellen PressEdwin Mellen PressThe Edwin Mellen Press, based in Lewiston, New York is a niche publisher of scholarly material and advanced research in the humanities and social sciences. They publish a variety of tomes including monographs, bibliographies, concordances, dictionaries, conference proceedings, dissertations, and...
, 1997. - A Night of Serious DrinkingA Night of Serious DrinkingA Night of Serious Drinking is an allegorical novel by the French surrealist writer René Daumal detailing what is ostensibly an extremely simple plot in which the narrator overly imbibes alcohol; what unfolds however is a novel which explores the extremities of heaven and hell....
(La grande beuverie), Woodstock, New York: Overlook Press, 2003. - The Powers of the Word (1927-1943) (Les pouvoirs de la parole), San Francisco: City Lights, 1991.
- 'Rasa or Knowledge of the Self'Essays On Indian Aesthetics and Selected Sanskrit Studies. New York: New Directions, 1982.* ed. Claudio Rugafiori, transl. Louise Landes Levi, Repr. Kathamndu, Nepal, Shivastan, 2002 & 2006 (each edition 333 copies).
- You've Always Been Wrong (Tu t'es toujours trompé), Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995.
- René Daumal, Letters on the Search for Awakening, 1930 - 1944, Toronto: Dolmen Meadow Editions, 2010. transl. Gabriela Ansari and Roger Lipsey, with an introduction by Roger Lipsey.
Works in English on René Daumal
- Phil Powrie, René Daumal and Roger Gilbert-Lecomte: A bibliography, London: Grant & Cutler, 1988.
- Kathleen Ferrick Rosenblatt, René Daumal: The Life and Work of a Mystic Guide, New York: Suny Press, 1999.
External links
- Holy War
- Skin of Light
- Poetry Black Poetry White
- Works by René Daumal (public domain in Canada)