René Marie Galand (January 27, 1923 - ) is a writer and Professor of French. He was born in Châteauneuf-du-Faou

Châteauneuf-du-Faou

Châteauneuf-du-Faou is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.Châteauneuf-du-Faou is located in the middle of Brittany, between Monts d'Arrée and Montagne Noire. The town is built on a hill overlooking the Canal de Nantes à Brest, which is the canalized river Aulne...

 in Brittany

Brittany

Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...

.

Biography

René Galand was born on January 27, 1923, in Châteauneuf-du-Faou

Châteauneuf-du-Faou

Châteauneuf-du-Faou is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.Châteauneuf-du-Faou is located in the middle of Brittany, between Monts d'Arrée and Montagne Noire. The town is built on a hill overlooking the Canal de Nantes à Brest, which is the canalized river Aulne...

 (Finistère), to a family of farmers. He was still quite young when his father, like many other Bretons from the area, emigrated to the United States, where his wife joined him later. Their two children remained in Brittany for their education, René, a boarder in a lycée, in Quimper

Arrondissement of Quimper

The arrondissement of Quimper is an arrondissement of France, located in the Finistère department, in the Brittany region. It has 17 cantons and 82 communes.-Cantons:The cantons of the arrondissement of Quimper are:# Arzano# Bannalec# Briec# Concarneau...

 at first, and then in Brest

Brest, France

Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...

, and his sister in a boarding school for girls, first in Carhaix, then in Quimperlé

Quimperlé

Quimperlé is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France.-Geography:Quimperlé is in the southeast of Finistère, 20 km to the sest of Lorient and 44 km to the east of Quimper...

. They spent the holidays in Châteauneuf with their grandparents.

René Galand received his baccalauréat in mathematics in 1941 in Brest. He pursued his studies in Rennes

Rennes

Rennes 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:...

, where he received a second baccalauréat in philosophy in 1942 and the licence ès lettres in 1944. He had also successfully completed the competitive entrance examinations for the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr

École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr

The École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr is the foremost French military academy. Its official name is . It is often referred to as Saint-Cyr . Its motto is "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre": literally "They study to vanquish" or "Training for victory"...

, the French Military Academy. At the end of 1942, he made his first contacts with the French Resistance

French Resistance

The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...

, and in June 1944, following the Allied landings in Normandy, he fought for the liberation of France. Promoted to "aspirant" in October 1944, he was sent to the École Militaire Inter-Armes of Cherchell (Algeria), which was later transferred to Koetkidan. Promoted to the rank of second lieutenant in June 1945, he was sent to the French Forces of Occupation in Germany. At the end of 1946, he resigned his commission in the active service and joined his parents and his sister in the United States.

Galand taught at Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 as a teaching assistant while pursuing his doctoral studies. He received his Ph.D. in French literature in 1952. From 1951 to 1993, he taught at Wellesley College, lecturing primarily on 19th and 20th century French literature He served as chair of the French Department from 1968 to 1972.

René Galand is the author of numerous studies of French writers from Chateaubriand

François-René de Chateaubriand

François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian. He is considered the founder of Romanticism in French literature.-Early life and exile:...

, Renan

Ernest Renan

Ernest Renan was a French expert of Middle East ancient languages and civilizations, philosopher and writer, devoted to his native province of Brittany...

 and Baudelaire

Charles Baudelaire

Charles Baudelaire was a French poet who produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. His most famous work, Les Fleurs du mal expresses the changing nature of beauty in modern, industrializing Paris during the nineteenth century...

 to Camus

Albert 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...

, Robbe-Grillet

Alain Robbe-Grillet

Alain Robbe-Grillet , was a French writer and filmmaker. He was, along with Nathalie Sarraute, Michel Butor and Claude Simon, one of the figures most associated with the Nouveau Roman trend. Alain Robbe-Grillet was elected a member of the Académie française on March 25, 2004, succeeding Maurice...

 and the Oulipo

Oulipo

Oulipo is a loose gathering of French-speaking writers and mathematicians which seeks to create works using constrained writing techniques. It was founded in 1960 by Raymond Queneau and François Le Lionnais...

. His publications include five books, collective works, articles and reviews which have appeared in such journals as The French Review, The Romantic Review, Revue d'Histoire littéraire de la France, Revue de littérature comparée, PMLA, Yale French Studies, Symposium, Dada/Surrealism, and World Literature Today. He also has published essays on American writers (Melville

Herman Melville

Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....

, T. S. Eliot

T. S. Eliot

Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...

, Lovecraft

H. P. Lovecraft

Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....

, Kerouac

Jack Kerouac

Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...

) and the Spanish poet Jorge Guillén

Jorge Guillén

Jorge Guillén y Álvarez was a Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27.-Biography:Jorge Guillén was born in Valladolid. His life paralleled that of his friend Pedro Salinas, whom he succeeded as a Spanish teaching assistant at the Collège de Sorbonne in the University of Paris from 1917 to...

.

Under the Breton form of his name, Reun ar C'halan, he has published extensively in Breton: poems (three volumes), short stories (one volume), autobiography (two volumes), as well as many individual poems, short stories, and critical studies about Breton literature as well as reviews of books written in the Breton language. The latter have appeared in collections of his works and in such journals as Skrid, Poésie-Bretagne, Pobl Vreizh, Barr-Heol, Keltoi, Bro Nevez, Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium, Keltica, and World Literature Today. He has also given papers at meetings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium and of Celtic Studies Association of North America (CSANA) and taken part in the work of the American branch of the International Committee for the Defense of the Breton Language. Some of his works have been translated and published in other languages: French, English, German, Welsh, Flemish, and Polish. Critics have ranked him among the best Breton writers of his generation.

Prizes

In 1971, Galand was awarded the Palmes Académiques by the government of France for his contributions to the study of French literature. In 1979, he received the Xavier de Langlais Prize for his first collection of poems, Levr ar Blanedenn (The Book of Fate), and, in 2003, the Imram Prize for his Breton literary writings.

Publications

A complete bibliography of Galand's writings up to 2005 has been published in the Breton journal Al Liamm Since that date, other works have appeared: a collection of short stories A-bell hag a-dost (So far and so near). Another short story, "Lizher eus ar vered," appeared in Al Liamm (April 2006).

Books

• L'âme celtique de Renan, 1959
• Baudelaire: poétiques et poésie, 1969
• Saint-John Perse (in English), 1972
• Levr ar blanedenn, 1981 (poems)
• Klemmgan Breizh, 1985 (poems)
• Canevas: études sur la poésie française de Baudelaire à l'Oulipo, 1986
• Lorc'h ar rouaned, 1989 (poems)
• Stratégie de la lecture, 1990
• War hentoù an tremened, I-2002, II-2005 (autobiography)
• A-bell hag a-dost, 2009 (short stories)

Collections

• Baudelaire as a love poet and other essays, 1969
• Homosexualities and French Literature, 1979
• A Critical Bibliography of French Literature, 1980
• The Binding of Proteus, 1980
• Bretagne et pays celtiques. Mélanges offerts à la mémoire de Léon Fleuriot, 1982
• Du ha Gwyn, 1985
• Verhalen van de wereld, 1988
• Homenaje a Justina de Conde, 1992
• The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and oetics, 1993
• Und suchte meine Zunge ab nach Worten, 1996
• Writing the Wind: A Celtic Resurgence, 1997
• Ik hab geen ander land, 1998
• Bretagne et peuples d'Europe, 1999
• Danevelloù divyezhek / Nouvelles bilingues, 2002

Articles

• "T.S. Eliot and the impact of Baudelaire", Yale French Studies, vol. 6 (1950), pp. 27 34
• "Proust et Baudelaire", PMLA, Dec. 1950, pp. 1011 "Renan savait il le breton?", Nouvelle Revue de Bretagne, Nov. Dec. 1952, pp. 44 47
• "Four French Attitudes on Life: Montherlant, Malraux, Sartre, Camus", Bulletin of the New England MLA, Feb. 1953, pp. 9 15
• "La genèse du thème celtique chez Renan", Nouvelle Revue de Bretagne, May June 1953, pp. 166 176
• "Trois lettres inédites de Renan, PMLA, Dec. 1958, pp. 545 548
• "La dimension sociale dans La Jalousie de Robbe Grillet", The French Review, April 1966, pp. 703 708
• "Baudelaire et La Fontaine de Jouvence", Bulletin baudelairien, August 1966, pp. 1–7
• "Une énigme baudelairienne", The Romanic Review, April 1967, pp. 77 82
• "Rimbaud et la Dame aux camélias", Bulletin de la Société des Professeurs français en Amérique (1967), pp. 45 46
• "Baudelaire's Psychology of Play", The French Review, (Special issue, Winter 1971), pp. 12 19
• Art. "La Vision de l'Inconscient chez Baudelaire", Symposium, (Spring 1972), pp. 15 23
• "A Prophet for our Times: Saint John Perse", The American Legion of Honor Magazine, vol. 43 (1972), no 3, pp. 143 158
• "En marge d'Éloges", The French Review, (Special issue, Spring 1973), pp. 112–119
• "Baudelaire, poet of conjecture", The American Legion of Honor Magazine, vol. 46 (1975), no 1, pp. 39–53
• "Cocteau, or the poet as magician", The American Legion of Honor Magazine, vol 46 (1975), no 3, pp. 139 154
• "Aesthetic Value and the Unconscious", Les Bonnes Feuilles, Summer 1975, pp. 90 95
• "Visite à Saint John Perse", The French Review, Feb. 1976, pp. 401 404
• "Poets and Politics: The Revival of Nationalism in Breton Poetry since World War I", World Literature Today, Spring 1980, pp. 218 222
• "From Dada to the Computer", Dada/Surrealism, no 10 11 (1982), pp. 149 160
• "The Breton Struggle for National Survival", Keltica, no 2 (1983), pp. 21 30
• "Didactique du discours amoureux: le 'Mignonne ...' de Ronsard", Teaching Language Through Literature, vol. XXIV (1985), no 2, pp. 15 26
• "The Tragic Vision of Tangi Malmanche", World Literature Today (Summer 1985), pp. 355 363
• "Chateaubriand: le rocher de René", Romanic Review (November 1986), pp. 330 342
• "Stumm ha ster ar stourm speredel e Komzoù bev" [Form and meaning of the spiritual struggle in Komzo ù bev], Al Liamm, no 240 (1987)
• "Microlecture de Giraudoux", The French Review, March 1987, pp. 497 501 Art. "E koun
• "The Origins of Meven Mordiern's Celtic Calling", Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium, Vol. V (1988), pp. 172–186
• "Baudelaire devant les choses: profondeur ou surface?", Bulletin de la Société des Professeurs français en Amérique 1987-88 (1989), pp. 67–79
• "Modern Breton Fiction and the Emsav", Keltoi, vol. 2 (1990), no 2, pp. 15–20
• "The Ideological Significance of Emgann Kergidu", Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium, vols. VI-VII (1990), pp. 47–68
• "Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Verlaine, Mallarmé, Or The Imposture Of Poetry", in Justina. Homenage a Justina Ruiz de Conde (Erie: Alddeu, 1992), eds. Elena Gascón-Vera and Joy Renjilian-Burgy, pp. 45–58
• "Oulipo", The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics (Princeton University Press, 1993) pp. 872–873
• "Breton Poetry", in The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics (Princeton University Press, 1993), pp. 146–147
• "Giraudoux connaissait-il William T. Stead?", Revue de Littérature comparée, Avril-Juin 1993, pp. 233–242
• "Le monstre des Feuillantines: une énigme hugolienne", Revue d'histoire littéraire de la France, Sept.-Oct. 1994, pp. 805–807
• "Al lennegezh vrezhonek ha skridvarnouriezh an amzer-vremañ: I. Istor ha kealoniezh: Emgann Kergidu"["Breton literature and present day criticism. I. History and Ideology: La Bataille de Kerguidu"], Al Liamm, (Sept.-Oct. 1994), no 286, pp. 361–383 ; II. "Hennvoud ar reuzc'hoari e c'hoariva Tangi Malmanche"["The essence of tragedy in the plays of Tangi Malmanche"], Al Liamm, (Nov.-Déc. 1994), no 287, pp. 512–527 .; III. "Ar faltazi hag ar c'hoari e buhezskridoù Meven Mordiern" ["Fancy and Play in Meven Mordiern's autobiographical works], Al Liamm, (Jan.-Fév.1995), no 288, pp. 38-51
• "An oberenn lennegel hag an Emsav" [L'œuvre littéraire et l'Emsav], Al Liamm (Mars-Avril 1995), no 289, pp. 154–158
• "An ad ludendumne an ad scribendum: skrivañ=c'hoari?" [writing=playing], Al Liamm (Mai-Août 1995), no 290-291, pp. 252–265
• "Ar spered broadel ha lennegezh vrezhonek an amzer-vremañ" [The nationaliste spirit and today's Breton literature], Al Liamm (Nov.-Dec. 1995), no 293, pp. 454–484
• "Galvedigezh keltiek Meven Mordiern" [Tne Celtic Calling of Meven Mordiern], Al Liamm (Jan.-Feb. 1996), no 294, pp. 22–49
• "Orin ar simbol" [The symbol's origin], Al Liamm (Jan.-Feb. 1996), no 294, pp. 66–67
• Poem "Mojenn", Al Liamm (Mar.-Apr. 1996), no 295, p. 104
• "Selladoù ouzh buhez an Emsav. Lizhiri Frañsez Vallée: 1916-1939" [Views on the Emsav. The Letters of F. Vallée 1916-1939], Al Liamm (May-Aug. 1996), no 296-297, pp. 243–263; (Sept.-Oct. 1996), no 298, pp. 360–381
• "Meven Mordiern hag impalaerouriezh Bro-C'hall. I. Aloubidigezh Aljeria; II. Brezel ar Meksik" [Meven Mordiern and French Imperialism. I. The Conquest of Algeria. II. The Mexican War], Al Liamm, (Genver-C'hwevrer 1997), niv. 300, pp. 59–78; (Meurzh-Ebrel 1997), niv. 301, pp. 162–190
• "Jack Kerouac: touelloù ha disouezhadennoù" [Jack Kerouac: illusions and disillusions], Al Liamm, niv. 305 (Du-Kerzu 1997), pp. 518–548
• "E koun André Pieyre de Mandiargues" [In Memory of André Pieyre de Mandiargues], Al Liamm, niv. 306 (Genver-C'hwevrer 1998), pp. 15–25
• "Jorge Guillén, barzh ar Boud" [Jorge Guillén, Poet of Being], Al Liamm, niv. 307 (Meurzh-Ebrel 1998), pp. 152–163
• "Me gloazet Howard Phillips Lovecraft" [The Wounded Ego of Howard Phillips Lovecraft], Al Liamm, niv. 312 (Genver-C'hwevrer 1999), pp. 9–32
• "Baudelaire, diouganer an arz nevez" [Baudelaire, prophet of modern art], Al Liamm, niv. 316 (Gwengolo-Here 1999), pp. 62–70)
• "Ar Varzhed Touellet: Baudelaire, Mallarmé, Verlaine, Rimbaud" [Cheated Poets : Baudelaire, Mallarmé, Verlaine, Rimbaud], Al Liamm, niv. 322 (Gwengolo-Here 2000), pp. 53–77
• "Evezhiadennoù diwar-benn Nozvezh Arkuzh e beg an Enezenn" [Remarks on Night Wake at the point of the Island], Al Liamm, niv. 324 (C'hwevrer 2001), pp. 83–89
• "Saint-John Perse, barzh an Hollved" [Saint-John Perse, Poet of the Universal] Al Liamm, niv. 329 (Kerzu 2001), pp. 68–87
• "Cocteau hag an Doueed" [Cocteau and the Gods], Al Liamm, niv.334 (Here 2002), pp. 45–56
• "Renan hag ar brezhoneg", [Renan and the Breton Language] Al Liamm, niv. 335 (Kerzu 2002), pp. 83–89
• "Un diaraoger amerikan d'an Diveiz: Herman Melville (1819-1891)" [An American Forerunner of the Absurd : Herman Melville], Al Liamm, niv. 350 (Mezheven 2005), pp. 37–53

Uncollected poems

• "Serr noz er gouelec'h", Al Liamm, no 215 (1982), p. 331
• "Ar Steredenn du", Al Liamm, no 216 (1983), pp. 6 7
• "Eneoù 'zo", Al Liamm, no 258 (1990), p. 3
• "Pedenn", Al Liamm, no 284-285 (1994), pp. 193–194