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Encyclopedia > Gérard de Nerval

Gérard de Nerval (May 22, 1808January 26, 1855) was the nom-de-plume of the French poet, essayist and translator Gérard Labrunie, the most essentially Romantic among French poets. May 22 is the 142nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (143rd in leap years). ... Events January 1 - Importation of slaves into the United States is banned February 11 - Russia issues an ultimatum to France, Finland. ... January 26 is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1855 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... A pen name or nom de plume is a pseudonym adopted by an author. ... The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ... Romanticism was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in late 18th century Western Europe. ...

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Gérard de Nerval

Two years after his birth in Paris, his mother died in Silesia whilst accompanying her husband, a military doctor, a member of Napoleon's Grande Armée. He was brought up by his maternal great-uncle, Antoine Boucher, in the countryside of Valois at Mortefontaine. On the return of his father from war in 1814, he was sent back to Paris. He frequently returned to the countryside of the Valois on holidays and later returned to it in imagination in his Chansons et légendes du Valois. Please be advised that the factual accuracy of Wikipedia articles dealing with topics related to the Oder-Neisse Line is often disputed. ... Bonaparte as general Napoleon Bonaparte ( 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general of the French Revolution and was the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from November 11, 1799 to May 18, 1804, then as Emperor of the French (Empereur des Français... 1814 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...


His flair for translation was manifest in the translation of Faust (1828) that first made his reputation; Goethe praised it, and Hector Berlioz later used sections for his legend-symphony La Damnation de Faust. Other translations from Goethe followed; in the 1840s, Nerval's translations introduced Heinrich Heine's poems to French readers of La Revue des Deux Mondes. In the 1820s at college he became lifelong friends with Théophile Gautier and later joined Alexandre Dumas in the Petit Cénacle, in what was an exceedingly bohemian set, which was ultimately to become the Club des Hashischins. Nerval's poetry breathes a Romantic deism, a sentient universe full of dream images and esoteric signs. Among his admirers was Victor Hugo. Faust is the protagonist of a popular German tale that has been used as the basis for many different fictional works. ... Portrait of Berlioz by Signol, 1832 Louis Hector Berlioz (December 11, 1803 – March 8, 1869) was a French Romantic composer best known for the Symphonie Fantastique, first performed in 1830, and for his Requiem of 1837, with its tremendous resources that include four antiphonal brass choirs. ... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (pronounced [gø tə]) (August 26, 1749–March 22, 1832) was a German writer, politician, humanist, scientist, and philosopher. ... Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (December 13, 1797 - February 17, 1856) was one of the most significant German romantic poets. ... The Revue des Deux Mondes is a monthly French language magazine. ... Alexandre Dumas redirects here. ... Though a Bohemian is a native of the Czech province of Bohemia, a secondary meaning for Bohemian emerged in 19th_century France. ... The Club des Hashischins (sometimes also spelt Club des Hashishins or Club des Hachichin), was a Parisian society dedicated to the exploration of drug-induced experience, notably with hashish. ... Romanticism was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in late 18th century Western Europe. ... There is no God but JESUS, and ALLAH is his Father! ... Victor Hugo Victor Hugo (February 26, 1802 - May 22, 1885) was a French author, the most important of the Romantic authors in the French language. ...


Gérard de Nerval's first nervous breakdown occurred in 1841. A series of novellas, collected as Les Illuminés, ou les precurseurs du socialisme (1852), on themes suggested by the careers of Rétif de la Bretonne, Cagliostro and others, he gave shape to feelings that followed his third attack of insanity. Increasingly poverty-stricken and disoriented, he finally committed suicide in 1855, hanging himself from a window grating. He was interred in Le Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. Count Alessandro di Cagliostro, born Giuseppe Balsamo became a roving adventurer, freemason and alchemist in the late 18th century. ... 1855 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...


The influence of de Nerval's insistence on the significance of dreams on the Surrealist movement was fully emphasised by André Breton. The writers Marcel Proust and René Daumal were also greatly influenced by de Nerval's work. Surrealism is an artistic movement and an aesthetic philosophy that aims for the liberation of the mind by emphasizing the critical and imaginative powers of the subconscious. ... André Breton ( February 18, 1896 – September 28, 1966) was a French writer, poet, and surrealist theorist. ... Valentin-Louis-Georges-Eugène-Marcel Proust (July 10, 1871 - November 18, 1922) was a French intellectual, novelist, essayist and critic, best known as the author of In Search of Lost Time (À la recherche du temps perdu, also translated previously as Remembrance of Things Past). ...


According to the British television series "Status Anxiety", Nerval had a pet lobster. He took it for walks in Paris on the end of a blue ribbon. He regarded them as "peaceful, serious creatures, who know the secrets of the sea, and don't bark".


Works by de Nerval

  • Voyage en Orient (1851), resulted from his extended hashish-filled trip of 1842 to Cairo and Beirut. It must have puzzled readers of conventional travel books, for it retells Oriental tales like Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, in terms of the artist and the act of creation.
  • Les Nuits d'Octobre (1852)
  • Sylvie (1853)
  • Les Filles du Feu (1854), a volume of short stories.
    • Les Chimères poems appended to Les Filles de Feu, translated by Daniel Mark Epstein (http://www.newcriterion.com/archive/19/dec00/nerval4.htm)
  • Aurélie (1855), his fantasy-ridden interior autobiography— "Our dreams are a second life," he wrote— which influenced the Surrealists.
  • Promenades et Souvenirs (1854-56)


 
 

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