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Romain Rolland (; 29 January 1866 – 30 December 1944) was a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, art historian and Mysticism who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915 "as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary production and to the sympathy and love of truth with which he has described different types of human beings".
He was an admirer of Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore, wrote a still relevant biography of Gandhi, and is also noted for his correspondence with numerous writers and thinkers across the globe including Maxim Gorki, Rabindranath Tagore and Sigmund Freud.
Accepted to the École normale supérieure in 1886, he first studied philosophy, but his independence of spirit led him to abandon that so as not to submit to the dominant ideology. He received his degree in history in 1889 and spent two years in Rome, where his encounter with Malwida von Meysenbug–who had been a friend of Nietzsche and of Richard Wagner–and his discovery of Italian masterpieces were decisive for the development of his thought. When he returned to France in 1895, he received his doctoral degree with his thesis Les origines du théâtre lyrique moderne. Histoire de l’opéra en Europe avant Lulli et Scarlatti ( The origins of modern lyric theatre. A History of Opera in Europe before Lully and Scarlatti). For the next two decades, he taught at various lycées in Paris before directing the newly established music school of the École des Hautes Études Sociales from 1902 to 1911. In 1903 he was appointed to the first chair of music history at the Sorbonne, he also directed briefly in 1911 the musical section at the French Institute in Florence.
His first book was published in 1902 when he was 36 years old. Through his advocacy for a 'people's theatre', he made a significant contribution towards the democratization of the theatre. As a humanist, he embraced the work of the philosophers of India ("Conversations with Rabindranath Tagore" and Mohandas Gandhi). Rolland was strongly influenced by the Vedanta philosophy of India, primarily through the works of Swami Vivekananda.
A demanding, yet timid, young man, he did not like teaching. He was not indifferent to youth: Jean-Christophe, Olivier and their friends, the heroes of his novels, are young people. But with real-life persons, youths as well as adults, Rolland maintained only a distant relationship. He was first and foremost a writer. Assured that literature would provide him with a modest income, he resigned from the university in 1912. In 1920, Rolland used the phrase, "Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will" in a review, which Antonio Gramsci adopted from him as a formula for intellectual perseverance during hard times.
Romain Rolland was a lifelong pacifist. He was one of the few major French writers to retain his pacifist internationalist values; he moved to Switzerland. He protested against the first World War in (1915), Above the Battle (Chicago, 1916). In 1924, his book on Mahatma Gandhi contributed to the Indian nonviolent leader's reputation and the two men met in 1931. Rolland was a Vegetarianism.Walters, Kerry S; Portmess, Lisa. (1999). Ethical Vegetarianism: From Pythagoras to Peter Singer. State University of New York Press. pp. 135-138. "Romain Rolland (1866-1944)". International Vegetarian Union.
In May 1922 he attended the International Congress of Progressive Artists and signed the "Founding Proclamation of the Union of Progressive International Artists".
In 1928 Rolland and Hungarian scholar, philosopher and natural living experimenter Edmund Bordeaux Szekely founded the International Biogenic Society to promote and expand on their ideas of the integration of mind, body and spirit. In 1932 Rolland was among the first members of the World Committee Against War and Fascism, organized by Willi Münzenberg. Rolland criticized the control Münzenberg assumed over the committee and was against it being based in Berlin.
Rolland moved to Villeneuve, on the shores of Lake Geneva to devote himself to writing. His life was interrupted by health problems, and by travels to art exhibitions. His visit to Moscow (1935), on the invitation of Maxim Gorky, was an opportunity to meet Joseph Stalin, whom he considered the greatest man of his time.Michael David-Fox, . "The 'Heroic Life' of a Friend of Stalinism: Romain Rolland and Soviet Culture." Slavonica 11.1 (2005): 3-29. Rolland served unofficially as ambassador of French artists to the Soviet Union. Although he admired Stalin, he attempted to intervene against the persecution of his friends. He attempted to discuss his concerns with Stalin, and was involved in the campaign for the release of the Left Opposition activist and writer Victor Serge and wrote to Stalin begging clemency for Nikolai Bukharin. During Serge's imprisonment (1933–1936), Rolland had agreed to handle the publications of Serge's writings in France, despite their political disagreements.
In 1937, he came back to live in Vézelay, which, in 1940, was occupied by the Germans. During the occupation, he isolated himself in complete solitude. Never stopping his work, in 1940, he finished his memoirs. He also placed the finishing touches on his musical research on the life of Ludwig van Beethoven. Shortly before his death, he wrote Péguy (1944), in which he examines religion and socialism through the context of his memories. He died on 30 December 1944 in Vézelay.
In 1921, his close friend the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig published his biography (in English Romain Rolland: The Man and His Works). Zweig profoundly admired Rolland, whom he once described as "the moral consciousness of Europe" during the years of turmoil and War in Europe. Zweig wrote at length about his friendship with Rolland in his own autobiography (in English The World of Yesterday), discussing, for example, their failed efforts to organize a conference of antiwar intellectuals from both warring camps in neutral Switzerland. Zweig, Stefan, The World of Yesterday, p.101 (1953).
Victor Serge was appreciative of Rolland's interventions on his behalf but ultimately thoroughly disappointed by Rolland's refusal to break publicly with Stalin and the repressive Soviet regime. The entry for 4 May 1945, a few weeks after Rolland's death, in Serge's Notebooks: 1936-1947 notes acidly that "At age seventy the author of Jean-Christophe allowed himself to be covered with the blood spilled by a tyranny of which he was a faithful adulator." However, this is completely denied by Romain Rolland's biographer Bernard Duchatelet in his French biography . Duchatelet and other Rollandians believe that Rolland remained faithful to his own well-known integrity.
Rolland's life was 'the story of a conscience', as mentioned in the title of the book on him by Alex Aronson.
Hermann Hesse dedicated Siddhartha to Romain Rolland "my dear friend".
| "The people have been gradually conquered by the Bourgeoisie, penetrated by their thoughts and now want only to resemble them. If you long for a people's art, begin by creating a people!" |
| Romain Rolland, Le Théâtre du peuple (1903).Quoted by David Bradby and John McCormick, People's Theatre (London: Croom Helm and Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield, 1978). . p.32. |
Rolland's approach is more aggressive, though, than Pottecher's poetic vision of theatre as a substitute 'social religion' bringing unity to the nation. Rolland indicts the bourgeoisie for its appropriation of the theatre, causing it to slide into decadence, and the deleterious effects of its Ideology dominance. In proposing a suitable Repertory for his people's theatre, Rolland rejects classical drama in the belief that it is either too difficult or too static to be of interest to the masses. Drawing on the ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, he proposes instead "an epic historical theatre of 'joy, force and intelligence' which will remind the people of its revolutionary heritage and revitalize the forces working for a new society" (in the words of Bradby and McCormick, quoting Rolland).David Bradby and John McCormick, People's Theatre (London: Croom Helm and Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield, 1978). . p.32. Rolland believed that the people would be improved by seeing heroic images of their past. Rousseau's influence may be detected in Rolland's conception of theatre-as-Festival, an emphasis that reveals a fundamental anti-theatrical prejudice: "Theatre supposes lives that are poor and agitated, a people searching in dreams for a refuge from thought. If we were happier and freer we should not feel hungry for theatre. ... A people that is happy and free has need of festivities more than of theatres; it will always see in itself the finest spectacle".Quoted by David Bradby and John McCormick, People's Theatre (London: Croom Helm and Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield, 1978). . p.32-33.
Rolland's dramas have been staged by some of the most influential theatre directors of the twentieth century, including Max Reinhardt and Erwin Piscator.See John Willett, The Theatre of Erwin Piscator: Half a Century of Politics in the Theatre, London: Methuen, 1978 (p.15, 35, 46–7, 179). . Piscator directed the world première of Rolland's pacifist drama The Time Will Come ( Le Temps viendra, written in 1903) at Berlin's Central-Theater, which opened on 17 November 1922 with music by K Pringsheim and scenic design by O Schmalhausen and M Meier.Piscator (1929, 353). The play addresses the connections between imperialism and capitalism, the treatment of enemy civilians, and the use of concentration camps, all of which are dramatised via an episode in the Boer War.Hugh Rorrison, in Piscator (1929, 55–56). Piscator described his treatment of the play as "thoroughly naturalistic", whereby he sought "to achieve the greatest possible realism in acting and decor".Piscator (1929, 58). Despite the play's overly- style, the production was reviewed positively.
Rolland was initially reluctant, but a lengthy exchange ensued, occupying 50 pages of the Myers edition, and in the end Rolland made 191 suggestions for improving the Strauss/Wilde libretto. The resulting French version of Salome received its first performance in Paris in 1907, two years after the German premiere. Thereafter, Rolland's letters regularly discussed Strauss's operas, including the occasional criticism of Strauss's librettist, Hugo von Hoffmannsthal: "I only regret that the great writer who gives you such brilliant libretti too often lacks a sense of the theatre."
Rolland was a pacifist and concurred with Strauss when the latter refused to sign the Manifesto of German artists and intellectuals supporting the German role in World War I. Rolland noted Strauss's response in his diary entry for October 1914: "Declarations about war and politics are not fitting for an artist, who must give his attention to his creations and his works."( Myers p. 160)
Novels
Rolland's most famous novel is the 10-volume novel sequence Jean-Christophe (1904–1912), which brings "together his interests and ideals in the story of a German musical genius who makes France his second home and becomes a vehicle for Rolland's views on music, social matters and understanding between nations".John Cruickshank, "Rolland, Romain", in Anthony Thorlby (ed.), . Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1969, p. 661. His other novels are Colas Breugnon (1919), Clérambault (1920), Pierre et Luce (1920) and his second roman-fleuve, the 7-volume L'âme enchantée (1922–1933).
Academic career
He became a history teacher at Lycée Henri IV, then at the Lycée Louis le Grand, and a member of the École française de Rome, then a professor of the History of Music at the Sorbonne, and History Professor at the École Normale Supérieure.
Correspondence with Richard Strauss
In 1899 Rolland started what became a voluminous correspondence with the German composer Richard Strauss (the English translation, edited by Rollo Myers, runs to 239 pages, including some diary entries). At the time, Strauss was a celebrated conductor of works by Wagner, Liszt, Mozart, and of his own Symphonic poem. In 1905, Strauss completed his opera Salome, based on the verse play by Oscar Wilde, originally written in French. Strauss based his version of Salome on Hedwig Lachmann's German translation which he had seen performed in Berlin in 1902. Out of respect for Wilde, Strauss wanted to create a parallel French version, to be as close as possible to Wilde's original text, and he wrote to Rolland requesting his help on this project.
Correspondence with Freud
1923 saw the beginning of a correspondence between psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and Rolland, who found that the admiration that he showed for Freud was reciprocated in equal measures (Freud proclaiming in a letter to him: "That I have been allowed to exchange a greeting with you will remain a happy memory to the end of my days.").William B. Parsons, The Enigma of the Oceanic Feeling: Revisioning the Psychoanalytic Theory of Mysticism (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999) 23, 2 Apr. 2007 . This correspondence introduced Freud to the concept of the "oceanic feeling" that Rolland had developed through his study of Eastern mysticism. Freud opened his next book Civilization and its Discontents (1929) with a debate on the nature of this feeling, which he mentioned had been noted to him by an anonymous "friend". This friend was Rolland. Rolland would remain a major influence on Freud's work, continuing their correspondence right up to Freud's death in 1939.William B. Parsons, The Enigma of the Oceanic Feeling: Revisioning the Psychoanalytic Theory of Mysticism (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999) 19, 2 Apr. 2007
Bibliography
1888 Amour d'enfants 1891 Les Baglioni Unpublished during his lifetime. 1891 Empédocle
( Empedocles)Unpublished during his lifetime. 1891 Orsino (play) Unpublished during his lifetime. 1892 Le Dernier Procès de Louis Berquin
( The Last Trial of Louis Berquin) book on the trial of Protestant reformer Louis de Berquin 1895 Les Origines du théâtre lyrique moderne
( The origins of modern lyric theatre)Academic treatise, which won a prize from the Académie Française 1895 Histoire de l'opéra avant Lully et Scarlatti
( A History of Opera in Europe before Lully and Scarlatti)Dissertation for his doctorate in Letters 1895 Cur ars picturae apud Italos XVI saeculi deciderit Latin-language thesis on the decline in Italian oil painting in the course of the sixteenth century 1897 Saint-Louis 1897 Aërt Historical/philosophical drama 1898 Les Loups
( The Wolves)Historical/philosophical drama about Dreyfus affair. Co-written with Maurice Schwartz, and translated by Barrett H. Clark, the play ran for 29 performances in New York in 1932. 1899 Le Triomphe de la raison
( The Triumph of Reason)Historical/philosophical drama 1899 Georges Danton Historical/philosophical drama 1900 Le Poison idéaliste 1901 Les Fêtes de Beethoven à Mayence
( The Celebrations of Beethoven in Mainz) 1902 Le Quatorze Juillet
( 14 July–Bastille Day)Historical/philosophical drama 1902 François-Millet 1903 Vie de Beethoven
( Life of Beethoven)Novella 1903 Le temps viendra
( The Time Will Come)Drama 1903 Le Théâtre du peuple
( The People's Theatre)Seminal essay in the democratization of theatre. 1904 La Montespan Historical/philosophical drama 1904–1912 Jean-Christophe Cycle of ten volumes divided into three series– Jean-Christophe, Jean-Christophe à Paris, and la Fin du voyage, published by Cahiers de la Quinzaine 1904 L'Aube First volume of the series Jean-Christophe 1904 Le Matin
( Morning)Second volume of the series Jean-Christophe 1904 L'Adolescent
( The Adolescent)Third volume of the series Jean-Christophe 1905 La Révolte
( The Revolt)Fourth volume of the series Jean-Christophe 1907 Vie de Michel-Ange
( Life of Michelangelo)Biography 1908 Musiciens d'aujourd'hui
( Contemporary Musicians)Collection of articles and essays about music 1908 Musiciens d'autrefois
( Musicians of the Past)Collection of articles and essays about music 1908 La Foire sur la place First volume of the series Jean-Christophe à Paris 1908 Antoinette Second volume of the series Jean-Christophe à Paris 1908 Dans la maison
( At Home)Third volume of the series Jean-Christophe à Paris 1910 Haendel
( Handel) Biography 1910 Les Amies
( Friends)First volume of the series la Fin du voyage 1911 La Vie de Tolstoï
( Life of Leo Tolstoy)Biography 1911 Le Buisson ardent Second volume of the series la Fin du voyage 1912 La Nouvelle Journée Third volume of the series la Fin du voyage 1911 Jean-Christophe: Dawn . Morning . Youth . Revolt In English, first four volumes published in one. Henry Holt and Company. Translated by Gilbert Cannan 1911 Jean-Christophe in Paris: The Market Place . Antoinette . The House In English, second three volumes published in one. Henry Holt and Company. Translated by Gilbert Cannan 1915 Jean-Christophe: Journey's End: Love and Friendship . The Burning Bush . The New Dawn In English, final three volumes published in one. Henry Holt and Company. Translated by Gilbert Cannan 1912 L'Humble Vie héroïque
( The Humble Life of the Hero) 1915 Au-dessus de la mêlée
( Above the Battle)Pacifist manifesto 1915 — Received the Nobel Prize in Literature 1917 Salut à la révolution russe
( Salute to the Russian Revolution) 1918 Pour l'internationale de l'Esprit
( For the International of the Spirit) 1918 L'Âge de la haine
( The Age of Hatred) 1919 Colas Breugnon Burgundian story, and basis for Colas Breugnon, the opera by Dmitry Kabalevsky 1919 Liluli Play 1919 Les Précurseurs
( The Forerunners) 1920 Clérambault Novel 1920 Pierre et Luce Novel 1921 Pages choisies
( Selected Pages) 1921 La Révolte des machines
( The Revolt of the Machines) 1922 Annette et Sylvie First volume of l'Âme enchantée 1922 Les Vaincus
(The Vanquished) 1922–1933 L'Âme enchantée
( The Enchanted Soul)Seven volumes 1923 — Founded the review Europe 1924 L'Été
( Summer)Second volume of l'Âme enchantée 1924 Mahatma Gandhi 1924 Le Jeu de l'amour et de la mort
( The Game of Love and Death)basis for Hra o láske a smrti, the opera by Ján Cikker 1926 Pâques fleuries 1927 Mère et fils
( Mother and Child)Third volume of l'Âme enchantée 1928 Léonides 1928 De l'Héroïque à l'Appassionata
( From the Heroic to the Passionate) 1929 Essai sur la mystique de l'action
( A study of the Mystique of Action) 1929 L'Inde vivante
( Living India)Essays 1929 Vie de Ramakrishna
( Life of Ramakrishna)Essays 1930 Vie de Vivekananda
( Life of Vivekananda)Essays 1930 L'Évangile universel Essays 1930 Goethe et Beethoven
( Goethe and Beethoven)Essay 1933 L'Annonciatrice Fourth volume of l'Âme enchantée 1935 Quinze ans de combat 1936 Compagnons de route 1937 Le Chant de la Résurrection
( Song of the Resurrection) 1938 Les Pages immortelles de Rousseau
( The Immortal Pages of Rousseau) 1939 Robespierre Historical/philosophical drama 1942 Le Voyage intérieur
( The Interior Voyage) 1943 La Cathédrale interrompue
( The Interrupted Cathedral)Volumes I and II 1945 Péguy Posthumous publication 1945 La Cathédrale interrompue Volume III, posthumous
See also
Further reading
External links
Electronic editions
Categories: 1866 Births, 1944 Deaths, 19th-century French Dramatists And Playwrights, 19th-century French Novelists, 20th-century French Dramatists And Playwrights, 20th-century French Novelists, French Expatriates In The Soviet Union, French Male Novelists, French Nobel Laureates, French Pacifists, Honorary Members Of The Ussr Academy Of Sciences, Lycée Louis-le-grand Alumni, Nobel Laureates In Literature, Nonviolence Advocates, People From Nièvre, Prix Femina Winners, Writers About The Soviet Union, Writers From Bourgogne-franche-comté, Gandhians
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