Hervé Bazin (; 17 April 191117 February 1996) was a French writer, whose best-known novels covered semi-autobiographical topics of teenage rebellion and dysfunctional families.

Biography

Bazin, born Jean-Pierre Hervé-Bazin in Angers, Maine-et-Loire, France came from a high-bourgeois Catholic family. He was the great-nephew of the writer René Bazin. He opposed his authoritarian mother, ran away several times during his teens, and refused Catholic teachings. At the age of 20 he broke up with his family.

Leaving his home for Paris, he took a degree in literature at the Sorbonne. During fifteen years of writing poetry with little success, Bazin worked in many small jobs. Notable work of this period included founding a poetic review, la Coquille (The Shell, only eight volumes), named after the medieval poet-beggars, the coquillards of Villon's days,

In 1995, he gave his manuscripts and letters to the record office of the town of Nancy, which already owned the archives of the Goncourt brothers, who originated from the town. Bazin died in Angers.

Due to a juridical imbroglio, the six children of his first marriages obtained, against the will of his last spouse and last son, the auction of the archive at the Hôtel Drouot on 29 October 2004. With help from the district's authorities, the university library of Angers managed to preempt almost the whole of the estate, meaning 22 manuscripts and about 9000 letters which were made available to the research community, as the author wished.

Orthography and punctuation

In his 1966 essay Plumons l’Oiseau ("Let's pluck the bird"): Bazin proposed a nearly phonemic orthography for the French language called "l’ortografiǝ lojikǝ" (logical orthography).

:{| class="wikitable"

!Letter

!Name

!Name (IPA)

! Note

|-

| a || a (wvèr) || () ||

|-

| (á) || a fèrmé || || optional

|-

| e || e || ||

|-

| é || é || ||

|-

| è || è || ||

|-

| œ || œ (wvèr) || () ||

|-

| (œ́) || œ fèrmé || || optional

|-

| o || ɔ (wvèr) || () ||

|-

| ó || ó (fèrmé) || () || required

|-

| i || i || ||

|-

| u || u || ||

|-

| w || w || || ou vowel

|-

| ã || ã || ||

|-

| ẽ || ẽ || ||

|-

| õ || õ || ||

|-

| œ̃ || œ̃ || ||

|-

| b || bé || ||

|-

| k || ké || ||

|-

| d || dé || ||

|-

| f || fé || ||

|-

| g || gé || || always hard

|-

| h || hé || || soft ch

|-

| j || jé || ||

|-

| l || lé || ||

|-

| m || mé || ||

|-

| n || né || ||

|-

| ñ || ñé || , ||

|-

| p || pé || ||

|-

| r || ré || ||

|-

| s || sé || || never voiced

|-

| t || té || ||

|-

| v || vé || ||

|-

| z || zé || ||

|-

| y || yé || ||

|-

| u͐ || u͐e || ||

|-

| w͐ || w͐e || ||

|-

| ɔ || le siñə dur || || /h/ where necessary

|-

| ə || le siñə mw || || sometimes-silent /e/

|-

| × || le siñə du pluryèl ɛ̃sonor || || sometimes-silent plural (e.g. femmes → fam×)

|-

| ◌̇ || le point de différenciation || || marker of homophones (e.g. ça → ṡa, whereas sa → sa)

|}

Punctuation marks

He also proposed six new "points d’intonation" (punctuation marks):

Example:

{| class="wikitable"

|- style="background-color:#BBCCFF;"

! Standard orthography

! Ortografiǝ lojikǝ

|----

|

J’aime, dit l’amant,<br />

Je parle, dit le député,<br />

J’enseigne, dit le professeur,<br />

Je règne, dit le roi,<br />

Je crois, dit le moine,<br />

Je pense, dit le philosophe,<br />

Je trouve, dit le savant...

|

J’èmǝ&nbsp;13px di l’amã,<br />

Je parlǝ, di le député,<br />

J’ãsèñǝ, di le profèsœr,<br />

Je rèñǝ&nbsp;10px di le rw͐a,<br />

Je krw͐a&nbsp;8px di le mw͐anǝ,<br />

Je pãsǝ, di le filozofǝ,<br />

Je trwvǝ, di le savã...

|}

Published works

  • Jour, poems, 1947
  • A la poursuite d'Iris, poems, 1948
  • Vipère au poing (Viper in the Fist), autobiographical novel, 1948
  • La Tête contre les murs, novel, publié en 1949
  • La Mort du petit cheval, autobiographical novel, 1950
  • Le bureau des mariages, short stories, 1951
  • Lève-toi et marche, novel, 1952
  • Humeurs, poems, 1953
  • Contre vents et marées, 1953
  • L'Huile sur le feu, novel, 1954
  • Qui j'ose aimer, novel, 1956
  • La fin des asiles, essay, 1959
  • Au nom du fils, novel, 1960
  • Chapeau bas, short stories, 1963 : Chapeau bas, Bouc émissaire, La hotte, M. le conseiller du coeur, Souvenirs d'un amnésique, Mansarde à louer, La Clope
  • Plumons l'oiseau, essay, 1966
  • Le Matrimoine, novel, 1967
  • Les bienheureux de La Désolation, account, 1970
  • Le Cri de la chouette, autobiographical novel, 1972
  • Madame Ex, novel, 1975
  • Traits, 1976
  • Ce que je crois, 1977
  • Un feu dévore un autre feu, 1978
  • L'Église verte, novel, 1981
  • Qui est le prince?, 1981
  • Abécédaire, 1984
  • Le Démon de minuit, 1988
  • L'École des pères, novel, 1991
  • Le grand méchant doux, 1992
  • Le Neuvième jour, 1994

Notes

References

Sources

  • Jean-Louis de Rambures, "Comment travaillent les écrivains", Paris 1978 (interview with Hervé Bazin, in French)
  • Hervé Bazin at the library of the University of Angers