View source for Georges Bernanos

{{short description|French writer (1888–1948)}}
{{redirect|Bernanos|Georges Bernanos's son, a poet and fantasy writer|Michel Bernanos}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox writer
| name         = Georges Bernanos
| image        = Georges-Bernanos.jpg
| imagesize    = 150px
| alt          = 
| caption      = 
| pseudonym    = 
| birth_name   = Louis Émile Clément Georges Bernanos
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1888|2|20|df=y}}
| birth_place  = Paris, France
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1948|7|5|1888|2|20}}
| death_place  = [[Neuilly-sur-Seine]], France
| occupation   = Writer
| education    = 
| alma_mater   = 
| period       = 20th century
| genre        = Novel
| subject      = 
| movement     = 
| notableworks = ''[[Under the Sun of Satan]]'', ''[[The Diary of a Country Priest]]''
| spouse       = 
| partner      = 
| children     = 4, including [[Michel Bernanos]]
| relatives    = 
| influences   = 
| influenced   = 
| awards       = 
| signature    = 
}}{{Conservatism in France}}

'''Louis Émile Clément Georges Bernanos''' ({{IPA|fr|ʒɔʁʒ bɛʁnanɔs|lang}};<ref>"Bernanos", ''[[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary]]''</ref> 20 February 1888 – 5 July 1948) was a French author, and a soldier in [[World War I]]. A [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] with [[monarchist]] leanings,<ref>Allen, W. Gore (1948). "George Bernanos: A Mystic in the World," ''The Irish Monthly'', Vol. 76, No. 903, pp. 414-416.</ref> he was critical of [[elitist]] thought and was opposed to what he identified as [[defeatism]]. He believed this had led to [[Battle of France|France's defeat and eventual occupation by Germany]] in 1940 during [[World War II]].<ref>Tobin, Michael R. (2007). ''Georges Bernanos: The Theological Source of his Art''. McGill-Queen's University Press.</ref>{{page needed|date=January 2025}} His two best-known novels ''[[Under the Sun of Satan|Sous le soleil de Satan]]'' (1926) and the ''[[The Diary of a Country Priest|Journal d'un curé de campagne]]'' (1936) both revolve around a parish priest who combats evil and despair in the world.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Norwich|first=John Julius|title=Oxford illustrated encyclopedia|date=1985–1993|publisher=Oxford University Press|others=Judge, Harry George., Toyne, Anthony.|isbn=0-19-869129-7|location=Oxford [England]|pages=45|oclc=11814265}}</ref> Most of his novels have been translated into English and frequently published in both Great Britain and the United States.

==Life and career==
Bernanos was born in [[Paris]], into a family of craftsmen. He spent much of his childhood in the village of [[Fressin]], [[Pas-de-Calais]] region, which became a frequent setting for his novels. He served in the [[World War I|First World War]] as a soldier, where he fought in the battles of the [[Battle of the Somme|Somme]] and [[Verdun]]. He was wounded several times.

After the war, he worked in insurance before writing ''Sous le soleil de Satan'' (1926, ''[[Under the Sun of Satan]]'').  He won the [[Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française]] for ''[[The Diary of a Country Priest]]'' (''Journal d'un curé de campagne''), published in 1936.

A man of [[Monarchism in France|Royalist]] leanings and a member of the ''[[Camelots du Roi]]'' ([[Action Française]]'s youth organization) when he was younger, Bernanos broke with [[Charles Maurras]] and the Action Française in 1932. He initially supported [[Spanish coup of July 1936|Franco's coup]] at the outset of the [[Spanish Civil War]].<ref>Hellman, John (1990). "Bernanos, Drumont, and the Rise of French Fascism," ''The Review of Politics'', Vol. 52, No. 3, pp. 441-459.</ref> However, after he observed the conflict in [[Majorca]] and saw 'a terrorized people,' he became disgusted with the ''[[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|nacionales]]'' and criticized them in the book ''[[Les grands cimetières sous la lune|Diary of My Times]]'' (1938). He wrote, "My illusions regarding the enterprise of [[Francisco Franco|General Franco]] did not last long—two or three weeks—but while they lasted I conscientiously endeavoured to overcome the disgust which some of his men and means caused me."<ref>Georges Bernanos. ''A Diary of My Times'', London: Boriswood, 1938, p. 85.</ref>

With political tensions rising in Europe, Bernanos emigrated to South America with his family in 1938, settling in [[Brazil]]. He remained until 1945 in [[Barbacena]], State of Minas Gerais, where he tried his hand at managing a farm. His three sons returned to France to fight after [[World War II]] broke out, while he fulminated at his country's 'spiritual exhaustion,' which he saw as the root of its collapse in 1940. From exile, he mocked the 'ridiculous' [[Vichy France|Vichy regime]] and became a strong supporter of the [[Free French]] led by [[Charles De Gaulle]]. After France's Liberation, De Gaulle invited Bernanos to return to his homeland, offering him a post in the government. Bernanos did return but, disappointed to perceive no signs of spiritual renewal, he declined to play an active role in French political life.<ref name="Pegasos - A literature related site in Finland">{{cite web |url=http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/bernanos.htm |title=Georges Bernanos |website=Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi) |first=Petri |last=Liukkonen |publisher=[[Kuusankoski]] Public Library |location=Finland |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003153856/http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/bernanos.htm |archive-date=3 October 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Works and English translations==
* ''[[Under the Sun of Satan|Sous le soleil de Satan]]'' 1926.
** ''The Star of Satan''. London: The Bodley Head, 1927 [New York: Macmillan, 1940; H. Fertig, 1975]. 
** ''Under the Sun of Satan''. New York: Pantheon, 1949 [University of Nebraska Press, 2001]. 
** ''Under the Sun of Satan''. Providence, RI: Cluny Media, 2017.  
*''Les Ténèbres'' (diptyque): ''[[The Impostor (novel)|L'Imposture]]'' (1927) & ''[[Joy (Bernanos novel)|La Joie]]'' (1928)
** ''Joy''. New York: Pantheon Books, 1946 [London: The Bodley Head, 1948; Toronto: Thomas Nelson, 1948].
** ''The Impostor''. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999.
**''Joy''. Providence, RI: Cluny Media, 2020. 
* ''[[The Crime (novel)|Un crime]]'' 1935.
** ''The Crime''. London: Hale, 1936 [New York: E.P. Dutton, 1936].
** ''A Crime''. Providence, RI: Cluny Media, 2021.
* ''[[The Diary of a Country Priest|Journal d'un curé de campagne]]'' 1936 (also issued serially 1935–36) 
** ''The Diary of a Country Priest'' 1936 in Paris, France; London: The Bodley Head, 1937 [New York: Macmillan, 1948, 1962; Carroll & Graf, 1983, 2002]; San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2025 [new translation by Bernanos scholar Michael R. Tobin, the full, unabridged work is made available to English-language readers for the first time].
* ''[[Mouchette (novel)|Nouvelle histoire de Mouchette]]'' 1937
** ''Mouchette''. London: The Bodley Head, 1966 [New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1966; New York Review Books, 2006].
* ''[[Les grands cimetières sous la lune]]'' 1938
** ''A Diary of My Times''. New York: Macmillan, 1938 [London: The Bodley Head, 1945].
** ''The Great Cemeteries under the Moon''. Providence, RI: Cluny Media, 2018. 
* ''[[Monsieur Ouine]]'' 1943
** ''The Open Mind''. London: The Bodley Head, 1945.
** ''Monsieur Ouine''. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2000.
* ''Dialogues des carmélites''  1949.
** ''[[The Fearless Heart (play)|The Fearless Heart]]''. Toronto: Thomas Nelson, 1952 [London: The Bodley Head, 1952].
* ''Un mauvais rêve'' (posthumously 1950)
** [[Night Is Darkest]]. London: The Bodley Head, 1953.
**''A Bad Dream''. Providence, RI: Cluny Media, 2020. 
* ''Plea for Liberty''. New York: Pantheon, 1944 [London: Dobson, 1946].
* ''Sanctity Will Out''. London and New York: [[Sheed & Ward]], 1947.
* ''Tradition of Freedom''. London: Dobson, 1950 [New York: Roy, 1951].
* ''The Last Essays of Georges Bernanos''. Chicago: Henry Regnery Co., 1955 [Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1968].
** ''Liberty: The Last Essays''. Providence, RI: Cluny Media, 2019.

==Adaptations of selected works==
* ''[[The Diary of a Country Priest]]'': this was the first novel by Bernanos to be adapted as a film, called ''[[Diary of a Country Priest]]'' (1951); it was directed by [[Robert Bresson]], and starred [[Claude Laydu]] in his debut role.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/aug/07/claude-laydu-obituary | title=Claude Laydu obituary | work=The Guardian | author=Robert Bergan | date=2011-08-07 | access-date=2014-06-15}}</ref>
*''[[Mouchette (novel)|Mouchette]]'' was adapted into a [[Mouchette|film of the same name]] by [[Robert Bresson]], released in 1967.
* ''[[Under the Sun of Satan]]'': his novel was adapted as a [[Under the Sun of Satan (film)|film of the same name]], produced in 1987 in France. The film won the [[Palme d'Or]] prize at the [[1987 Cannes Film Festival]].
* ''[[The Fearless Heart (play)|Dialogues des Carmélites]]'': in 1947, Bernanos had been hired to write the dialogue for a film screenplay, through Raymond-Léopold Bruckberger and the scenario writer Philippe Agostini, based on the [[novella]] ''[[The Song at the Scaffold]]'' by the German writer [[Gertrud von Le Fort]], about the 1794 execution of the [[Martyrs of Compiègne|Carmelite Nuns of Compiègne]]. The screenplay was judged unsatisfactory at the time. Following Bernanos' death his literary executor, Albert Béguin, discovered the manuscript. To assist Bernanos' heirs, Béguin sought to have the work published, requesting permission from Baroness von Le Fort for publication. In January 1949 she agreed, gifting her portion of the royalties over to Bernanos' widow and children. However, the Baroness requested that Bernanos' play be given a different title from her novella.<ref name="Gendre1995">Gendre, Claude, 'The Literary Destiny of the Sixteen Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne and the Role of Emmet Lavery'. ''Renascence'', '''48.1''', pp. 37–60 (Fall 1995).</ref> Béguin chose ''Dialogues des Carmélites'', and the work was published in 1949. It was translated into German, published there in 1951 as ''Die begnadete Angst'' (''The Blessed Fear'') and first staged in [[Zürich]] and [[Munich]] that year.<ref name="Gendre1999">Gendre, Claude, 'Dialogues des Carmélites: the historical background, literary destiny and genesis of the opera', from ''Francis Poulenc: Music, Art and Literature'' (Sidney Buckland and Myriam Chimènes, editors). Ashgate (Aldershot, UK), {{ISBN|1859284078}}, p 287 (1999).</ref> The French stage première took place in May 1952 at the [[Théâtre Hébertot]]. The composer [[Francis Poulenc]] adapted Bernanos' work into an [[Dialogues of the Carmelites|opera of the same name]], which was first performed at [[La Scala|La Scala Milan]] in 1957. A [[Dialogue of the Carmelites|film based on Bernanos' play]] and starring [[Jeanne Moreau]] was released in 1960.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* von Balthasar, Hans Urs (2011). ''Bernanos: An Ecclesial Existence''. Ignatius Press.
* Blumenthal, Gerda (1965). ''The Poetic Imagination of Georges Bernanos: An Essay in Interpretation''. The Johns Hopkins Press.
* Braybrooke, Neville (1954). "Georges Bernanos," ''The Irish Monthly'', Vol. 83, No. 969, pp.&nbsp;174–179.
* Bush, William (1969). ''Georges Bernanos''. Twayne Publishers.
* Field, Frank (1975). ''Three French Writers: Studies in the Rise of Communism and Fascism.''
* Hebblethwaite, Peter (1965). ''Bernanos, an Introduction''. London: Bowes and Bowes.
* Molnar, Thomas (1960). [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015028558479;view=1up;seq=7 ''Bernanos: His Political Thought and Prophecy'']. New York: [[Sheed and Ward]].
* Molnar, Thomas (1995). [https://isistatic.org/journal-archive/ma/38_01/molnar.pdf"The Case of Georges Bernanos,"] ''Modern Age'' '''38''' (1), pp.&nbsp;61–68.
* Noth, Ernst Erich (1949). "The Prophetism of Georges Bernanos," ''Yale French Studies'', No. 4, Literature and Ideas, pp.&nbsp;105–119.
* O'Malley, Frank (1944). "The Evangelism of Georges Bernanos," ''The Review of Politics'', Vol. 6, No. 4, pp.&nbsp;403–421.
* Reck, Rima Drell (1965). "George Bernanos: A Novelist and His Art," ''The French Review'', Vol. 38, No. 5, pp.&nbsp;619–629.
* Speaight, Robert (1973). ''Georges Bernanos: A Study of the Man and the Writer''. London: Collins & Harvill Press [New York: Liveright, 1974].

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{wikisourcelang|fr}}
*{{FadedPage|id=Bernanos, Georges|name=Georges Bernanos|author=yes}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100511044747/http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/france_159/label-france_2554/label-france-issues_2555/label-france-no.-33_3715/literature_4215/bernanos-an-uncompromising-non-conformist_6445.html English language biography] (version in Archive.org)
*[https://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/08/books/the-pilgrimage-of-george-bernanos-the-supreme-grave-would-be-to-love-ourselves.html?pagewanted=all The Pilgrimage of George Bernanos]
*[http://www.catholicauthors.com/bernanos.html Georges Bernanos (1888–1948)]

{{Prix Femina}}
{{Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernanos, Georges}}
[[Category:1888 births]]
[[Category:1948 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century French essayists]]
[[Category:20th-century French male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century French novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Christian humanists]]
[[Category:Christian novelists]]
[[Category:French male essayists]]
[[Category:French male novelists]]
[[Category:French military personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:French monarchists]]
[[Category:French people of the Spanish Civil War]]
[[Category:French Roman Catholic writers]]
[[Category:French philosophers of technology]]
[[Category:Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française winners]]
[[Category:Legion of Honour refusals]]
[[Category:People affiliated with Action Française]]
[[Category:Prix Femina winners]]
[[Category:Writers from Paris]]