#georges bernanos

[kahvedebiyat]

[thelastrenaissance]

Under the Sun of Satan (Sous le soleil de Satan) is Georges Bernanos's first published novel, appearing in 1926 in Paris.

“We are at that one of life's hours (it strikes for every man) when truth imposes itself, by itself, with irresistible obviousness, when each of us has only to stretch forth his arms to reach at a single bound the surface of shadows, even the sunlight of God. Then is human prudence but a snare and a delusion. Sanctity!' cried out the old priest in a deep voice; 'by saying this word in your presence and for you alone, I know the hurt I inflict upon you! You are not unaware of what sanctity is: a vocation, a calling. Up to the place where God awaits you you will have to climb – climb, or be lost. Expect no human help.”

Georges Bernanos, Under the Sun of Satan

[fleurdusoir]

Qui n’a pas vu la route, à l’aube entre deux rangées d’arbres, toute fraîche, toute vivante, ne sait pas ce que c’est que l’espérance.

Georges Bernanos

[lounesdarbois]

Compte de la 1ère influençeuse noire patriote américaine. Plus d'1 million de vues grâce à deux sources. D'abord l'enquête de F&D. Puis les dossiers de Mar-a-Lago détenus par Trump. Cette Candace Owens est soutien de Trump depuis plusieurs années et est demeurée solide lors du grand test de l'affaire Floyd/BLM de l'été 2021. C'est toujours par les actes en période de crise que l'on reconnaît qui est qui. Quant aux soupçons sur le "couple présidentiel" ils vont beaucoup plus loin que ce que l'on peut en dire. Aucun de ces deux-là n'est vraiment celui qu'il dit être.

Ce qui compte pour nous c'est l'intérêt supérieur du pays, libérer le pays de la tyrannie des canailles décrites par les Drumont, Bernanos, Morand, Céline, Coston, Ratier, nos repères, nos boussoles et principes directeurs dans les brouillards actuels. Relire ces grands anciens là nous mettra tous d'accord et nous fera voir plus loin.

[louise-dominique]

[1this1corrosion1]

[somehow---here]

Mi dicevo dunque che il mondo è divorato dalla noia. Naturalmente, bisogna riflettervi un po' sopra, per rendersene conto; la cosa non si sente subito. È una specie di polvere. Andate e venite senza vederla, la respirate, la mangiate, la bevete: è così sottile, così tenue che sotto i denti non scricchiola nemmeno. Ma basta che vi fermiate un secondo, ecco che vi copre il viso, le mani. Dovete agitarvi continuamente, per scuotere questa pioggia di ceneri. Perciò, il mondo s'agita molto.

Georges Bernanos, dal "Diario di un curato di campagna", 1936, cap I

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

‘Our habits are our friends. Even our bad habits.’

-Georges Bernanos, The Diary of a Country Priest, 1936

[vedast]

Il n’est pire désordre en ce monde que l’hypocrisie des puissants. Georges Bernanos, Journal d'un curé de campagne.

[abbedartigue]

"Il est plus facile que l'on croit de se haïr. La grâce est de s'oublier. Mais, si tout orgueil était mort en nous, la grâce des grâces serait de s'aimer humblement soi-même, comme n'importe lequel des membres souffrants de Jésus-Christ."

Georges Bernanos, Journal d'un curé de campagne

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"The ideological climate of the defeat of 1940 and the establishment of the French State are related in many aspects to the climate that developed in reaction to Sedan and during the years that followed the defeat of the Paris Commune. For writers close to the National Revolution, the Commune was viewed in the same way as the Popular Front. A propaganda journal published by the new regime stated:

It is a constant law of history that defeats result in revolutions. The French had not forgotten the bloody disturbances of the commune of 1871… . France was going to add even more misfortune to those that already overwhelmed it. It was to be feared that, following the bent to which odious propaganda had accustomed them, minds would turn toward a bloody, fratricidal fight. . . . The Marshal’s government successfully confronted and dealt with this danger. Without any-movement, without one cry of dissension, the political revolution was brought about.

Henri Massis, the officer responsible for press relations to General Huntziger at the time, stated plainly that the first news of the armistice had evoked the memory of 1871 and the fear of a new Commune. Thus, the primary task of the armistice army was to maintain order. The defeat would appear to many intellectuals as the final blow to 'French decadence.’ The themes of national decline, collective fault, and biological and political sins echoed one another in an obsessive litany during the period following June 1940, just as during the 1870s. Maurras even suggested anthologizing Renan’s La Reforme intellectuelle et morale, which he felt might render “a great service to the French people of 1940, since those of 1870 failed to take proper note of it.” The precepts and maxims of the Marshal—the “guide in possession of incomparable and almost superhuman wisdom and intellectual control” — functioned like calls to self-flagellation, and many would lend their skills to an attempt at exegesis. Georges Bernanos offered a gripping expression of the political bases and effects of the encounter between the message of the defeat, spoken by the prophet, and the “expectation” of those who saw the National Revolution as a national opportunity:

All that is called the Right, which ranges from the self-styled monarchists of the Action francaise to the self-styled national socialist radicals and includes big industry, big business, the high clergy, the Academies, and the officers’ staff spontaneously united and cohered around the disaster of my country like a swarm of bees around their queen. I am not saying that they deliberately wished the disaster. They were waiting for it. This monstrous anticipation passes judgment on them.

- Francine Muel-Dreyfus, Vichy and the Eternal Feminine: A Contribution to a Political Sociology of Gender. Translated by Kathleen A. Johnson. Durham: Duke University Press, 2001. p. 15-16.

[the-chomsky-hash]

[dooareyastudy]

Here is what I read in June!

Bernanos was a lucky find, and Sous le soleil de Satan quickly became one of my favorites books ever. Ellul I read to prepare for a seminar during which I had to present some aspects of his philosophy. And Kurz is me falling deeper into the Wertkritik rabbit hole. 

[katebvsh]

Front cover of the NYRB edition of “Mouchette” by Georges Bernanos

[hcdahlem]

Échec et mat au paradis

Il fallait toute l'érudition et la virtuosité stylistique de Sébastien Lapaque pour recréer le dialogue entre Zweig et Bernanos. Imaginant ce que le juif autrichien et le catholique français se sont dit, il éclaire leurs œuvres respectives.

  Prix Renaudot essai 2024 En deux mots Réfugié au Brésil, Stefan Zweig apprend que Georges Bernanos est installé à Barbacena, dans le Minas Gerais et décide d’aller rencontrer son homologue écrivain. Leur dialogue est l’occasion de dresser un panorama de leurs œuvres, de leur état d’esprit et de leurs… idées noires. Zweig se suicidera quelques semaines plus tard avec son épouse. Ma note ★★★…

[fourorfivemovements]

Films Watched in 2024: 79. Journal d'un curé de campagne/Diary of a Country Priest (1951) - Dir. Robert Bresson