Jean Schlumberger Éveils : a historical autobiography
- UNCW Author/Contributor (non-UNCW co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Joyce Shortall-Stevenson (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW )
- Web Site: http://library.uncw.edu/
- Advisor
- Lewis Walker
Abstract: Jean Schlumberger (1877-1968), a French writer, journalist and co-founder of the
Nouvelle Revue Française, a French literary journal, is best known as a writer of novels, plays
and books of poetry. His non-fiction, especially his autobiography, Éveils, has been virtually
neglected by critics and literary historians. This thesis examines Schlumberger’s autobiography
in the light of changing attitudes of historians to autobiography, with particular reference to the
French Annales School and autobiographies written by historians such as those of Pierre Nora’s
Ego-Historiens. Schlumberger believed that memoirs and correspondences are often more
enlightening than historical documents. His autobiography and historical articles reveal distinct
similarities to the contemporary autobiographical approaches to history of Nora and his
colleagues.
Schlumberger, who saw his work and his writings as being the most important aspects of
his life, chose to dedicate a large portion of his autobiography to what he believed to be a
reflection of himself. He recognized the importance of his literary friendships and wished to
capture their history before it was lost or erased forever. He believed that the bourgeoisie was
best situated for interpreting history and that it was its duty to do so. He demonstrates the
interconnections between his own micro-historical experiences and other themes that have a
broader significance such as the First World War. Autobiography’s greatest contribution to the
historical world is that it provides its readers with an understanding of what it means to be living
in history. Schlumberger, as a writer of fiction and a historian, possessed the talents necessary for
conveying how the world looked from many different perspectives.
Jean Schlumberger Éveils : a historical autobiography
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Created on 1/1/2009
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- A Thesis Submitted to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts
- Language: English
- Date: 2009
- Keywords
- Authors French--19th century, Historians French, Schlumberger Jean 1877-1968 Éveils--Criticism and interpretation
- Subjects
- Schlumberger, Jean, 1877-1968. Éveils -- Criticism and interpretation
- Historians, French
- Authors, French -- 19th century