Roger Vailland
Roger Vailland was a prominent French novelist, playwright, poet, and journalist known for his distinctive writing style characterized by succinct dialogue, sparse prose, and a blend of dry and ironic humor. His debut major novel, *Drôle de jeu* (translated as *Playing for Keeps*), was published in 1945, focusing on the experiences of young members of the French Resistance during World War II. Vailland's subsequent works often feature autobiographical elements, including *Les Mauvais Coups* and *La Loi*, the latter of which won the prestigious Prix Goncourt in 1957.
Born into a comfortable middle-class family, Vailland's early life was influenced by strong maternal figures and marked by his turbulent teenage years amidst the upheaval of World War I. Initially drawn to surrealism and later to political activism, he engaged with the French Communist Party from 1951 until 1956, which significantly shaped his literary output. However, his evolving political views, particularly following Khrushchev's denunciation of Stalin, led him to distance himself from communism. Despite his struggles with drug use and alcohol, Vailland's literary contributions remain significant within the context of 20th-century French literature, reflecting both personal and political themes.
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Subject Terms
Roger Vailland
Writer
- Born: October 16, 1907
- Birthplace: Acy-en-Multien, France
- Died: May 12, 1965
- Place of death: Meilonas, France
Biography
Roger Vailland, a French novelist, wrote short stories, plays, poetry and film scripts; he was also noted as a journalist and essayist. His writing style is characterized by succinct dialogue and sparse prose as well as a humor that is both dry and ironic.
Vailland’s first major novel, Drôle de jeu, translated by Gerald Hopkins as Playing for keeps, was published in 1945 and won the Prix Interallié; its plot centers on young members of the French Resistance. Vailland uses the literary elements of extensive dialogue and a central character, an individualist who behaves in a superior manner to other characters in this novel. Vailland’s later prose includes these elements as well as autobiographical similarities also found in two of his other novels: Les Mauvais Coups (Turn of the Wheel) and La Loi (The Law). His novel The Law, published in 1957, won the Prix Goncourt, which is the top literary award in France.
As a child, Vailland lived a comfortable middle-class life in the presence of loving women: his mother, his maid, and two grandmothers. His novel, Un Jeune Homme seul, (a young man alone), which was published in 1951, is the autobiographical description of his turbulent teenage years during his family’s moves throughout Europe in World War I after his father volunteered for military service. While his family lived in Rheim, Vailland, influenced by surrealism, began writing poetry and forming friendships that led him to use drugs and denounce traditions.
Vailland and his friends published Le Grand Jeu (the grand game) a review they named after the title they gave their surrealist group. Vailland broke his connection to the group, but not his attraction to drugs. He attended the Sorbonne while he became more interested in writing. During the 1930’s, he wrote his first two documentary novels—one was serialized in Paris-Soir, a paper for which Vailland later worked as a journalist.
Vailland was unfit for military service at the outbreak of World War II due to his drug use, but he became involved in the Resistance as a courier between two networks. This initiation into political life inspired him to write Drôle de jeu. Vailland was attracted to the idealism of communism and worked as a journalist after World War II, publishing his work primarily in Liberation et Action. Vailland’s political sympathies are expressed in his novels Beau Masque and 325.000 francs.
Although his self-indulgent habits of drug use and alcoholism contrasted with the disciplined life advocated by communists, Valliard became a member of the French Communist Party from 1951 to 1956, and his political leanings had a great impact on his fiction. However, when Nikita Khrushchev denounced Stalin in 1956, Valliard lost his interest in politics.