Pierre Jean Jouve
Pierre Jean Jouve was a prolific French writer, renowned for his contributions to poetry, novels, literary criticism, and essays throughout his long life of eighty-eight years. Born in Arras, France, Jouve initially felt disconnected from rural life and showed an early dislike for poetry, which later transformed into a deep passion influenced by Symbolist poets like Arthur Rimbaud and Stéphane Mallarmé. His literary career began in earnest with the establishment of the magazine Les Bandeaux in 1907, and his experiences in Italy significantly shaped his early works, including the collection *Les Muses Romaines et Florentines*. Jouve's personal life was marked by significant relationships, including a marriage to Andrée Charpentier, which ended in divorce, prompting him to reflect on the complexities of human and spiritual connections.
Later, his second marriage to psychoanalyst Blanche Reverchon introduced him to Freud's theories, further affecting his literary explorations and reinforcing his Catholic faith. Throughout World War II, Jouve remained in Switzerland, advocating for pacifism and a broader international perspective on poetry. He continued to write until his eighties, earning recognition for both his novels and poetry, although critics noted that his poetic expressions often surpassed those in his prose. Jouve passed away on January 8, 1976, leaving behind a rich legacy of literary work that reflects his evolving thoughts on life, religion, and the human experience.
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Pierre Jean Jouve
Poet
- Born: October 11, 1887
- Birthplace: Arras, France
- Died: January 8, 1976
- Place of death:
Biography
Pierre Jean Jouve published prolifically in his eighty-eight years, including many collections of his poetry, for which he is well known. He also published well-received novels, literary criticism, essays on aesthetics, and biographical and autobiographical works. In the course of his lifetime, many of Jouve’s basic tenets regarding life and religion changed drastically, and these changes are particularly reflected in his poetry.
Born in Arras in rural France to Alfred Jouve, a businessman, and his wife, Aimee Rose Jouve, a music teacher, Jouve was uncomfortable living in rural settings. He inclined toward music, and as a student in Arras and Lille he had a particular antipathy towards poetry. After he completed his education, however, he became a devotee of poetry, largely through his discovery of such Symbolist poets as Arthur Rimbaud and Stéphane Mallarmé. Their writing spurred him into writing poetry. In 1907, he and Paul Castiaux founded the literary magazine Les Bandeaux, where his earliest writing appeared.
A trip to Italy in 1910 evoked his interest in the classical subjects that informed much of his writing of that period, published in his collection Les Muses Romaines et Florentines. In that year, Jouve married Andrée Charpentier, an intellectual active in the women’s suffrage movement. His marriage ended in divorce after almost a decade.
The Jouves, who lived in Switzerland during World War I, had grown close to author Romain Rolland, a pacifist, and his wife, who also lived in Switzerland. The Rollands blamed the Jouves’ divorce on Jouve, which caused Jouve to think deeply about the meaning of life and both human and spiritual relationships. His spiritual quest is reflected in his writing of the period, work that Jouve was later to repudiate as he moved in new literary directions.
In 1925, Jouve married another older woman, Blanche Reverchon, a psychoanalyst. His relationship with her caused him to consider the implications of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytical theories. He became interested in Freud’s concepts of the unconscious mind and of the ego, superego, and id, and he was much concerned with Freud’s theory of sublimation. At this time, his conventional Roman Catholicism intensified.
Jouve consciously distanced himself from the Surrealist writers and was dismissive of the automatic writing that motivated some poets of his day. When World War II erupted, Jouve was in neutral Switzerland, living in Geneva. The pacifism and antinationalism he developed during World War I resurfaced as new international conflicts raged. He viewed poets’ roles as prophetic and their scope as international.
Jouve continued writing actively into his eightieth year. He was as well known for his novels as for his poetry. Commenting on his novels, a critic for The Times Literary Supplement astutely suggested that he was not saying anything in his novels that he had not said better in his verse. Jouve died on January 8, 1976.