Roger Martin du Gard
Roger Martin du Gard was a prominent French novelist, best known for his major work, *The Thibaults*, which spanned from the early 1920s to 1940 and earned him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1937. Born in 1881 to a well-to-do Catholic family, he often explored themes of bourgeois life in his novels, focusing on psychological conflicts and ideological struggles rather than broad societal critiques. His early novel, *Jean Barois*, published in 1913, introduced readers to his style, characterized by a commitment to objective investigation and detailed, almost photographic dialogues.
Martin du Gard's work reflects a deep engagement with family dynamics, particularly highlighting the tension between traditional values and modern existential dilemmas. His characters often grapple with their identities in a changing world, as seen in *The World of the Thibaults*, which captures the complexities of a French family during the years leading up to World War I. Additionally, he was a skilled playwright, producing works that portrayed peasant life and addressed subjects like sexual fetishes. Throughout his life, Martin du Gard maintained a low public profile, preferring to focus on his writing over public appearances or controversies. His literary contributions continue to resonate, offering insights into the human condition against the backdrop of early 20th-century France.
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Roger Martin du Gard
French novelist and playwright
- Born: March 23, 1881
- Birthplace: Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
- Died: August 22, 1958
- Place of death: Bellême, France
Biography
Roger Martin du Gard (mahr-tan dew gahr) achieved his reputation as a novelist with the publication of Jean Barois in 1913. After World War I, during which he served in the motor transport division, he undertook his magnum opus, The Thibaults, the first volumes of which came out in the early 1920’s and the eighth and last, called simply Épilogue, in 1940. In recognition of his performance in this cyclical work, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1937.
Martin du Gard was born in 1881 into an established, well-to-do Catholic family of lawyers and magistrates. He made this same bourgeois class the subject of his novels, and even though his theme is revolt and disintegration, he seems to have inherited from his background the qualities for which he is most often praised: integrity, solidity, and sense. He was educated at the best schools in Paris, and in 1906 he received from the École de Chartres the advanced degree of archivist-paleographer.
His scholarly temperament is evident in his fiction; his friend André Gide remarked that Martin du Gard was interested in general laws of behavior rather than in exceptional cases and that he envied him his obstinate patience in pursuing his goal. In his Nobel Prize speech Martin du Gard referred to himself as an “investigator as objective as is humanly possible.” In his fiction he strives for and achieves an almost photographic fidelity, especially notable in his dialogue, and the virtual elimination of a personal style.
His work in many ways invites comparison with the scientific naturalistic novel of the late nineteenth century, except that Martin du Gard is less committed to a thesis than Émile Zola, for example, and more interested in family situations and the ideological and psychological conflicts in the minds of his characters than in the broad economic organization of society. His work would perhaps be more comparable to the Edwardian family saga except for its rigidly analytic and unsentimental tone. Jean Barois describes a young man torn between the religious view of life which was implanted in him and the scientific view to which he is drawn.
The problem is carried further in The World of the Thibaults, which presents a full portrait of a French family (and a large segment of French society besides) between the years 1903 and 1914: the father, successful, autocratic, moralistic, insensitive, and his two sons who try but ultimately fail to come to terms with their powerful bourgeois indoctrination. Antoine, the elder, compromises; he tries to save what he can of the old values and becomes a doctor. The younger, Jacques, sets himself in complete revolt as a writer and a socialist. Gide commented that Martin du Gard put most of himself into Antoine and implied that his interest in Jacques was part of the author’s “extraordinary and anxious desire to acquire certain qualities that are quite opposed to his nature, mystery, shadow and strangeness.” It is Antoine who debates his position with an old abbé because he cannot rationalize the contradictions in his nature to his satisfaction. The author withholds judgment in this struggle.
Martin du Gard was also a successful playwright. Two farces, Le Testament du père Leleu and La Gonfle, which are excellent descriptions of peasant mentality and language, were produced for Jacques Copeau at the Vieux Colombier. A third play, Un Taciturne, deals impartially (as do The Postman and several other lesser works) with sexual fetishes.
During World War I, as he had done during most of his life, Martin du Gard lived quietly, for the most part in the country, indifferent to interviews, public appearances, or polemics. In 1951 he published some brief recollections of Gide.
Bibliography
Boak, Denis. Roger Martin du Gard. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1963. An informative study of Martin du Gard’s artistic vision. Emphasizes the tragic overtones, symphonic orchestration, and transcendental qualities of The World of the Thibaults.
O’Nan, Martha, ed. Roger Martin du Gard Centennial. Brockport: Department of Foreign Languages, State University of New York College, 1981. A special collection commemorating the anniversary of the author’s birth. The nine featured essays are wide-ranging and comprehensive.
Ru, Yi-Ling. The Family Novel: Toward a Generic Definition. New York: P. Lang, 1992. Associates Martin du Gard’s achievements with classic studies of family life.
Schalk, David L. Roger Martin du Gard: The Novelist and History. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1967. Evaluates the author’s historical perspective and includes an impressive collection of critical comments from other scholars.
Stern, Richard Clarke. Dark Mirror: The Sense of Injustice in Modern European and American Literature. New York: Fordham University Press, 1994. Contains a perceptive section on Jean Barois.