Gérard de Nerval

Japanese: ネルバル - ねるばる（英語表記）Gérard de Nerval

French late Romantic poet and novelist. His real name was Gérard Labrunie. He was born in Paris on May 22nd. He lost his mother at a young age and was raised by his great-uncle who lived in the Valois region north of Paris. He was eventually taken in by his father in Paris and attended the high school. He published his first collection of poems, Napoleon and the Fighting France (1826), while at the school. In 1828, he became known in the literary world for his translation of Faust (Part I). In the autumn of 1834, he traveled to Italy with an inheritance from his grandfather. Around this time, he became fascinated with the actress Jenny Colon on stage and founded the magazine Engeki-kai (Theater World) for her. His love for the actress grew stronger around the autumn of 1837, but the relationship ended early the following year.

He suffered his first bout of insanity in late February 1841. He was hospitalized for several months and continued to recover after being released. During this time, Jenny died of illness (June 1842). Nerval left Paris at the end of 1842 and traveled around the Near East for about a year. After returning to Japan, he returned to journalism, publishing theater reviews, travelogues, plays, biographies of mystics, and poetry.

From around 1849, he again began to show signs of mental disorders, and was repeatedly admitted to and discharged from hospitals. During this period of relentless bouts of insanity (the last five years of his life), he produced a selection of his finest masterpieces. All of his later works, which were pioneers of innovative literature, were completed or published during this period, including "Journey to the East" (1851), which mixed free creation and mystical learning, "Daughters of Fire" (1854), a collection of seven exquisite short stories, "Poems Fantasias" (1854), a series of sonnets that combined mythology and fantasy experiences, and "Aurelia" (1855), a novel in which he consciously reconstructed dreams and insane hallucinations based on his own idealism. After suffering from illness and living in poverty, he was found hanged to death in a corner of a back alley in Paris on the morning of January 26, 1855.

[Irisawa Yasuo]

Reevaluation of Nerval

Although he was largely neglected in literary history for a long time after his death, he was reevaluated in the 20th century by such writers as Proust and Breton as pioneers of their respective ideas and methods, and since then his reputation has gradually increased and research on him has progressed significantly. He is now regarded as one of the most important French writers of the 19th century.

[Irisawa Yasuo]

"The Complete Works of Nerval, translated by Masaaki Sato et al., three volumes (1976, Chikuma Shobo)" ▽ "Aurelia, translated by Tomokazu Shinoda (1986, Shichosha)"

[Reference] | Daughters of Fire

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

フランス後期ロマン派の詩人、小説家。本名ジェラール・ラブリュニーLabrunie。5月22日、パリで生まれる。幼くして母を失い、パリ北方のバロア地方に住む大叔父に養育された。やがてパリの父のもとに引き取られ、高等中学へ通学。同校在学中に処女詩集『ナポレオンおよび戦うフランス』（1826）を発表。1828年には『ファウスト』（第一部）の翻訳によって文壇に名を知られる。34年の秋、祖父の遺産でイタリアへ旅行。このころ、女優ジェニー・コロンJenny Colonの舞台姿を見て夢中になり、彼女のために雑誌『演劇界』を創刊。女優への恋は37年秋ころに、ひときわ高まるが、翌年初めには破局をみる。

　1841年2月下旬に最初の狂気の発作にみまわれる。数か月入院し、退院後も回復に努める。この間に、ジェニーが病没（1842年6月）。ネルバルは、42年末にパリを出発し近東諸国を約1年間放浪。帰国後は、ふたたびジャーナリズムへ復帰し、劇評、旅行記、劇作、神秘家の伝記物語、詩などを発表する。

　1849年ころから、またも精神の変調がみられるようになり、入・退院を繰り返す。この執拗(しつよう)に繰り返される狂気の発作の時期（最晩年の5年間）に、粒選(よ)りの傑作が生み出される。自由な創作や神秘学的教養を交えた『東方旅行記』（1851）、珠玉の短編七編を収めた『火の娘たち』（1854）、神話と幻想体験の融合したソネット群『幻想詩集』（1854）、夢と狂気の幻覚を独自のイデアリスムに基づいて意識的に再構築した小説『オーレリア』（1855）など、いずれも後の革新的文学の先駆けをなした作品は、すべてこの時期に完成または発表されたものである。病苦と貧窮の生活のあげく、55年1月26日朝、パリの裏町の一隅で縊死体(いしたい)となって発見された。

［入沢康夫］