André Malraux

French novelist and thinker. Born in Paris on November 3rd. Raised in an atmosphere of avant-garde art, he made his literary debut with his fantastical prose work "Paper Moon" (1921), heavily influenced by Apollinaire, which used his imagination to create a beautiful world that was different from reality. However, a different Malraux emerged around the time he was imprisoned for looting Khmer ruins in Indochina in 1923. His 1926 novel "The Seduction of the West" expressed his recognition of the tragic situation of the generation that had witnessed the massacre of the Great War, in which Western society had now fallen into decline and both God and man had died. His subsequent novels "The Conquerors" (1928) and "The Royal Road" (1930), which were inspired by the Chinese Revolution and an exploration of ruins in Indochina, respectively, were nothing but hints at a new way of life for the times, in which one must be fully aware of the absurdity of life and then take action to escape from tragic situations. However, The Human Condition (1933) depicts a group of intellectuals who resist death through action, and introduces a belief in universal human values, suggesting a new transformation in Malraux. Of course, this was not unrelated to the fact that, in the critical reality of the 1930s, he began to play an active role as an anti-fascist fighter after 1932. From then until he broke with communism with the signing of the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact in 1939, he continued to lead the way among Western intellectuals who participated in politics. During this time, in works such as The Age of Contempt (1935) and Hope (1937), Malraux became conscious of his own actions in defense of universal values, and created his own holistic novel that was in opposition to reality.

After serving in the Second World War, being taken prisoner and escaping from the camp, he wrote his final novel, The Nut Trees of Altenburg (1943), in which he traces his journey from disillusionment with a mythical age supported by universal human values ​​to the discovery of something primal that continues to live on through the ages. He then joined the Resistance in 1944, and by the end of the war he had become the leader of the Maquis. Malraux's postwar path cannot be separated from that of de Gaulle. In 1945 he was appointed Minister of Information in the de Gaulle administration (until 1946), and from 1958 to 1969 he held the position of Minister of Culture, a position that had been newly established during the de Gaulle era. However, it should not be overlooked that his brilliant achievements as Minister of Culture, who protected and fostered the arts as a nation, along with his unique postwar art theories such as Voices of Silence (1951, translated into Japanese as Touzai Bijutsuron) and Metamorphoses of the Gods (1957), are deeply connected to the new concept of culture as something that makes humans human, based on an awareness of the primordial, predicted in The Walnut Tree of Altenburg. The novelist Malraux transformed himself into a cultural director, and passed away on November 23, 1976 in Créteil, a suburb of Paris. He was mourned with a state funeral. Another work that cannot be overlooked is his unique autobiography, Anti-Memoirs (1967).

[Watanabe Kazutami]

"The Temptation of Western Europe," translated by Komatsu Kiyoshi and Matsunami Shinzaburo (included in Great Ideas of the World II 14, 1968, Kawade Shobo Shinsha)" ▽ "The Metamorphosis of Malraux, by Watanabe Kazutami (included in Against the Myths, 1968, Shichosha)" ▽ "The Conquerors," translated by Komatsu Kiyoshi (Shincho Bunko)" ▽ "Shincho World Literature 45: Malraux, translated by Shinjo Yoshiaki et al. (1970, Shinchosha)" ▽ "Biography of André Malraux, by Muramatsu Tsuyoshi (1972, Shinchosha)" ▽ "Anti-Memoirs, 2 volumes, translated by Takemoto Tadao (1977, Shinchosha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

フランスの小説家、思想家。11月3日パリに生まれる。前衛芸術の雰囲気に触れて育ち、アポリネールの影響の色濃い、想像力により現実とは異質な美の世界を造型した幻想的散文『紙の月』（1921）によって文壇にデビューした。しかし1923年訪れたインドシナでクメール遺跡盗掘により投獄されたころから、別のマルローが顕現する。1926年の『西欧の誘惑』は、いまや西欧社会は凋落(ちょうらく)し神も人間も死んだという、大戦という大殺戮(さつりく)に立ち会った世代の悲劇的状況の認識を表明したものだが、それに続く、それぞれ中国革命とインドシナの遺跡探検に題材を得た小説『征服者』（1928）と『王道』（1930）は、人生の不条理を熟知したうえで行動に賭(か)けることによって悲劇的状況を脱出しようという、新しい時代の生き方を暗示するものにほかならなかった。とはいえ1933年の『人間の条件』は、行動によって死に抵抗する知識人の群像を描きながら、そこに人間の普遍的価値への信仰を導入することによって、さらに新しいマルローの変貌(へんぼう)を示唆する。それはむろん、1930年代の危機的現実のなかで、彼が1932年以後反ファシズムの闘士として活躍し始めることと無縁ではなかった。以後1939年の独ソ不可侵条約によってコミュニスムと決別するまで、彼は政治参画する西欧知識人の先頭にたち続ける。その間『侮蔑(ぶべつ)の時代』（1935）、『希望』（1937）などの作品により、普遍的価値を擁護する自らの行動を意識化するとともに、現実と拮抗(きっこう)する独自の全体小説をつくりだすのである。

　第二次世界大戦に従軍、捕虜となり収容所を脱出したあと、最後の小説『アルテンブルグのくるみの木』（1943）を書き、人間の普遍的価値に支えられた神話的時代への幻滅から、時代を超えて生き続ける原初的なものの発見に至る道程を跡づける。そして1944年レジスタンスに参加、マキ団の指導者として終戦を迎える。戦後のマルローの歩みはドゴールのそれと切り離すことはできない。1945年にドゴール政権の情報相（～1946）に迎えられ、1958～1969年の間ドゴール時代に新設された文化相の椅子(いす)を守り続ける。だが国家として芸術を保護し育成した文化相としてのその輝かしい業績は、『沈黙の声』（1951。邦訳名『東西美術論』）、『神々の変貌』（1957）といった戦後のユニークな芸術論とともに、『アルテンブルグのくるみの木』の予告した、原初的なものの認識に基づく、人間を人間たらしめるものとしての新しい文化の概念に深くかかわっていることを見落としてはならない。小説家マルローは文化の演出家に変貌を遂げ、1976年11月23日パリ郊外クレテーユで生涯を閉じた。その死は国葬をもって弔われた。ほかに作品として独特な自伝『反回想録』（1967）を逸することはできない。

［渡辺一民］

『小松清・松浪信三郎訳『西欧の誘惑』（『世界の大思想Ⅱ　14』所収・1968・河出書房新社）』▽『渡辺一民著『マルローの変貌』（『神話への反抗』所収・1968・思潮社）』▽『小松清訳『征服者』（新潮文庫）』▽『新庄嘉章他訳『新潮世界文学45　マルロー』（1970・新潮社）』▽『村松剛著『評伝アンドレ・マルロオ』（1972・新潮社）』▽『竹本忠雄訳『反回想録』全2巻（1977・新潮社）』

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