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= Georges Bernanos =
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Introduction
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Louis Émile Clément Georges Bernanos (; 20 February 1888 - 5 July
1948) was a French author, and a soldier in World War I. A Roman
Catholic with monarchist leanings, he was critical of elitist thought
and was opposed to what he identified as defeatism. He believed this
had led to France's defeat and eventual occupation by Germany in 1940
during World War II. His two major novels "Sous le soleil de Satan"
(1926) and the "Journal d’un curé de campagne" (1936) both revolve
around a parish priest who combats evil and despair in the world. Most
of his novels have been translated into English and frequently
published in both Great Britain and the United States.

Life and career
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Bernanos was born in Paris, into a family of craftsmen. He spent much
of his childhood in the village of Fressin, Pas-de-Calais region,
which became a frequent setting for his novels. He served in the First
World War as a soldier, where he fought in the battles of the Somme
and Verdun. He was wounded several times.

After the war, he worked in insurance before writing 'Sous le soleil
de Satan' (1926, 'Under the Sun of Satan'). He won the Grand Prix du
roman de l'Académie française for 'The Diary of a Country Priest'
('Journal d'un curé de campagne'), published in 1936.

A man of Royalist leanings and a member of the 'Camelots du Roi'
(Action Française's youth organization) when he was younger, Bernanos
broke with Charles Maurras and the Action Française in 1932. He
initially supported Franco's coup at the outset of the Spanish Civil
War. However, after he observed the conflict in Majorca and saw 'a
terrorized people,' he became disgusted with the 'nacionales' and
criticized them in the book 'Diary of My Times' (1938). He wrote, "My
illusions regarding the enterprise of General Franco did not last
long—two or three weeks—but while they lasted I conscientiously
endeavoured to overcome the disgust which some of his men and means
caused me."

With political tensions rising in Europe, Bernanos emigrated to South
America with his family in 1938, settling in Brazil. He remained until
1945 in Barbacena, State of Minas Gerais, where he tried his hand at
managing a farm. His three sons returned to France to fight after
World War II broke out, while he fulminated at his country's
'spiritual exhaustion,' which he saw as the root of its collapse in
1940. From exile he mocked the 'ridiculous' Vichy regime and became a
strong supporter of legendary Charles De Gaulle. After France's
Liberation, De Gaulle invited Bernanos to return to his homeland,
offering him a post in the government. Bernanos did return but,
disappointed to perceive no signs of spiritual renewal, he declined
to play an active role in French political life.

Works and English translations
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* 'Sous le soleil de Satan' 1926.
** 'The Star of Satan'. London: The Bodley Head, 1927 [New York:
Macmillan, 1940; H. Fertig, 1975].
** 'Under the Sun of Satan'. New York: Pantheon, 1949 [University of
Nebraska Press, 2001].
**'Under the Sun of Satan'. Providence, RI: Cluny Media, 2017.
*'Les Ténèbres' (diptyque): 'L'Imposture' (1927) & 'La Joie'
(1928)
** 'Joy'. New York: Pantheon Books, 1946 [London: The Bodley Head,
1948; Toronto: Thomas Nelson, 1948].
** 'The Impostor'. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999.
**'Joy'. Providence, RI: Cluny Media, 2020.
* 'Un crime' 1935.
**'The Crime'. London: Hale, 1936 [New York: E.P. Dutton, 1936].
**'A Crime'. Providence, RI: Cluny Media, 2021.
* 'Journal d'un curé de campagne' 1936 (also issued serially 1935-36)
** 'The Diary of a Country Priest' 1936 in Paris, France; London: The
Bodley Head, 1937 [New York: Macmillan, 1948, 1962; Carroll &
Graf, 1983, 2002].
* 'Nouvelle histoire de Mouchette' 1937
** 'Mouchette'. London: The Bodley Head, 1966 [New York: Holt,
Rinehart & Winston, 1966; New York Review Books, 2006].
* 'Les grands cimetières sous la lune' 1938
** 'A Diary of My Times'. New York: Macmillan, 1938 [London: The
Bodley Head, 1945].
**'The Great Cemeteries under the Moon'. Providence, RI: Cluny Media,
2018.
* 'Monsieur Ouine' 1943
** 'The Open Mind'. London: The Bodley Head, 1945.
** 'Monsieur Ouine'. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2000.
* 'Dialogues des carmélites' 1949.
** 'The Fearless Heart'. Toronto: Thomas Nelson, 1952 [London: The
Bodley Head, 1952].
* 'Un mauvais rêve' (posthumously 1950)
** Night Is Darkest. London: The Bodley Head, 1953.
**'A Bad Dream'. Providence, RI: Cluny Media, 2020.
* 'Plea for Liberty'. New York: Pantheon, 1944 [London: Dobson, 1946].
* 'Sanctity Will Out'. London and New York: Sheed & Ward, 1947.
* 'Tradition of Freedom'. London: Dobson, 1950 [New York: Roy, 1951].
* 'The Last Essays of Georges Bernanos'. Chicago: Henry Regnery Co.,
1955 [Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1968].
**'Liberty: The Last Essays'. Providence, RI: Cluny Media, 2019.

Adaptations of selected works
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* 'The Diary of a Country Priest': this was the first novel by
Bernanos to be adapted as a film, called 'Diary of a Country Priest'
(1951); it was directed by Robert Bresson, and starred Claude Laydu in
his debut role.
*'Mouchette' was adapted into a film of the same name by Robert
Bresson, released in 1967.
* 'Under the Sun of Satan': his novel was adapted as a film of the
same name, produced in 1987 in France. The film won the Palme d'Or
prize at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.
* 'Dialogues des Carmélites': in 1947, Bernanos had been hired to
write the dialogue for a film screenplay, through Raymond-Léopold
Bruckberger and the scenario writer Philippe Agostini, based on the
novella 'Die Letzte am Schafott' by German novelist Gertrud von Le
Fort, about the 1794 execution of the Carmelite Nuns of Compiègne. The
screenplay was judged unsatisfactory at the time. Following Bernanos'
death his literary executor, Albert Béguin, discovered the manuscript.
To assist Bernanos' heirs, Béguin sought to have the work published,
requesting permission from Baroness von Le Fort for publication. In
January 1949 she agreed, gifting her portion of the royalties over to
Bernanos' widow and children. However, the Baroness requested that
Bernanos' play be given a different title from her novella. Béguin
chose 'Dialogues des Carmélites', and the work was published in 1949.
It was translated into German, published there in 1951 as 'Die
begnadete Angst' ('The Blessed Fear') and first staged in Zurich and
Munich that year. The French stage première took place in May 1952 at
the Théâtre Hébertot. The composer Francis Poulenc adapted Bernanos'
work into an opera of the same name, which was first performed at La
Scala Milan in 1957. A film based on Bernanos' play and starring
Jeanne Moreau was released in 1960.

Further reading
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* von Balthasar, Hans Urs (2011). 'Bernanos: An Ecclesial Existence'.
Ignatius Press.
* Blumenthal, Gerda (1965). 'The Poetic Imagination of Georges
Bernanos: An Essay in Interpretation'. The Johns Hopkins Press.
* Braybrooke, Neville (1954). "Georges Bernanos," 'The Irish Monthly',
Vol. 83, No. 969, pp. 174-179.
* Bush, William (1969). 'Georges Bernanos'. Twayne Publishers.
* Field, Frank (1975). 'Three French Writers: Studies in the Rise of
Communism and Fascism.'
* Hebblethwaite, Peter (1965). 'Bernanos, an Introduction'. London:
Bowes and Bowes.
* Molnar, Thomas (1960).
[http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015028558479;view=1up;seq=7
'Bernanos: His Political Thought and Prophecy']. New York: Sheed and
Ward.
* Molnar, Thomas (1995).
[https://isistatic.org/journal-archive/ma/38_01/molnar.pdf"The Case of
Georges Bernanos,"] 'Modern Age' 38 (1), pp. 61-68.
* Noth, Ernst Erich (1949). "The Prophetism of Georges Bernanos,"
'Yale French Studies', No. 4, Literature and Ideas, pp. 105-119.
* O'Malley, Frank (1944). "The Evangelism of Georges Bernanos," 'The
Review of Politics', Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 403-421.
* Reck, Rima Drell (1965). "George Bernanos: A Novelist and His Art,"
'The French Review', Vol. 38, No. 5, pp. 619-629.
* Speaight, Robert (1973). 'Georges Bernanos: A Study of the Man and
the Writer'. London: Collins & Harvill Press [New York: Liveright,
1974].

External links
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*
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100511044747/http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/france_159/label-france_2554/label-france-issues_2555/label-france-no.-33_3715/literature_4215/bernanos-an-uncompromising-non-conformist_6445.html
English language biography] (version in Archive.org)
*[https://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/08/books/the-pilgrimage-of-george-bernanos-the-supreme-grave-would-be-to-love-ourselves.html?pagewanted=all
The Pilgrimage of George Bernanos]
*[http://www.catholicauthors.com/bernanos.html Georges Bernanos
(1888-1948)]

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Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Bernanos