Paul Claudel Papers (E-Journal)

Hellerstein, Nina

Catherine Mayaux, ed. Lettres de Paul Claudel à Jean Paulhan (1925-1954)

Snipes-Hoyt, Caroyln

English

The Premiere of L'Annonce faite à Marie in the Context of Heightened Interest in the Middle Ages and Jeanne d'Arc

Kessous, Guila Clara

ta Repr6sentation de L'Echange d Harvard
et au Festival d'Avignon
Guila Clara Kessous
Harverd Universit^t
. . .l'homme s' enTnlie , et L' ignarance lui est attachie depuis sa
naissance.
et ne sachant de. rien comrnent cel.a commence ou finit, c'est
pow cela qu'iI wa au rhddtre.
et iI se regarde lui-m\me, Ies mains pos1es sw les genoux.
etilpleure etilrit, etiln'apoint enwie dc s'en aller.
P. Claudel, LEchange
Orgurrir"r le cinquantenaire de la mort de Paul Claudel i
Harvard Universitd 6tait une gageure. Non seulement pour des
raisons d'ordre administratif mais surtout d cause de I'image de I'au-
teur pour le public am6ricain. Ainsi, lorsque je proposai de monter
la pibce LEclwnge aux 6ldves de ma classe de th6Atre frangais, je
r6coltai des r6actions fort peu enthousiastes. Paul Claudel, d6cou-
vert au travers du Sozlier de Satin, n'avait rien d'attirant pour des
6tudiants impressionn6s par des Ionesco et Jean Genet et pour qui
le thdAtre clauddlien ne pouvait 6tre que r6barbatif et trop
catholique [...] J'avais donc beau r6p6ter qu'il s'agissait de la pre-
mibre version de la pidce 6crite par un tout jeune Claudel qui
ddcouvrait Boston, je ne soulevai que trds peu d'intdr6t parmi les
6lEves. Il me semblait pourtant 6vident qu'il fallait c6l6brer Paul
Claudel ici aux Etats-Unis et que Boston, semblait €tre le lieu pri,
vil6gi6 de cette c6l6bration puisque I'auteur en avait 6t6 le Consul
de 1893 i 1895, s6jour pendant lequel il avait 6crit la premidre ver,
sion de LEchange. Cette ann6e 2005 6tait donc marqu6e par ce
double 6v6nement : le cinquantenaire de la mort de P. Claudel et
le centenaire de la ptd.cellEchange 6crite d Boston.
Volurne IV Paul Claudel Papers 5t
Guila Clara I(essous
La premibre version de LEchange m'apparaissait donc
convenir parfaitement aux quatre jeunes acteurs qui joudrent la
pibce. Fougueux et impatients, ils souhaitaient 'jouer' et ne com-
prenaient pas I'int6r€t du ffavail du texre que je leur infligeais
(exercices de prononciation, de diction, d'articulation, de prose
musicale, etc.) avant de pouvoir aborder le fameux verset
clauddlien. Il me fallut ainsi, un peu comme Racine le faisait pour
faire r6p6ter la Champmesl6, travailler uniquement sur la musique
de la prose frangaise en'chantant' le vers m6lodiquement pour que
la prosodie dramatique claud6lienne puisse Otre int6gr6e dans le
'Dire'am6ricain des acteurs. Le travail sur le monologue de Marthe
(vendue par Laine) a en cela 6t6 trbs significatif. Il fallait trouver
comment rendre cette unire du grand Tout que Marthe 6voque
dans une prosopopde de la Nature qui prend elle-m6me la parole en
Marthe:
" Je te salue, distance ! " (Acte III)
Cette distance salu6e requerrait un certain appel universel que la
jeune actrice am6ricaine avait beaucoup de mal i cemer. Adepte
(comme beaucoup d'acteurs amdricains) de la m6thode de I'Actors
Studio, elle ne comprenait pas de prime abord le travail sur le lan-
gage qui 6tait n6cessaire dans le ressenti m€me de la scbne.
Rappelons que la m6thode du jeu de I'Actors Studio, si elle est va-
lable pour le cin6ma, qui est I'art de l'dph6mdre, ne peut Ctre
valable au th6atre que si elle vient se surajourer i un travail pro-
fond du Verbe. Le monologue, travaill6 phon6tiquement, puis par
iambes de respiration, prenait une tout autre ampleur une fois
compris de I'int6rieur puisque, comme un chanteur, le simple fait
que la voix sorte correctement entrainait la v6rit6 du jeu. A I'in-
verse, il me fallut moi-m6me indiquer presque m6lodiquement les
expressions am6ricaines contenues dans le texte, expressions telles
qu'un Frangais aurait pu les entendre. Le grossissement de phrases
tels que 
" 
See 
", " 
'Well 
,r, .. \4sney 
', 
6taient rendu par I'acteur si
naturellement qu'elles passaient presque pour 'frangaises' pour qui
les aurait entendues et il me fallut les 'am6ricaniser'. D'autres
52 Paul Claudel Papers Volume IV
La Reprdsentation de L'Echange i Harvard et au Festival d'Avignon
expressions telles que .. Je crois que sa mdre est d Cleveland, O. "(Acte III) soulevdrent des protestations parmi mes acteurs. En
effet, certaines incoh6rences, venues d'un jeune Claudel de 25 ans
dtaient incompr6hensibles pour un public am6ricain. Le mot
" 
Cleveland, O 
" 
signifiant 
" 
Cleveland, Ohio 
" 
6tait trbs malvenu
dans le texte alors que Pollock parle de son ex-femme. Claudel
avait sans doute vu la ville sur une carte et en avait retranscrit la
mention sans avoir I'id6e de cette abr6viation accol6e au nom de la
ville. J'ai cependant tenu )L ce que toutes les imperfections de
langue concemant la vision claud6lienne de I'Am6rique soient
maintenues. Il me semblait capital de faire en softe que cette pibce
soit un t6moignage de la vision que le pobte pouvait avoir de
I'Am6rique dans sa jeunesse. Ld-bas, h New York, tout d'abord, puis
d Boston, Claudel dcrivit sa pibce qu'il appela 
" 
le nouveau gui-
gnol 
", 
puis 
" 
la dramaturgie de I'or 
". 
Ecrite le matin, une heure et
demi avant de commencer son travail au consulat, ou durant I'ab-
sence de son sup6rieur, Paul Claudel utilisa bien sffr tout ce qu'il
pouvait voir, entendre et comprendre de ce nouveau continent qui
s'offrait d lui. Marqu6 par la pluie de Nouvelle Angleterre (notons
qu'il pleut sept fois dans I'Echange), le sentiment d'exil, I'ennui,
I'atmosphbre puritaine, le catholicisme priv6 de c6r6monial i
l'6glise (en contraste avec les chants gr6goriens de Paris),
1'" American way of life >, sont autant d'ingr6dients que I'on
retrouve dans la pidce. Rappelons que c'est sur une affiche qu'il vit
le nom de Thomas Pollock Fin, et d6cida d'utiliser la traduction
frangaise de'Fin' : 'Nageoire' h laquelle il trouvait plus d'harmonie
sonore. Le personnage de Louis Laine, inspird du Frangais Chistian
Larapidie, professeur de violon qui partageait la chambre de
Claudel d 1'6poque bostonienne, fut particulibrement difficile e
aborder. Ijacteur qui s'6tait propos6 pour le r6le avait un fort accent
am6ricain et poss6dait un d6faut de vision qui le rendait presque
aveugle. Par cette infirmit6, il avait une connaissance surprenante
du relief sc6nique qui compensait sa gOne par une possibilit6 d'ac-
tion et d'exploration de I'espace. Aprbs un long travail sur le texte
(notamment par enregistrement), j'entrepris une mise en scbne trbs
physique pour un Louis Laine devenu, par son c6t6 de proximitd de
Volurne IV Paul Claudel Papers 53
Guila Clara l(essous
la nature, proche d'un Peter Pan virevoltant qui raconte des his-
toires et qui se raconte des histoires. Tout d la fois, Rimbaud et elfe,
le personnage est donc devenu trds r6el et presque 'excusable' dans
son acte vis-d-vis de Marthe, lui qui se .. cachai[t] pour lire la
Bible 
" 
(Acte I) et qui dans un demier sursaut aura un remord fatal.
Le fait m6me de la bizanerie de l'accent de I'acteur (entre I'anglais
et le frangais) donnait encore plus de poids dramatique d cet Indien
qui repr6sente une race condamn6e. Dans la pibce, n'est-il pas I'ob.
jet du d6sir des trois autres ? Pollock le s6duit par l'argent, Marthe
le retient par les liens du mariage et Lechy par I'attraction
physique. C'est donc bien lui qui est la proie et la victime de cette
pidce qui est tout i la fois drame, psychodrame, parabole et pure
pidce de musique. Premidre pibce 6crite loin de sa terre narale,
L'Echnnge nous r6vble un Claudel insoupgonn6, tout d la fois fra.
gile et ais6ment influengable. Parce que les acteurs avaient l'Age
des personnages, le spectacle LEchnnge, donn6 d Harvard et au
Festival d'Avignon 2005, a pu rdpondre aux volont6s de I'auteur au
travers d'un jeu 'violent et color6, excessi{ presque caricatural,
comme une toile de Van Dongen'...
Plus d'informations
http ://wwwumb. edu/claudel
http ://www. evene.fr/culture/actualitefestival-d- avignon- 1 5 4.php
http://www.ouanadoo. co mlJDCEl 17 66-images.ph p'lrep = 5292
http://www.e-
gazetteavignon.com/cms/avignon.multi.article.php3 ?id_article=3 8 1
http ://maisonj eanvilar.org/public/pdf/activites_mj v_2005. pdf
Video:
http://avignon-off.hd.free.fr/avignonZ005/index.htm (Voir IJEchange )
54 Paul Claudel Papers Volume IV


French

La Représentation de L'Échange à Harvard et au festival d'Avignon

Winspur, Steven

James Lawler, tr. Paul Claudel. Knowing the East

Fetzer, Glen

Claudel et la rhétorique de la haine

Books and journals received
Claudel, Paul. Knowing the Eost. tanslated by James R. Lawler.
Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2004.
Claudel, Paul et Romain Rolland. Une Arnitil perdue et retrouvde.
Correspondance. Edition dtablie par G6rard Antoine et Bemard
Duchatelet. Paris: Ga llimard, 2005.
Millet-G6rard, Dominique. La prose transfigw€e. Etudes en hom'
mnge d PauI Clmde.l. Paris: Presses de I'Universit6 Paris.Sorbonne,
7005.
Millet.G6rard, Dominique, ed. Conespondmrce de Paul claudel avec
les ecclisiasdquz.s de son tamps . I* sacrement du monde et I' intennon de
Gloire. Vol. I. Paris: Honord Champion,2005.
CImtEl etleJapon. Cinquantenaire de la mort de Claudel. Actes du
Colloque Intemational et de la Thble Ronde. Textes r6unis et
pr6sent6s par Shinobu Chujo et Thkaharu Hasekura. Tokyo:
Shichigatsu-do, 2006.
Ixttres de Pattl Clnutal d. lean Paul,han (1925-1954). Correspon-
dance pr6sent6e et annot6e par Catherine Mayaux. Beme: Peter
Lang,2004.
IiOiseatt noir, XIII (2006). Revue d'6tudes claud6liennes. Centre
d'6tudes claud6liennes au Japon.
Bulletin de la Soci6.t€. PauL Claudel, Nos 181-184 (2006), Paris.
l0IVolume IV Paul Claudel Papers


Books and journals received

Sion, Ioana

Claudel and Dante: Salvation on the Seventh Day

Witherell, Louise R.

An Overview of the Paul Claude1 Society
in America
Part Two: 1972-2001
Louise R. Witherell
Professor emerita
University of Wisconsin, Green Bay
As we have seen, the establishment of the Paul Claudel
Society (America) was preceded by the Claudel Newsletter, which was
published from April 1968 until February 1972. The editorial committee
of that Newsletter then formed the nucleus of a group of university fac-
ulty who established the Paul Claudel Society during a meeting at the
large Modern Language Association's conference in New York City on
December 29, 1968.
The most excellent Claudel Newsletter's last issue appeared in
February 1972. The first issue of Claudel Studies appeared later that same
year of 1972 (with no indication of the month) under two Editors-in-
Chief: Harold A. Waters ... University of Rhode Island and Moses M.
Nagy ... University of Dallas. Moses M. Nagy and Robert Dupree, both
from the University of Dallas, are listed as Managing Editors. The three
Associate Editors are three names from the Newsletter's editorial com-
mittee: Calvin Claudel (Salisbury State College); Douglas Alexander
(State University of New York at AlbanY)j and Jean-Pierre Cap
(Lafayette College).
Claudel Studies Volume I, 1972, Number I was published by its
Editorial Board (see above) and sponsored by the University of Dallas,
the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, and the Paul Claudel
Society in America. The cost per issue, the cost of a subscription for
Americans, the cost for foreign subscribers, as well as the cost of a sub-
scription plus a membership in the Paul Claudel Society are all indicated
ahead of the table of contents.
I have taken the time to examine each issue until the final vol-
ume dated 2001, but since our present concern is with our Society rather
Volume II Paul Claudel Papers 117
Louise R. Witherell
than with the details of the parallel publication, I leave that close exam-
ination to younger scholars.
In any case, it will always seem to me that the RENCONTRES
IINTERNATIONALES CLAUDELIENNES DE BRANGUES which
took place mostly within the grounds of the chateau at Brangues July 25-
28 1972, were crucial to the development of our own organization,
affecting the focus of much of the scholarly research and activity on our
side of the Atlantic. At this first international Claudelian meeting in
France, my presence was almost accidental: I was merely a recent past-
president of the relatively new American society, taking a daughter on a
promised trip to Europe. The official delegation from our society to the
international conference consisted of officers Leon Bourke, president;
Joan Freilich, secretary-treasurer; and Claudel Studies editors Harold
Waters and Moses Nagy. Counting all of the "participants", including
actors, technicians, and the almost regal military guard accompanying
Uopold Sedar Senghor, president of Senegal, there were approximately
300 Claudelians from around the world at Brangues. My count for the
total USA attendance alone is 26; this may hold the record for the
largest USA attendance at any Brangues meeting until now. By my reck-
oning at least 15 of those 26 became very active members of our society
over the following years.
The whole 1972 meeting in France was superbly planned with
excellent presentations and discussions which spoke to the enthusiasms
of the worldwide participants. There were side trips to Hostel and to
Morestel, as well as to Cote Saint-Andre, where there was a concert
devoted to the music of Berlioz and Milhaud. Many stage and film actors
and actresses devoted to Claudel's work were present besides those
involved in the major presentation by the Renaud-Barrault Company:
Eve Francis offered a mesmerizing recitation of Claudelian poetry, for
example. The delegation from Japan brought a No version of Claudel's
ballet "La femme et son ombre." The poet Leopold Sedar Senghor gave
a fascinating explanation of his poetry and its debt to Claudel. To top it
all there was the performance of the quatrieme journee of the "Soulier de
Satin." If ever the rest of the world could see and hear the power of
Claudel's poetic theatre on a stage - live! - or on the central ground
here beneath a chapiteau, performed by actors of the highest training in
all possible skills, it was here at this time. Jean Louis Barrault, Madeleine
Renaud and the rest of the players would take the tent performance on
to Paris after leaving Brangues, and eventually it would grow into the
118 Paul Claudel Papers Volume II
An Overview of the Paul Claudel Society in America 1972-200I
now famous performances of the hours~long totality of Claudel's
"Soulier" - the most recent such lengthy presentation having occurred
in April 2003 under director Olivier Py in Strasbourg.
In the "programme'" printed for these 1972 performances can be
found also reports of various contemporary Claudelian happenings in
Canada (Leo Brodeur) and in the United States (Joan Freilich, Marie~
Helene Pauly, Louise Witherell).
There had been some wor1d~wide celebrations of the centenary
of Paul Claudel's birth in 1968. Now the Brangues "rencontres" which
celebrated the accessibility of his work through various kinds of perfor~
mance surely gave a wor1d~wide impetus to trying to bring this beautiful
and meaningful work to people of all cultures and all languages. It seems
to me that this emphasis on public access to his work deeply impressed
our American society members who had witnessed this meeting in 1972.
Complete records of what our society did about it are, of course, not
neatly assembled. The task of detailed documentation should attract
younger scholars: it could be surprising and gratifying to find what has
been done in America with the Claudelian oeuvre since our society was
formed. Younger American scholars - especially those interested in the~
atre - should find this an almost endless field for research. They would
find compelling reasons to go to France to visit the current year's perfor~
mances there or perhaps to go to other countries such as Belgium,
Germany, the Czech Republic, Russia, or even Japan. References to past
performances may be found in brief international listings in the Bulletin
de la Societe Paul Claudel (France) as well as sporadically at the end of
issues of Claudel Studies (l972~2001).
My interest in Claudel's theatre had begun well before 1972 as a
result of a request from a theatre colleague (H.L. Zillmer, University of
Wisconsin~FoxValley) to assist him in translation of some of Claudel's
plays. In 1966 I had gone to Gallimard in Paris in order to coordinate our
efforts within international publishing rights. After 1972, the two of us
were far from alone. Not only were some of Claudel's plays being per~
formed by both amateur and professional companies over here in the
Americas, sometimes in university theatres, but the Paul Claudel Society
in America from then on had frequent live performances of short plays
or of excerpts from longer plays during our annual meetings at MLA.
Naturally, our society always welcomed also traditional scholarly studies
of all of the many varieties of Paul Claudel's work. Sometimes we sup~
plemented the announced program items with panel discussions or
Volume II Paul Claude1 Papers 119
Louise R. Witherell
spontaneous irresistible additions from those present. At times the yearly
program might be centred on a special theme. There was no chance for
boringly repetitious programs!
As a beginning to studying the contributions of American schol-
ars to Claudelian research charts could be made of our society's programs,
their times and places, as well as authors and titles of presentations,
actors, etc. Some of the presentations were later published in Claudel
Studies, but perhaps not all. A separate complete, categorized listing
could be made of the contents of Claudel Studies and Claudel Papers.
Scholars, arise! There is work to be done! It is necessary in order
to have a real sense of perspective in regard to our present and future
handling of Claudel's work from an American point of view. We need to
know about all past achievements, not only our own, but all ancillary
events, forums, colloquia, etc., as for example the successful "colloque
international:" Paul Claudel: les Odes, arranged by Sergio Villani in
October, 1993, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. And let us not forget to try
to include all of the many plays in French or in English translation which
took place outside of our organization.
In the late 1970's as a result of the efforts of one of our most
active members over many years, Ann Bugliani, professor of French at
Loyola University (Chicago), a Claudel archives was established at that
university. I was present at the formal establishment and presented, as I
remember it, at least one small work of art related to Claudel which had
come to me from the hands of Renee N antet Claudel. In 1983, at least,
I passed on some volumes intended for the archives from the French
society. Since I began this history, I attempted to find out the present sta-
tus of the archives at Loyola (Chicago) by phone. They are, of course,
still there. But I received the impression that their libraries, like so many
parts of our universities have been downsizing. So perhaps this is an area
for the present and future development by our society.
Another subject that we might want to discuss in future meet-
ings is the past structure and operation of the American Paul Claudel
Society. For the major portion of our existence we tended to elect a new
president and slate of officers every year. In the earliest years, continuity
was created by re-electing the secretary-treasurer, the most efficient
scholarly secretary Joan Freilich, who maintained the records now lost.
More recently we have been enjoying a long more stable period as an
organization under the committed leadership of such scholar-members as
Sergio Villani, Ann Bugliani, and Nina Hellerstein. Forgive me if there
120 Paul Claude1 Papers Volume II
An Overview of the Paul Claude1 Society in America 1972-200I
are other names that should be mentioned as well: I am really out, of the
loop these days!
Here and now is surely the moment to catch our breath, to
appreciate all that we have done in the past along with our strong work
in the present years, and to go on confidently with our well established
aims and contributions proudly referred to in the paragraph just preced-
ing this overview of the Paul Claudel Society in America 1968-2001.
Volume 11 Paul Claudel Papers 121


An Overview of the Paul Claudel Society in America Part Two: 1972-2001

Bibbee, Larissa Christina

The Poet and his Public in La maison fermÚe

Ippolito, Christophe

Conversion et décadence dans l'écriture de Claudel

Not a member yet