Pierre Boutang

Pierre Boutang
Boutang in 1959
Born	(1916-09-20)20 September 1916 Saint-Étienne,France
Died	27 June 1998(1998-06-27)(aged 81) Saint-Germain-en-Laye,France
Occupation	philosopher, poet, translator, journalist
Genre	Neoscholasticism,Christian philosophy,Christian existentialism
Notable works	Les Abeilles de Delphes, Ontologie du secret and Apocalypse du désir
Notable awards	Prix Gustave Le Métais-Larivière

Pierre Boutang(20 September 1916 – 27 June 1998) was a French philosopher, poet and translator. He was also a political journalist, associated with the currents ofMaurrasianismandRoyalism.

Biography

Boutang was an alumnus of theEcole Normale Supérieure(L 1935) and "agrégé de philosophie" in 1936, he participated that year in editingAction Françaiseand showed fervent support for the ideas ofCharles Maurras.He was a member ofGiraud's government inNorth Africain 1943, and enlisted in the French colonial army, serving inTunisiaandMorocco.He was discharged without pension and prohibited from teaching. Thereafter he took up journalism, collaborating onAspects de la France,where his articles from a royalist viewpoint showed obviousantisemitism.He was a regular contributor toBulletin de Paris,where using a pseudonym, he reviewed plays.

Seeking to renewroyalism,in alignment withChristianity,with his friendMichel Vivierhe founded the weeklyLa Nation Françaisein 1955, to whichLes Hussardsand alsoMarcel Aymé,Gustave Thibon,andArmand Robincontributed. He wanted to create "a Sartre shelter" that also functioned against the adherents ofnihilism.He veered between supportingCharles de Gaulleand opposing him, insisting notably on the monarchical model on which, in his view, the constitution of theCinquième Républiquerested. Though he denounced the terror for which theFLNwas responsible, Boutang refused to support theOAS.From the 1970s, his political declarations became rarer, but he showed a firm loyalty to theComte de Paris.

After representations byEdmond Michelet,Alain Peyrefitteand others, Boutang was allowed to teach by President de Gaulle in 1967. He taught philosophy at the Lycée Turgot, and then became a lecturer at the University of Brest in 1974. Finally he was appointed Professeur of Metaphysics at theSorbonne,where he taught until 1984, continuing his seminars at his home inSaint-Germain-en-Layeuntil the end of his life. He died on 27 June 1998.

Works

Non-fiction

• Amis du Maréchal(withHenri Dubreuil,1941).
• Sartre est-il un Possédé?(1946).
• La Politique: la Politique Considérée comme Souci(1948).
• La République de Joinovici(1949).
• Les Abeilles de Delphes(1952).
• Commentaire sur Quarante-neuf Dizains de la 'Délie'(1953).
• La Terreur en Question(1958).
• L'Ontologie du Secret(1973).
• Reprendre le Pouvoir(1977).
• Gabriel Marcel Interrogé(1977).
• Apocalypse du Désir(1979).
• La Fontaine Politique(1981).
• Précis de Foutriquet. Contre Giscard(1981).
• Maurras, la destinée et l’œuvre(1984).
• Art Poétique(1988).
• Karin Pozzi ou la Quête de l'Immortalité(1991).
• Le Temps. Essai sur l'Origine(1993).
• Dialogues. Sur le Mythe d'Antigone. Sur le Sacrifice d'Abraham(withGeorge Steiner,1994).
• La Fontaine. Les "Fables" ou la Langue des Dieux(1995).
• William Blake Manichéen et Visionnaire(1990).

Posthumous

• La Source Sacrée(Les Abeilles de Delphes II, 2003).
• Dialogue sur le Mal(withGeorge Steiner,2003).
• La Guerre de Six Jours(2011).

Fiction

• La Maison un Dimanche. Suivi de Chez Madame Dorlinde(1947).
• Quand le Furet s'Endort(1948).
• Le Secret de René Dorlinde(1958).
• Le Purgatoire(1976).

Translations

• Apologie de Socrate,byPlato(1946).
• Le Banquet,byPlato(1972).
• L'Auberge Volante,byG. K. Chesterton(1990).
• Chansons et Mythes,byWilliam Blake(1989).

External links

• Pierre Boutang: Action Française