French Letters
Encyclopedia
Les Lettres Françaises is a French
literary publication, founded in 1941 by writers Jacques Decour
and Jean Paulhan
. Originally a clandestine magazine of the French Resistance
in German-occupied territory, it was one of the many publications of the National Front resistance movement. It received contributions from Louis Aragon
, François Mauriac
, Claude Morgan, Edith Thomas, Georges Limbour
, Raymond Queneau
and Jean Lescure
.
After the Liberation and until 1972, Les Lettres Françaises, managed by Aragon, was financially supported by the French Communist Party
. Originally supportive of Stalinism
, the paper became critical of the Soviet
regime during the 1960s, and ceased publication after losing communist support. It was revived in the 1990s as a monthly literary supplement of the left-wing newspaper L'Humanité
.
camps, Les Lettres Françaises accused him of being an agent of the United States
, and backed this claim with false documents written by journalist Andrew Ullmann (who worked for Soviet intelligence). The truth about the origin of these documents were not known until the late 1970s.
Kravchenko filed a complaint for defamation against the newspaper, which was defended by counsel Joe Nordmann. The trial, dubbed "the trial of the century", held in 1949 brought together a hundred witnesses. The Soviet Union presented Kravchenko's former colleagues and his former wife to denounce him. Kravchenko's legal team enlisted testimonies from the survivors of Soviet prison camps. Among them was Gulag survivor Margarete Buber-Neumann
(widow of the German Communist
leader Heinz Neumann). At the time of Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
, she had moved to Nazi Germany
and was again imprisoned. Her experience helped anti-communist groups in stating that there was a close similarity between the Soviet and the Nazi regimes. The trial was won by Kravchenko in April 1949, and he received a nominal sum for libel.
and liberalization
efforts, looked with sympathy toward the Prague Spring
, and, in August 1968, criticized the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. The latter decision proved problematic, as the Soviet government decided to withdraw its subsidies, as did the French Communist Party. Consequently, the review was stripped of its financial lifeline and eventually ceased publication.
Since the 1990s, the literary magazine is published on the first Saturday of each month, with the newspaper L'Humanité
. It has columns on Letters, Arts, Cinema, Theater and Music, and publishes the works of debuting prose writers and poets. Its new head editor is Jean Ristat
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
literary publication, founded in 1941 by writers Jacques Decour
Jacques Decour
Jacques Decour, real name Daniel Decourdemanche, born 21 February 1910 in Paris, died 30 May 1942 in Fort Mont-Valérien, was a French writer and resistant, killed by the Nazis.- Biography :...
and Jean Paulhan
Jean Paulhan
Jean Paulhan was a French writer, literary critic and publisher, director of the literary magazine Nouvelle Revue Française from 1925 to 1940 and from 1946 to 1968. He was a member of the Académie Française...
. Originally a clandestine magazine of the French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
in German-occupied territory, it was one of the many publications of the National Front resistance movement. It received contributions from Louis Aragon
Louis Aragon
Louis Aragon , was a French poet, novelist and editor, a long-time member of the Communist Party and a member of the Académie Goncourt.- Early life :...
, François Mauriac
François Mauriac
François Mauriac was a French author; member of the Académie française ; laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature . He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur .-Biography:...
, Claude Morgan, Edith Thomas, Georges Limbour
Georges Limbour
Georges Limbour was a French writer of prose and poetry.He was a member of the Surrealist Movement in Paris during the 1920s, but was expelled in 1929. Before his association with André Breton and the Surrealists, Limbour co-edited, along with Roger Vitrac and René Crevel, the avant-garde review...
, Raymond Queneau
Raymond Queneau
Raymond Queneau was a French poet and novelist and the co-founder of Ouvroir de littérature potentielle .-Biography:Born in Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, Queneau was the only child of Auguste Queneau and Joséphine Mignot...
and Jean Lescure
Jean Lescure
- Biography :In 1938 Jean Lescure published his first plaquette of poems, "Le voyage immobile", and launched the review "Messages" ....
.
After the Liberation and until 1972, Les Lettres Françaises, managed by Aragon, was financially supported by the French Communist Party
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
. Originally supportive of Stalinism
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
, the paper became critical of the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
regime during the 1960s, and ceased publication after losing communist support. It was revived in the 1990s as a monthly literary supplement of the left-wing newspaper L'Humanité
L'Humanité
L'Humanité , formerly the daily newspaper linked to the French Communist Party , was founded in 1904 by Jean Jaurès, a leader of the French Section of the Workers' International...
.
Kravchenko case
In 1949, Soviet dissident Victor Kravchenko sued the newspaper in a polemical and a sensational trial. After the publication of his book I Chose Freedom, which denounced the Soviet GulagGulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
camps, Les Lettres Françaises accused him of being an agent of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and backed this claim with false documents written by journalist Andrew Ullmann (who worked for Soviet intelligence). The truth about the origin of these documents were not known until the late 1970s.
Kravchenko filed a complaint for defamation against the newspaper, which was defended by counsel Joe Nordmann. The trial, dubbed "the trial of the century", held in 1949 brought together a hundred witnesses. The Soviet Union presented Kravchenko's former colleagues and his former wife to denounce him. Kravchenko's legal team enlisted testimonies from the survivors of Soviet prison camps. Among them was Gulag survivor Margarete Buber-Neumann
Margarete Buber-Neumann
Margarete Buber-Neumann , was a leading member of the Communist Party of Germany during the years of the Weimar Republic. She survived imprisonment during World War II in both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany...
(widow of the German Communist
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period until it was banned in 1956...
leader Heinz Neumann). At the time of Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...
, she had moved to Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and was again imprisoned. Her experience helped anti-communist groups in stating that there was a close similarity between the Soviet and the Nazi regimes. The trial was won by Kravchenko in April 1949, and he received a nominal sum for libel.
Disappearance and reemergence
Les Lettres Françaises was edited by Aragon between 1953 and 1972. During this interval, it supported De-StalinizationDe-Stalinization
De-Stalinization refers to the process of eliminating the cult of personality, Stalinist political system and the Gulag labour-camp system created by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Stalin was succeeded by a collective leadership after his death in March 1953...
and liberalization
Liberalization
In general, liberalization refers to a relaxation of previous government restrictions, usually in areas of social or economic policy. In some contexts this process or concept is often, but not always, referred to as deregulation...
efforts, looked with sympathy toward the Prague Spring
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
, and, in August 1968, criticized the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. The latter decision proved problematic, as the Soviet government decided to withdraw its subsidies, as did the French Communist Party. Consequently, the review was stripped of its financial lifeline and eventually ceased publication.
Since the 1990s, the literary magazine is published on the first Saturday of each month, with the newspaper L'Humanité
L'Humanité
L'Humanité , formerly the daily newspaper linked to the French Communist Party , was founded in 1904 by Jean Jaurès, a leader of the French Section of the Workers' International...
. It has columns on Letters, Arts, Cinema, Theater and Music, and publishes the works of debuting prose writers and poets. Its new head editor is Jean Ristat
Jean Ristat
Jean Ristat, is a French poet and writer .-Life:Jean Ristat founded the magazine collection Digraph in 1974, as suggested by his professor of philosophy, Jacques Derrida, which he then put to the recent essay on Plato's Pharmacy .He is currently the director of French Letters, French...
.