Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau
Encyclopedia
Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau (June 13, 1912 - October 24, 1943) was a French Canadian
poet
and painter, who "was posthumously hailed as a herald of the Quebec literary renaissance of the 1950s." He has been called Quebec's "first truly modern poet."
. He spent his early years at his family's ancestral manor (which his mother had purchased) in Sainte-Catherine-de-Fossambault (now Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier
), Quebec
, where his cousin Anne Hébert
was born in 1916.
Garneau moved to Montréal
with his parents in 1923. There, he studied the classics
at three Jesuit colleges: Sainte-Marie, Jean de Brebeuf
, and Loyola
.
In 1925, Garneau studied painting at Montreal's Collège des beaux-arts under Paul-Emile Borduas
, Jean Palardy, Marjorie Smith and Jean-Paul Lemieux. He won a bronze medal and second prize for a work of art. In 1934 he exhibited some paintings at the Galerie des Arts in Montreal and in 1937 he presented his painting "Sky Fall" at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Still in his youth, he founded the monthly journal La relève with his friends Paul Beaulieu, Robert Charbonneau, Robert Élie, and Jean Le Moyne
.
In 1934, Garneau developed a rheumatic heart problem and discontinued his studies. He then devoted his time to writing poems, painting and music. In 1937, Regards et jeux dans l'espace, his collection of poems, was published. "Disillusioned by the volume's reception, he withdrew to the seclusion of the family manor house ... where he died in 1943, apparently of a heart attack, while canoeing alone."
Garneau wrote poetry prolifically between 1934 and 1937; on one day alone (October 22, 1937), he reportedly wrote 13 poems. In his lifetime, though, he published only one slim volume: The 28-poem Regards et jeux dans l'espace, which "deals with his rural childhood, nostalgically evoking a state of grace beyond recall.... The poet's spiritualized landscapes transpose suffering and intermittent ecstasy into images of overgrown pathways, distant birds in flight, or forest fires, or again a snowbound house with shuttered windows, a key symbol of confinement and flawed security."
"Radical in its form, with its unrhymed lines of various lengths, its lack of punctuation and its broken syntax, Saint-Denys Garneau's poetry was equally original in its themes (the spiritual adventure of the poet, the nature of artistic creation, the search for purity) and in its ironic distance."
According to Quebec poet John Glassco
(who translated Garneau's Journal into English), seeing his work in print left Garneau "stricken with horror: he felt he had exposed himself in a manner so much at variance with his natural reserve, his shrinking from all display, that he suffered a nervous breakdown. He had ... the sensation of having actually violated and soiled himself." One story is that he went back to the shops carrying his book, and bought up all 1,000 copies himself. In any case, Garneau "never published again."
After Garneau's death, his unpublished poems were collected by Élie under the title "Les Solitudes", and published in 1949 together with Regards... as Poésies complètes: Regards et jeux dans l'espace, Les solitudes. Garneau's "influence only became apparent after the publication of his Poésies complètes in 1949," says the Dictionary of Literary Biography
. "Since that time the number of studies on his life and work has multiplied considerably.... Perhaps only Emile Nelligan
has been the object of so much critical attention" in Quebec. By 1960, Garneau was "considered the major precursor of contemporary French-Canadian poetry."
Garneau's 1935-39 diary was published in Montreal in 1954 under the title Journal, edited by Élie and Le Moyne and with a preface by Gilles Marcotte. Glassco published his translation, The Journal of Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau, in 1962.
Also in 1962, Canadian poet F.R. Scott translated ten of Garneau's poems into English for his book, Saint-Denys Garneau and Anne Hebert. Glassco published his translated Complete Poems of Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau in 1975. Glassco's book won the Canada Council
Award for translation that year.
Garneau's poetry has also been also translated into Spanish
by Luis Vicente de Aguinaga, and was published in 2007 as Todos y cada uno.
Some of Garneau's poems have been set to music by Canadian contemporary classical
composer Bruce Mather
, and by Quebec folk group Villeray.
released a special commemorative series, "The Writers of Canada", with a design by Katalina Kovats, featuring two English-Canadian and two French-Canadian stamps. Three million stamps were issued. The two French-Canadian authors chosen were Saint-Denys Garneau and his cousin, Anne Hébert.
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and painter, who "was posthumously hailed as a herald of the Quebec literary renaissance of the 1950s." He has been called Quebec's "first truly modern poet."
Life
Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau was the grandson of the poet Alfred Garneau and great-grandson of the historian Francois-Xavier GarneauFrançois-Xavier Garneau
François-Xavier Garneau was a nineteenth century French Canadian notary, poet, civil servant and liberal who wrote a three-volume history of the French Canadian nation entitled Histoire du Canada between 1845 and 1848.Born in Quebec City, Garneau argued that Conquest was a tragedy, the consequence...
. He spent his early years at his family's ancestral manor (which his mother had purchased) in Sainte-Catherine-de-Fossambault (now Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier
Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier, Quebec
Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier is a town in Quebec, Canada, located in the regional county municipality of La Jacques-Cartier, in the administrative region of Capitale-Nationale. The Jacques-Cartier River passes through the city....
), Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, where his cousin Anne Hébert
Anne Hébert
Anne Hébert, CC, OQ , was a Canadian author and poet. She is a descendant of famed French-Canadian historian Francois-Xavier Garneau, "and has carried on the family literary tradition spectacularly."...
was born in 1916.
Garneau moved to Montréal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
with his parents in 1923. There, he studied the classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
at three Jesuit colleges: Sainte-Marie, Jean de Brebeuf
Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf
Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf is a private French-language educational institution offering secondary school and CEGEP college-level instruction in Montreal, Quebec. It is a co-ed establishment for students in their final year of secondary school and in college. It is boys-only in the first four years...
, and Loyola
Loyola College (Montreal)
Loyola College was a Jesuit college in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It ceased to exist when it was incorporated into Concordia University in 1974. A portion of the original College remains as a separate entity called Loyola High School....
.
In 1925, Garneau studied painting at Montreal's Collège des beaux-arts under Paul-Emile Borduas
Paul-Émile Borduas
Paul-Émile Borduas was a Canadian painter known for his abstract paintings. He was also an activist for the separation of church and state, especially for art, in Quebec.- Biography :...
, Jean Palardy, Marjorie Smith and Jean-Paul Lemieux. He won a bronze medal and second prize for a work of art. In 1934 he exhibited some paintings at the Galerie des Arts in Montreal and in 1937 he presented his painting "Sky Fall" at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Still in his youth, he founded the monthly journal La relève with his friends Paul Beaulieu, Robert Charbonneau, Robert Élie, and Jean Le Moyne
Jean Le Moyne
Jean Le Moyne, was a Canadian journalist, researcher, screenwriter and senator.Born in Montreal, Quebec, in 1961 he wrote Convergences, winner of the 1961 Governor General's Award for French non-fiction...
.
In 1934, Garneau developed a rheumatic heart problem and discontinued his studies. He then devoted his time to writing poems, painting and music. In 1937, Regards et jeux dans l'espace, his collection of poems, was published. "Disillusioned by the volume's reception, he withdrew to the seclusion of the family manor house ... where he died in 1943, apparently of a heart attack, while canoeing alone."
Poetry
Garneau first achieved some notice as a poet as a boy of 13, when his poem "Le dinosaure" took first prize in a province-wide essay competition. Two years later he was awarded a prize by the Canadian Authors' Association for his poem "L'automne."Garneau wrote poetry prolifically between 1934 and 1937; on one day alone (October 22, 1937), he reportedly wrote 13 poems. In his lifetime, though, he published only one slim volume: The 28-poem Regards et jeux dans l'espace, which "deals with his rural childhood, nostalgically evoking a state of grace beyond recall.... The poet's spiritualized landscapes transpose suffering and intermittent ecstasy into images of overgrown pathways, distant birds in flight, or forest fires, or again a snowbound house with shuttered windows, a key symbol of confinement and flawed security."
"Radical in its form, with its unrhymed lines of various lengths, its lack of punctuation and its broken syntax, Saint-Denys Garneau's poetry was equally original in its themes (the spiritual adventure of the poet, the nature of artistic creation, the search for purity) and in its ironic distance."
According to Quebec poet John Glassco
John Glassco
John Glassco was a Canadian poet, memoirist and novelist. "Glassco will be remembered for his brilliant autobiography, his elegant, classical poems, and for his translations." He is also remembered by some for his pornography.-Life:Born in Montreal to a well-off merchant family, John Glassco was...
(who translated Garneau's Journal into English), seeing his work in print left Garneau "stricken with horror: he felt he had exposed himself in a manner so much at variance with his natural reserve, his shrinking from all display, that he suffered a nervous breakdown. He had ... the sensation of having actually violated and soiled himself." One story is that he went back to the shops carrying his book, and bought up all 1,000 copies himself. In any case, Garneau "never published again."
After Garneau's death, his unpublished poems were collected by Élie under the title "Les Solitudes", and published in 1949 together with Regards... as Poésies complètes: Regards et jeux dans l'espace, Les solitudes. Garneau's "influence only became apparent after the publication of his Poésies complètes in 1949," says the Dictionary of Literary Biography
Dictionary of Literary Biography
The Dictionary of Literary Biography is a specialist encyclopedia dedicated to literature. Published by Gale, the 375-volumes set covers a wide variety of literary topics, periods, and genres, with a focus on American and British literature....
. "Since that time the number of studies on his life and work has multiplied considerably.... Perhaps only Emile Nelligan
Émile Nelligan
Émile Nelligan was a francophone poet from Quebec, Canada.-Biography:Nelligan was born in Montreal on December 24, 1879 at 602, rue de La Gauchetière. He was the first son of David Nelligan, who arrived in Quebec from Dublin, Ireland at the age of 12. His mother was Émilie Amanda Hudon, from...
has been the object of so much critical attention" in Quebec. By 1960, Garneau was "considered the major precursor of contemporary French-Canadian poetry."
Garneau's 1935-39 diary was published in Montreal in 1954 under the title Journal, edited by Élie and Le Moyne and with a preface by Gilles Marcotte. Glassco published his translation, The Journal of Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau, in 1962.
Also in 1962, Canadian poet F.R. Scott translated ten of Garneau's poems into English for his book, Saint-Denys Garneau and Anne Hebert. Glassco published his translated Complete Poems of Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau in 1975. Glassco's book won the Canada Council
Canada Council
The Canada Council for the Arts, commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown Corporation established in 1957 to act as an arts council of the government of Canada, created to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts. It funds Canadian artists and...
Award for translation that year.
Garneau's poetry has also been also translated into Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
by Luis Vicente de Aguinaga, and was published in 2007 as Todos y cada uno.
Some of Garneau's poems have been set to music by Canadian contemporary classical
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
composer Bruce Mather
Bruce Mather
Bruce Mather is a Canadian composer, pianist, and writer who is particularly known for his contributions to contemporary classical music. One of the most notable composers of microtonal music, he was awarded the Jules Léger Prize twice, first in 1979 for his Musique pour Champigny and again in...
, and by Quebec folk group Villeray.
Awards
- Maison Henry Morgan (1926)
- Association des auteurs canadiens / Canadian Authors Association (1928)
- Canada Council Award (for English translations) (1975)
Commemorative postage stamp
On September 8, 2003, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the National Library of Canada, Canada PostCanada Post
Canada Post Corporation, known more simply as Canada Post , is the Canadian crown corporation which functions as the country's primary postal operator...
released a special commemorative series, "The Writers of Canada", with a design by Katalina Kovats, featuring two English-Canadian and two French-Canadian stamps. Three million stamps were issued. The two French-Canadian authors chosen were Saint-Denys Garneau and his cousin, Anne Hébert.
External links
- SaintDenysGarneau.com - official site.
- Archived biography of Garneau at Library and Archives Canada
- Garneau, Hector de Saint-Denys at the Canadian Encyclopedia.