Sébastien Roch
Encyclopedia
Sébastien Roch is a novel written by the French journalist, novelist and playwright Octave Mirbeau
, and published by Charpentier in 1890. Last French edition : L'Age d'Homme, 2011.
English translation : Sébastien Roch, Dedalus, « Empire of the senses », 2000, 266 pages (ISBN : 1873982437).
That is the emotional story of "the murder of a child’s soul" by a Jesuit priest, a teacher at the private school for boys of Saint-François-Xavier in Vannes
, Brittany
, where Mirbeau spent four painful years as a pupil, before being expelled, at the age of fifteen, in suspicious circumstances.
At age eleven, Sébastien is sent to boarding school by his father, an ironmonger and terrible snob. The boy does not fit into the school and its aristocratic and wealthy students. He is ignored by nearly everyone until a pedophile priest starts to befriend him. The innocent 13-year-old boy is seduced, then sexually abused
, by Father de Kern. Sébastien is expelled along with his only friend Bolorec, the boys having been accused of indulging in inapproprite sexual acts. The charges have been trumped up by Father de Kern.
Sébastien's life is ruined and he is unable to hold down a job or make friends. He cannot even build a relationship with Marguerite, his childhood sweetheart. Aged twenty one, Sébastien is absurdely killed during the 1870 Franco-Prussian War, his body being carried from the battlefield by Bolorec.
denounces the child sexual abuse
s and the impunity of the rapists, especially when they are priests : for the first time, he breaks a lasting taboo.
But, for him, what is called « education », within the context of family, school and church, is also a dangerous violation of the children mind. Rather than a Bildungsroman
, i.e a novel of self-cultivation, Sébastien Roch is a novel of self-destruction.
, Sébastien Roch. Pierre Michel
, Foreword. Laurent Ferron, « Le Viol de Sébastien Roch : l’Église devant les violences sexuelles ».
Octave Mirbeau
Octave Mirbeau was a French journalist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, novelist, and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, while still appealing to the literary and artistic avant-garde...
, and published by Charpentier in 1890. Last French edition : L'Age d'Homme, 2011.
English translation : Sébastien Roch, Dedalus, « Empire of the senses », 2000, 266 pages (ISBN : 1873982437).
Plot summary
Vannes
Vannes is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2000 years ago.-Geography:Vannes is located on the Gulf of Morbihan at the mouth of two rivers, the Marle and the Vincin. It is around 100 km northwest of Nantes and 450 km south west...
, Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, where Mirbeau spent four painful years as a pupil, before being expelled, at the age of fifteen, in suspicious circumstances.
At age eleven, Sébastien is sent to boarding school by his father, an ironmonger and terrible snob. The boy does not fit into the school and its aristocratic and wealthy students. He is ignored by nearly everyone until a pedophile priest starts to befriend him. The innocent 13-year-old boy is seduced, then sexually abused
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
, by Father de Kern. Sébastien is expelled along with his only friend Bolorec, the boys having been accused of indulging in inapproprite sexual acts. The charges have been trumped up by Father de Kern.
Sébastien's life is ruined and he is unable to hold down a job or make friends. He cannot even build a relationship with Marguerite, his childhood sweetheart. Aged twenty one, Sébastien is absurdely killed during the 1870 Franco-Prussian War, his body being carried from the battlefield by Bolorec.
Commentary
Octave MirbeauOctave Mirbeau
Octave Mirbeau was a French journalist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, novelist, and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, while still appealing to the literary and artistic avant-garde...
denounces the child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
s and the impunity of the rapists, especially when they are priests : for the first time, he breaks a lasting taboo.
But, for him, what is called « education », within the context of family, school and church, is also a dangerous violation of the children mind. Rather than a Bildungsroman
Bildungsroman
In literary criticism, bildungsroman or coming-of-age story is a literary genre which focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood , and in which character change is thus extremely important...
, i.e a novel of self-cultivation, Sébastien Roch is a novel of self-destruction.
External links
Octave MirbeauOctave Mirbeau
Octave Mirbeau was a French journalist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, novelist, and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, while still appealing to the literary and artistic avant-garde...
, Sébastien Roch. Pierre Michel
Pierre Michel
Pierre Michel , is a literature professor and a scholar specializing in the French writer Octave Mirbeau.Michel was born in Toulon, the son of the historian Henri Michel....
, Foreword. Laurent Ferron, « Le Viol de Sébastien Roch : l’Église devant les violences sexuelles ».