The educative process in the works of Duhamel, Martin du Gard and Romains, with particular reference to Chronique des Pasquier, Les Thibault and Les hommes de bonne volonte : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in French at Massey University

(1)

Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis. Permission is given for

a copy to be downloaded by an individual for the purpose of research and

private study only. The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without

the permission of the Author.

(2)

THE EDUCATIVS PROCESS IN THE WORKS

OF DUH.AMEL9 tl.ARTIN DU

GAiiD ABD

ROMAINS,

WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO

QH@�JQU

E D::S PAS

'i�

o

�S

THIBAUL't

.AND

LES��OMME$� VOLONT

�

A DISSERTATION PRESENTED IN

PARTIAL

FULFILMENT

O:B1

^THE

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

IN ^FRENCH AT MASSEY UNIVERSITY

+ + + + + + + +

NOEL REEFORD WATTS 1 97 1

(3)

i i PREFACE AND ACKNOW�DGEN�NTS

The interdisc ipl inary ap proach on which thi s disser t a t ion i s ba sed ar o se from a de sire t o combine study intere st s in edu cat i on and twent ieth century French l i te ratureo

The roman s-fleuve s of Duhamel , Ivwr t in du Gard and R omains pr ovided sc ope for examini ng family and scho ol

l i fe in the l ate nine t eenth and e arly twent i e th c e n

turi e s a s seen throu gh the eyes of the imagina t ive arti st9 and for relating the charac ters ' experi ence of the educat ive proce s s to the educ ati onal background of the au th o r so

Al t hough Duhamel , Mar t in du Gard and R omai ns share an obvious intere st in educat i onal pro cedures , as a t te st ed by their percep tive port rai t s of edu c a tor s and student s i n the ir novel s and their fre quent

referenc e s to pedago gi c al prac t i ce s and e duc a t i onal priori t i e s in the i r e ssay s , arti cle s and autooi ograph

i c al no te s , li t tle c r i t ic a l a t tent ion has be en given to thi s a spe c t of the ir worko Wi th the no tab le excep

t i on of Andre Terri sse' s bri ef s tuqy , George s Duhamel

Educ at eur , publi shed in 1 9 51 , no major evalua t i o n of the c ontribution to e duca t i on of Duhame l , Mar t in du G ard and R omains has be en unde rtakeno

It i s hoped that thi s di sser tat i on will provi de s ome insight into the edu ca t i onal views of the se three wri ter se

(4)

i i i The abbrevi ations o.c. and H. B.y. employed in

the footnote s refer respectively to the two-volwne eJ.i

tion of Martin du Gard ' s Oeuvres c omplete s published by Gallimard in ^{1 9 5 5,} and the f o ur-v olume edition of Les Homme s de bonne vo lcntd p ubli she d by Flammar ion

i n ^{1 958.} La Nouvelle Revue Franc a i se i s ab brev i ate d a s N . R.F. and La N ouvelle Nouve lle Revue Franc ai se a s

I should like t o e xpre s s my grati�ude to

P rofe ssor J� Dunmore , Department of Modern Language s , Mas sey Univer sity and Dr H. B. Beresford , R e ade r in _I Educati on , J;i:a s sey Univer sity , for the i r valuable

sugge sticns and advice in the p rep arati on of thi s study.

N.R. WATTS

(5)

ABSTRACT

THE EDUCATI\� PROCESS IN THE WORKS

OF, DUliAMEL, MA-::(TI"� DU GARD. -

AND ROMAINS9 WI TH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO CHRONIQUE DES PASQUIER, LES THIBAULT AND

LES HOIV.MES DE BONNE ·VOLONTE

The main intenti on of this dissertati on is to examine the treatment of the process of education in the three romans-fleuves and to relate this to the general educational background of the writerso

Duhamel,. Martin du Gard and Remains_ form a

convenient trio of writers for a st-udy of ·this na.tureo Their respective novel-cycles - Chronigue des Pasguier _I

(10

^volumes, 1 93 3-194 5 ) , Les Thibault ( 1 1 volumes,

1 922-1 940) and Les Hommes de benne volonte' (27 volumes, 1 932-1 946) ^- constitute important s ocial documents of

the peri od of French history from 1898 to 1 933 o Against the backgrou nd of the disruption of the

ordered patterns of middle-class society in 191 4-1 8 and its aftermath, we see the effect of social change o n the educati onal roles of the family and the scho olo

The study is divided into three main areaso In Part I a preliminary survey is made of developments

in familial and formal education during the late nine- teenth and early twentieth centurieso This is

followed in Part II by a brief examination of the views which Duhamel , Martin du Gard and Remains have expressed on their own educational experiences and on education generallyo The support of traditi onal middle-class prioriti es in education which is found in their later works is linked with their increasing

(6)

2

political and social disillusionment after World War

I . Their reaction to the social disequilibrium of

the interwar years is a revival of the principles of order, discipline and authority 0f the pre-1914

bourgeoisieo However, althpugh a cultural bias and an elitiste attitude towards education are found in

the writings of all three autho rs, the point is made that Martin du Gard does not share to the same degree the close identification with middle-clas� ideologies of his t wo contemporaries. It is suggested that the circumstances of their upbringing and education h!llvc

some "bearing on the dii.'f'erences in their atti tudeso Duhamel and Remains were boursiers who rose from lower middle-class origins and tend to prize more highly the middle-class culture which they made determined efforts to acquire than the he'ri tier, Jl..lartin du Gard, who was born into a family of the haute bourgeoisie and

received these educational privileges as of right.

This serves as a background to the analysis of the parent-child and teacher-pupil relationships in the romans-fleuves in Part III o The method employed is that of establishing case histories of the central figureo1drawing the appropriate details from the 4 8 novels studied. The educational experiences of the characters are compared and assessments are made of the effect of formative i nfluences on later develop- ment. The conclusion is reached that the treatment of the educative process in the three romans-fleuves lt.as a ba�ic sj milari ty. The authors tend to emphasise

the positive contribution of a middle-class education -

(7)

3

tl�e inculc ation of the bourge ois virtue s of thrift , ende avo ur and hone sty, the deve lopme nt o f the re a son

ing p owe r s and the tr ansmis sion of a broad , balanced culture . The ma:...,_ of culture who repre sents the ide al o f the write r s - Duhame l ' s civilis_e, M artin du G ard ' s ho.mne de valeur, Remains ' s h omme de bonne volonte'- is the pr o duc t o f the pre-World War I middle-c l ass f amily and sch o o l system . Laure nt P a squier (Chr onigue de s Pa sguier) , Antoine Thib ault (Le s Thib ault) , Pie rre

Jallez and Jean Jerphanion (Le s Homme s de bonne v olontej closel y re semble e ach othe r in their c onservati sm in matte r s of f ormal education and in the ir firm belief that the princ iple s which have guide d the upbr inging of the ycung in the p a st mu st be p re se rved . It is to the se memb e r s of the bourgeoisie cultive'e that Duhamel , Martin du G ard and Remain s l o ok for the de fence o f the French intelle ctual , spiritual and moral patrimony in the diso rde red s ocial and political climate o f the interwar ye ar s.

(8)

C O N T ENT S

PREFACE AND ACKN OWLEDGEMENTS INTRODUCTION

PART I - THE EDUCAT I ONAL BACKGROUND Chapte r I - The Fami ly

Chapter II - The Scho ol

PART I I - THE _VIEWS OP DUHAMEL9 _MARTIN DU GARD ANTI RO MAIN S ON THE

EDUCATIVE PROCESSo

Cha!)te r I ^- Ge o rges Duhamel

Chap ter II ^- Roge r l·:Jart in du Gard Chap te r I I I ^- Jules Roma ins

Conclus i on to Part II

PART _III ^- THE EDUCAT IVE PROCESS IN CHRON IQU�DES PASQUIERj LES THIBAULT Al\iD LES liQMi�

DE BONNE VOLONTE

Chapter I ^- Chronigue des Pasguier Chap te r I I - Les Thibault

Chapter I I I - Les Ho�s d� ^bo��

vol ontS1, Conclusi on to Part I I I

CON CLUSION BIBL IOGRAPHY

ii

1

31 6

6 2 1 1 0 1 6 2 2 04

305 208

409 499

5 1 1 5 1 6