Bernanos was born in
Paris, into a family of craftsmen. He spent much of his childhood in the village of
Fressin,
Pas-de-Calais region, which became a frequent setting for his novels. He served in the
First World War as a soldier, where he fought in the battles of the
Somme and
Verdun. He was wounded several times.
A man of
Royalist leanings and a member of the Camelots du Roi (
Action Française's youth organization) when he was younger, Bernanos broke with
Charles Maurras and the Action Française in 1932. He initially supported
Franco's coup at the outset of the
Spanish Civil War.[5] However, after he observed the conflict in
Majorca and saw 'a terrorized people,' he became disgusted with the nacionales and criticized them in the book Diary of My Times (1938). He wrote, "My illusions regarding the enterprise of
General Franco did not last long—two or three weeks—but while they lasted I conscientiously endeavoured to overcome the disgust which some of his men and means caused me."[6]
With political tensions rising in Europe, Bernanos emigrated to South America with his family in 1938, settling in
Brazil. He remained until 1945 in
Barbacena, State of Minas Gerais, where he tried his hand at managing a farm. His three sons returned to France to fight after
World War II broke out, while he fulminated at his country's 'spiritual exhaustion,' which he saw as the root of its collapse in 1940. From exile he mocked the 'ridiculous'
Vichy regime and became a strong supporter of the
nationalistFree French Forces led by the
conservativeCharles De Gaulle. After France's Liberation, De Gaulle invited Bernanos to return to his homeland, offering him a post in the government. Bernanos did return but, disappointed to perceive no signs of spiritual renewal, he declined to play an active role in French political life.[7]
Dialogues des Carmélites: in 1947, Bernanos had been hired to write the dialogue for a film screenplay, through Raymond-Léopold Bruckberger and the scenario writer Philippe Agostini, based on the
novellaDie Letzte am Schafott by German novelist
Gertrud von Le Fort, about the 1794 execution of the
Carmelite Nuns of Compiègne. The screenplay was judged unsatisfactory at the time. Following Bernanos' death his literary executor, Albert Béguin, discovered the manuscript. To assist Bernanos' heirs, Béguin sought to have the work published, requesting permission from Baroness von Le Fort for publication. In January 1949 she agreed, gifting her portion of the royalties over to Bernanos' widow and children. However, the Baroness requested that Bernanos' play be given a different title from her novella.[9] Béguin chose Dialogues des Carmélites, and the work was published in 1949. It was translated into German, published there in 1951 as Die begnadete Angst (The Blessed Fear) and first staged in
Zürich and
Munich that year.[10] The French stage première took place in May 1952 at the
Théâtre Hébertot. The composer
Francis Poulenc adapted Bernanos' work into an
opera of the same name, which was first performed at
La Scala Milan in 1957. A
film based on Bernanos' play and starring
Jeanne Moreau was released in 1960.
^Gendre, Claude, 'The Literary Destiny of the Sixteen Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne and the Role of Emmet Lavery'. Renascence, 48.1, pp. 37–60 (Fall 1995).
^Gendre, Claude, 'Dialogues des Carmélites: the historical background, literary destiny and genesis of the opera', from Francis Poulenc: Music, Art and Literature (Sidney Buckland and Myriam Chimènes, editors). Ashgate (Aldershot, UK),
ISBN1859284078, p 287 (1999).
Further reading
von Balthasar, Hans Urs (2011). Bernanos: An Ecclesial Existence. Ignatius Press.
Blumenthal, Gerda (1965). The Poetic Imagination of Georges Bernanos: An Essay in Interpretation. The Johns Hopkins Press.
Braybrooke, Neville (1954). "Georges Bernanos," The Irish Monthly, Vol. 83, No. 969, pp. 174–179.
Bush, William (1969). Georges Bernanos. Twayne Publishers.
Field, Frank (1975). Three French Writers: Studies in the Rise of Communism and Fascism.
Hebblethwaite, Peter (1965). Bernanos, an Introduction. London: Bowes and Bowes.