Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/565

* FELIBRIGE. .-,!:; FELIBRIGE. any real value or importance was written in Provencal f !■ mi the middle of the fourteenth cen- tury t<> the beginning of the nineteenth, but the language never entirely died old as a written language. Joseph Roumanille, born in 1818, at Saint-Remy near Avignon, firsl conceived the idea of purifying and perfecting the dialect of his own region. Surrounding himself with a few enthusiastic friends, he strove to systematize its grammar and orthography, and, above all, to pro- duce works of genuine poetic value that should speak to the hearts and souls of the humbler classes in the lower Rhone Valley as no poems in French could ever do. He himself wrote several volumes of verse, and in 1852 edited a collection of Provencal poems by various authors, called l.i Prouvengalo. These works form the starting-point of a re- markable linguistic and literary revival. The ex- ample set by Roumanille fired the imagination of a young friend and pupil of his. destined to be- come a poet of genius and power, Frederic .Mis- tral, wdio forthwith devoted his life to the cause. The names of the seven poets who met at Font- segugne are Joseph Roumanille, Frederic Mistral, Thgodore Aubanel, Eugene Garcin, Anselme Mathieu, Paul Giera, and Alphonse Tavan. In 1868 Garcin published a violent attack upon the Felibres (Bookmakers), as the members of this association styled themselves, accusing them of disloyalty to France, calling them secessionists. The name of Jean Brunet was therefore substi- tuted for that of Garcin in the official list of the founders. The word Felibre was furnished by Mistral, who had found it in an old canticle, wherein Jesus is referred to as disputing with the seven F< lihrcs of the law. Besides the task of pruning and purifying the dialect, the Felibres had to create a public for their works. To this end they set about pub- lishing an annual called the Armaria Prouvengau, which began with an edition of a few hundred copies, and has now reached a circulation of many thousands. In 1859 Mistral published his first long narrative poem. "Mireio" ("ilireille"), which met with very great success, being praised in the most glowing terms by Lamartine, so that the Provencal Renaissance became known to the literary circles of Paris, and soon to the world in general. From this time on the output of verse in Provencal steadily increased ; scores, nay, hun- dreds of writers appeared, and to-day the bibliog- raphy of the Felibrean literature fills a large volume. The movement speedily found adherents, not only in southern France, but even in Spain, where the Catalan poets established Floral Games in 1859, and were soon recognized as brothers by the Felibres. In 1867 the distinguished Catalan poet and patriot Victor Balaguer was received with enthusiasm at Avignon and elsewhere, and on his return home sent the Felibres a silver cup, which has become the sacred emblem of the asso- ciation and which, at the annual Felibrean ban- quets after the song is intoned, passes from hand to hand. In 1876 the formal organization was effected. There is a consistory of fifty members called Majoraux, which elects its own members; the consistory is presided over by the Capoulifi. All the Felibres are divided into the three Mainte- nances of Provence. Languedoc, and Aquitaine. A fourth Maintenance, that of Limousin, is likely to be formed soon. Any seven Felibres dwelling in one locality may ask the Maintenance to form them into a School. Kw< <cven years Moral g: s are held, when a poet is crowned laureate. lie chooses the queen of the helibrige, who is the living symbol of beauty for the I'Y-libres, as was the lady of his choice for the troubadour in the days of courtly love. The Capouliea have been : Misi ral from ls7<; to 1884, Joseph Roumanille from 1884 to 1891, Felix • has from ISiil to 1901, and Pierre Devoluy, who holds the ollice at present. The language used by Mistral and the Felibres is based upon the dialect of Saint Remy. M i^ not the language of the Troubadours any more than an Italian dialect spoken to-day in Lom- bardy is the language of Dante, though it be- longs, of course, to the same general family. The Troubadours used mainly the Limousin dialect, and the dialect of the country east of the Rhone is not descended from that. Furthermore, six centuries have elapsed since the days of the old poets, bringing great changes in the speech of the people. The influence of French has been naturally overwhelming. Mistral deliberate^' set to work to purify his dialect, casting out forms due to the influence of French, and to render the rustic speech of his home capable of literary ex- pression. The result is a language exceedingly rich in vocabulary, full of terms expressive of what is exclusively Provencal. It is. however, an artificial, literary language that does not repre- sent exactly the speech of any one, although read- ily understood by nearly all the inhabitants of the region. As the movement progressed more and more writers claimed the privilege of writing in their own unaltered dialects, and these nu- merous patoisants stand in the way of any real unity of language. But the language of the FSlibres tends to pre- vail because of the sheer superiority of their lit- erature. They count among their number one poet of very high rank, who has revealed the wonders and beauty of the land, the charm of its legends and history, the traits of its people, in verse of great originality and exquisite literary finish. Aubanel and Roumanille were real poets; Fedix Gras wrote a number of long, ambitious poems, but succeeded best in the historical ro- mance, and is possibly the best prose writer among the Felibres. Song-writers and story- tellers abound. An astonishing number of mag- azines and periodicals bear witness to the cease- less activity of these enthusiastic writers. The exuberance of the southern temperament finds full expression in this Fedibrean literature. It is the literature of sunlight, healthy in tone, and reflects all that is best and noblest in the race. Its ideals are high, and its aim is ever to glorify the little fatherland, its history, tradi- tions, customs, ideas, and language. It has un- doubtedly quickened the intellectual life of southern France. This modern literature in no way continues the literature of the Troubadours. Mistral's first inspiration lay in his love of Homer and Vergil; he and his fellow-poets were long indifferent to the Troubadours, and even while extolling the glories of the past they have written for the Provence of to-day. Mistral at least has suc- ceeded in combining this modernism and localism with classic beautv of form, and it would be