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Larbaud, Valery

(Encyclopedia)Larbaud, Valery välārēˈ lärbōˈ [key], 1881–1957, French novelist, poet, critic, and translator. A wealthy and cosmopolitan scholar and poet, Larbaud learned six languages and produced notable...

Prévost, Marcel

(Encyclopedia)Prévost, Marcel märsĕlˈ prāvōˈ [key], 1862–1941, French novelist. His novels deal chiefly with feminine questions, portraying severely what Prévost regarded as the moral frailty of modern wo...

Vian, Boris

(Encyclopedia)Vian, Boris bôrēsˈ vyäN [key], 1920–59, French novelist. He patterned his literary style on that of terse American crime fiction. His best-known work is J'irai cracher sur vos tombes [I will spi...

Alain-Fournier

(Encyclopedia)Alain-Fournier älăN-fo͞ornyāˈ [key], 1886–1914, French novelist, whose real name was Henri Alban Fournier. He was killed in action during World War I. His single full-length work is his poetic ...

Sandeau, Jules

(Encyclopedia)Sandeau, Jules zhül säNdōˈ [key], 1811–83, French novelist. His best-known work is the romance Mademoiselle de la Seiglière (1848), dramatized in 1851. He collaborated several times with author...

Guitry, Lucien Germain

(Encyclopedia)Guitry, Lucien Germain säshäˈ [key], 1885–1957, actor and dramatist. Guitry's skillful and witty dramas include Nono (1905), Deburau (1918), Jean de la Fontaine (1922), and Mozart (1925). He also...

Blanchot, Maurice

(Encyclopedia)Blanchot, Maurice mōrēsˈ bläNshōˈ [key], 1907–2003, French novelist and literary critic. One of the first intellectuals in France to be interested in questions of language and meaning, he was ...

Pagnol, Marcel

(Encyclopedia)Pagnol, Marcel märsĕlˈ pänyôlˈ [key], 1895–1974, French dramatist and film director. Pagnol gained recognition for his trilogy of sentimental comedies set on the Marseilles waterfront—Marius...

Bulgarian literature

(Encyclopedia)Bulgarian literature. For early ecclesiastical writings, see Church Slavonic. Modern Bulgarian literature stems from the work of Father Paisi, who in 1762 began his history of the Slav Bulgarians. The...

Rostand, Edmond

(Encyclopedia)Rostand, Edmond ĕdmôNˈ rôstäNˈ [key], 1868–1918, French poet and dramatist. In 1890 appeared his first volume of verse, Les Musardises. His first plays were light, fanciful, and charmingly poe...