Robert Escarpit facts for kids
Robert Escarpit was a French academic, writer, and journalist. He was born on April 24, 1918, in Saint-Macaire, France, and passed away on November 19, 2000, in Langon. Many people knew him for his funny and sharp articles in newspapers like Le Monde, where he wrote almost twenty columns every month from 1949 to 1979.
Contents
Life Story
Growing Up
Robert Escarpit spent his childhood and teenage years in a region of France called Gironde. When he was eighteen, in 1936, he decided to study English. He chose this because he needed to continue his education and was interested in the subject. He completed all his university studies, eventually earning a "Doctor of Literature" degree. This means he became an expert in literature. From 1943 to 1945, he worked as a high school teacher in Arcachon. As a specialist in English literature, he wrote about fifty books. These books included both made-up stories (fiction) and essays about society (sociological essays) and novels.
As a Journalist
Escarpit became well-known for his short, funny stories in Le Monde. He also worked as a literary critic, which means he reviewed books for many magazines. Later, he wrote regular columns for newspapers like Le Matin in 1983 and then Sud-Ouest.
Professor and Expert in Society
After World War II, Robert Escarpit worked as a Secretary General and Director at the French Institute of Latin America in Mexico. Later, he became a professor of English and comparative literature at the Faculty of Arts of Bordeaux from 1951 to 1970. In 1960, he started the Sociology Center of Literature. This center later became the Institute of Literature and Art of Mass Techniques.
Escarpit also led a big project called the "International Dictionary of Literary Terms." This project aimed to create a huge dictionary of words used in literature from around the world.
Understanding Communication
Robert Escarpit believed it was important to understand how people read and receive messages from texts. He said, "To measure the stakes of writing, one must understand what reading is, how to receive the text message. This is a strictly scientific approach."
In 1963, he published articles in a journal from the University of Belgrade. His book The sociology of literature (French: La sociologie de la littérature) came out in French in 1958. It was so popular that it was translated into 23 different languages!
In 1965, UNESCO asked him to write a book called The Revolution of the book (French: La révolution du livre). This book was translated into 20 languages. It looked at how paperback books became popular and what happened when inexpensive books became available to everyone. Escarpit realized that studying books meant studying how people communicate through writing. Because of this, he became one of the first experts in France to introduce and promote the science of communication.
Building Communication Science
In 1960, Robert Escarpit started the "Centre for Sociology of Literary Facts." This center changed its name several times. In 1965, it became the "Institute of Literature and Art Mass Techniques." Then, in 1978, it was named the "Science Lab for Information and Communication" (French: Laboratoire des Sciences de L’information et de la Communication). This lab became very important and was known as the driving force behind the "School of Bordeaux," a leader in the field of communication science.
In 1967, he was asked to create the "School of Bordeaux." This school focused on social and cultural activities. He was its director from 1970 to 1975.
In 1972, Escarpit worked with other writers and researchers, like Jean Meyriat and Roland Barthes. They formed a group to push for academic recognition of Information and Communication Sciences. This led to the creation of a special committee, which later became the French Society of Information Science and Communication (SFSIC).
Robert Escarpit became the president of the University of Bordeaux. He was also a Professor of Information Sciences and Communication between 1975 and 1978.
His Ideas on Information and Communication
In 1976, Robert Escarpit was a pioneer in France. He introduced his "General Theory of Information Sciences and Communication." This study gave a complete overview of information science and communication. It is still an important book for anyone interested in this field. It highlights the need to understand both how information is stored (like in documents) and how it is shared (communication).
He explained his view by saying, "For me, the information is the content of the communication, and the communication is the vehicle of information." This means information is the message, and communication is how the message travels.
Political Involvement
Robert Escarpit was active in politics. He was part of the SFIO (a French political party) during the time of the Popular Front. He also joined the French Resistance during World War II. In 1945, he fought in the Médoc region with the Carnot Brigade. He was an editor for the newspaper Le Canard enchaîné during the Algerian war of independence. He supported the French Communist Party (PCF). Later, he became a member of the Aquitaine Regional Council from 1986 to 1992.
Escarpit also helped start the "Franco-Albanian Friendship Society." He was the director of the Albanie (Albania) newspaper and supported the ideas of Communism in Albania. In March 1990, he wrote in Le Monde about his ideas for the future of former communist countries. He believed that communist parties could offer a different voice. He quoted Ramiz Alia, a leader from Albania, who said that "The debate and confrontation of ideas, solutions, alternatives, practices are quite normal."
As a Writer
In 1960, Robert Escarpit won the "Peinture fraîche" prize. He wrote several novels, including Young Man and Night (Jeune Homme et la nuit) in 1980 and A beautiful day to die (Un si beau jour pour mourir) in 1992.
In 1964, he published one of his most famous novels, Littératron. After the government changes in 1968, he wrote Ministricule. This book made fun of politicians and business people.
In the 1980s, he wrote children's books and drew the pictures himself. These books were part of a series called Rouletabosse. He also wrote a set of three books called Travels of Azembat, seaman of Biscay (French: Voyages d'Azembat, marin de Gascogne).
In 1953, Robert Escarpit wrote a made-up biography of a character named Jean-Sébastien Mouche. This was done with the permission of Jean Bruel, who started the Bateau Mouche boat tours in Paris. In the story, Jean-Sébastien Mouche was a helper to Georges-Eugène Haussmann, the person who designed much of modern Paris. Mouche was also said to have invented the riverboats and created a special police group. There was even a party to celebrate 100 years of Jean-Sébastien Mouche, and a government minister attended!
Quotes
*Secularism means that everyone should have access to human knowledge and culture. It's the idea that every person controls what they own, and their property is wherever people are.
- If I lose a leg, I might need an artificial one to keep my balance. This idea of God as something that helps us stay balanced, like a crutch, is strong. I respect it just as much as the idea that God helps us when we are dying.
- There's no proof that you [God] won't be a small pink elephant that came out of my deep thoughts.
- A literary work is something that can be interpreted in many ways, sometimes even in ways the author didn't intend.
—The Literary and Social (Le Littéraire et le Social), 1978
See also
In Spanish: Robert Escarpit para niños