“Boulogne-sur-Mer: literary effervescence, musical dynamism”
International meetig
12-14 mars 2024
Organizer: Benoît Santini, PR
University of Littoral Côte d’Opale, UR 4030 HLLI
Boulogne-sur-Mer, in Hauts-de-France, has seen the birth of personalities from various backgrounds, from the Egyptologist Auguste Mariette (1821-1881) to the painter Georges Mathieu (1921-2012), creator of the current of lyrical abstraction. The city has also welcomed leading historical figures during more or less prolonged stays, such as César who established a military camp in the Boulonnais in order to invade Brittany and Napoleon Bonaparte who installed his army there in 1803 against England. before returning there as emperor and staying at the “Imperial Palace” in 1810 and 1811.
It was particularly in the 19th century that cultural and artistic life in Boulogne was in full expansion, as Yves-Marie Hilaire recalls, who evokes “the theater where very varied performances were given – opera, comedy, tragedy, drama, vaudeville – and the Casino where the philharmonic society organized concerts”[i]. Several recent scientific events[ii] revealed the richness of this cultural life in Boulogne, of its learned and artistic societies, of their relations with large cities, not to mention the massive presence of foreign population which makes it a place of creation and exchange. Moreover, the researcher Jérôme Fourmanoir is interested, in his book The artistic life in Boulogne sur Mer in the 19th century, in the artistic societies of Boulogne at that time (in particular, in the field of painting) and the presence of French artists and strangers in the city.
Some renowned personalities and others less known have contributed to the literary effervescence and musical dynamism of the city, especially since the 18th century. Thus, in music, let us cite the sopranos, born in Boulogne, Louise Dabadie (1795-1877), who played roles in operas by Rossini and sang at the Paris Opera, and Inès Jouglet, who was born in 1906, interpreted arias in The Magic Flute and she also sang at the Paris Opera. Also among the women is the singer Léo Marjane (1912-2016) – Edith Piaf’s great rival – whose career took off under the Occupation and one of whose great successes was entitled “Alone tonight” ( 1941). The organist Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911), born in Boulogne, composed, for his part, liturgical pieces, sonatas, chamber music and a symphony, among other creations.
On the literature side, many authors, French or foreign, have close ties with the city of Boulogne: the Viscount of Lascano Tegui, Argentinian (1887-1966), is the founder and the first curator of the Casa San Martín but also a polygraph author who wrote poems and prose texts including novels and chronicles. The Ecuadorian-born poet Ramiro Oviedo, born in 1952, was a teacher-researcher at the Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale until 2016 and wrote in some of his texts his impressions of the city. As for Vernon Lee (1856-1935), whose parents were British expatriates, she was born in Boulogne; free woman, she produced an abundant body of work made up of essays, plays, tales, short stories, novels and biographies[iii]. The German poet Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) also marked Boulogne by the many stays he made there. Let us not forget the visits of Victor Hugo (1802-1885) to Boulogne and other towns in Hauts-de-France, the birth in this town of the Coquelin brothers (Coquelin elder, 1841-1909 and Coquelin junior, 1848- 1909), comedians at the French, and remember that Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve (1804-1869) was also born in Boulogne while, in the 18th century, Alain-René Lesage (1668-1747) died there.
Thus, this symposium will focus on literary and musical figures born in Boulogne-sur-Mer, having lived there and/or ended their lives. Several questions arise: how do the city and its region leave their mark on their artistic production? What links have been forged with the city of Pas-de-Calais? What traces did they leave in this port city? These few questions in no way prevent a reflection on the works of these artists without necessarily approaching them from the Boulogne angle.
In a transdisciplinary concern, this colloquium will focus on literary production in various languages and musical creation in all its forms. During this scientific event, it will be a question of contributing to the promotion of a local artistic heritage but also of reflecting on the notions of travel, memory and deterritorialization.
Paper proposals of about ten lines, accompanied by a brief CV of the researchers, should be sent to:
for March 30, 2023.
A response will be provided on April 15, 2023. A collective book project, bringing together articles from the colloquium, is planned.
[i] Yves-Marie Hilaire, “Leisure and mental life in a seaside town in the 19th century”, in Alain Lottin (dir.), History of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Villeneuve d’Ascq, Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 2014, p. 279.
[ii] Organized in 2018 and 2019, the acts will be published soon: Jean-Louis Podvin and Jean-Philippe Priotti (dir.), A cultural golden century in the provinces: Boulogne-sur-Mer (ca 1820-1920), Villeneuve d’ Ascq, Septentrion University Press. Emphasis is placed on the networks maintained by the Channel port with the rest of the world.
[iii] A symposium organized by Marc Rolland was dedicated to him in 2022.
