Maumort: het literaire testament van Roger Martin du Gard

Snoeij, P. (2022)

Doctoral Thesis

Roger Martin du Gard (1881-1958) (Nobel Prize for Literature in 1937 for the novel cycle Les Thibault in 8 parts, included in the Pléiade edition, Oeuvres complètes, 1955) put, between 1941 and 1955, the novel Le Lieutenant-Colonel de Maumort (or: Maumort) on paper, his latest work, which remaines unfunished. It was released posthumously in 1983.
The thesis covers in seven chapters a number of aspects of Maumort. In Section I the septuagenarian Bertrand de Maumort looks back on his life (the story is in the first person). His childhood spent in a castle in Normandy (Le Saillant) and his studies in Paris, were given the most space. Instead of ‘Mémoires’, the basic form of Maumort could also have been that of letters (Section II). Maumort corresponds with his friend, the doctor Gévresin (by whom he was given shelter for a large part of the war) about everything he experiences after his return to Le Saillant. There are now (only) nine letters (december 1944-January 1945). After that, the correspondence stops. In the Boîte Noire (Black Box)(Section III), about 40 files appear (= folders in which Martin du Gard stored thoughts on specific subjects that he had written); some of them mention Les Thibault, especially regarding the character Antoine Thibault.

• Unfinished novel
• Lieutenant-colonel
• Memories-letters-reflections
• Politics
• 1870-1950
• Ancients
• Manor (castle)
• Dual personality
• Two families
• Knowledge
• Writers
• Philosophers

• All authors: Snoeij, P.
• Supervisor: Smith, P.J.
• Co-supervisor: Schulte Nordholt, A.E.
• Committee: Bel, J.H.C.; Liebregts, P.T.M.G.; Houppermans, J.M.M.; Montfrans- van Oers, M.A.E.
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society (LUCAS), Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University
• Date: 2022-04-19