Louis Aragon (1897-1982) was a French writer, poet and novelist, who was part of the artistic and cultural movement known as Dadaism. He has also been considered one of the founders of the current called surrealism.
Aragon was a poet who wrote to love. Most of his work had his wife as an inspiring muse, and at times he also reflected his personal story. In addition, it was characterized by the development of two plots in the narrative, and its distance from realistic elements.
On the other hand, the poet was a consistent political actor. He was part of the French Communist Party, and also frequently attended the Congress of Revolutionary Writers held in the former Soviet Union, also supported the labor movement.
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Louis was born on October 3, 1897 in Paris. His parents were Louis Andrieux - a politician and diplomat, who did not recognize him as a legitimate son - and Marguerite Toucas. Until the age of nineteen they made him believe that his mother was his sister, that caused him great emotional wounds.
Aragon's years of education were spent in his native Paris. Upon completing high school, he chose to study medicine. However, in 1917 he took a hiatus to volunteer in the First World War. During that time he met the writers Philippe Soupault and André Breton.
Later, in 1919, he resumed his medical studies, and began an internship at a Paris hospital. At that time he returned to contact with Breton and Soupault, and together they created the magazine Littérature, in Spanish Literature, whose content was oriented to the movement of Dadaism.
In 1923, Aragon, together with the founders of Littérature, he had the idea of surrealism as a movement that went beyond reality. So, with the intention of creating new ideas in literature, they produced the magazine The surreal revolution or The surreal revolution.
Later the group decided that the print medium would be called Le surréalisme au service de la révolution or, in spanish, Surrealism at the service of the revolution. Those were the years where Aragon was influenced by Apollinaire. In 1927 he began to serve in the French Communist Party..
Aragon's earliest works date back to 1920, strongly influenced by Guillaume Apollinaire and Isidore Lucien Ducasse, better known as Count de Lautréamont. Such is the case of titles like Joie feu or The bonfire, Y The perpetual movement or Perpetual motion.
However, his most renowned work at that time was The Peasant of Paris, which dealt with the day-to-day life of society; in addition to the essay Treatise on style, which was a reflection of the way of thinking and acting of the new descendants.
In 1928 Louis Aragon met the Russian writer Elza Yúrievna Kagán, better known as Elsa Triolet, in Paris. They began a loving relationship, until they got married on February 28, 1939. She became his life partner and maximum inspiration..
Starting in 1930, Louis began an active participation in the Congress of Revolutionary Writers in the Soviet Union. This experience led him to move away from the surrealist current, and his literary commitment, like the political one, began to take seriousness..
So in those years he supported the working class, joining the different protests they held in search of job improvements. He also took over the newspaper Ce soir, He also became a popularizer of the realist literature of the Soviets.
Louis Aragon's intention of a literature with political content during the 1930s occurred within uncertainties of whether he would like to or not, as was the case with Hooray for the Urals, whose purpose was the fabrication of socialism. In the poem he reflected some political experiences, with the aim of propaganda.
Later, the writer changed his strategy and developed the series of novels The real world, where he showed the French society of his time, from criticism to powerful groups. They stood out among the narrations: The bells of Basilia, The beautiful neighborhoods Y Travelers of the Imperial.
During the Second World War Louis returned to the path to poetry. He began to write from love and for love, having his wife Elsa as an inspiring muse. Some of the works from those years were Elsa's eyes, Heart breaks Y The French Diana.
After the Germans vacated France, the poet wanted to write again within the lines of socialist realism. That was the stage of Communists, a work of simple content. However, it was The Holy Week his most important work of that period.
Aragon's literary life was always productive. But from the sixties his works stopped being about the realities of socialism, to become more literary and elegant. Such was the case with White or Oblivion, Y The true lie.
He remained active in the production of poetry, with anthologies such as Crazy about Elsa Y Farewells and other poems. Over the years his health began to deteriorate, and he died on December 24, 1982 in Paris. His remains rest with his wife in the park of the Molino de Villeneve.
Although a part of Louis Aragon's work was developed within political and propagandistic guidelines, linked to socialist realism, it is also true that his poetic work was charged with feelings. His lyrics were characterized by being sublime and intense, with a harmonious and elegant language.
In the case of his novels or narrative works, the writer used the use of two plots or stories. At the same time that the events presented varied between reality and fiction, as a way to catch the reader, without being entirely realistic.
- Fire of joy (1922).
- Perpetual Motion (1925).
- Elsa's eyes (1942).
- Elsa (1959).
- Crazy about Elsa (1963).
- Bedrooms (1969).
- Aniceto or The Panorama (1921).
- Debauchery (1924).
- The Peasant of Paris (1926).
- The instant (1928).
- A wave of dreams (1932).
- Communists (1949-1951).
- Easter week (1958).
- Time to Die (1965).
- From the series The real world:
- The bells of Basel (1933).
- The beautiful neighborhoods (1936).
- Travelers of the Imperial (1942).
- Aurélien (1945).
- Style treatise (1928).
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