The reception of French Catholic intellectuals in Britain after the second world war
The reception of French Catholic intellectuals in Britain after the second world war
French intellectuals had a major impact on British cultural life during the post-war years from 1945 to 1960. Among them, Catholic intellectuals were a significant group. This article seeks to reveal some patterns taken in the process of ‘diaspora of ideas’. It identifies three groups of Catholic intellectuals: philosophers such as Mounier and Marcel, writers such as Mauriac and Bernanos, and priests such as Lubac and Teilhard de Chardin. It shows that their ideas travelled through personal contacts, through the work of literary and academic commentators, and especially through published translations. They were received by a largely Catholic audience, divided between elite and working-class groups with different priorities. British publishers and their advisors scanned the French intellectual scene, selecting for translation those items that seemed most relevant to British concerns. They largely ignored or neglected historical, political or institutional issues specific to the French context, and used French ideas to assist them in addressing key issues in Britain
britain, catholics, france, intellectuals, post-war, writers
285-302
Kelly, Michael
dcc9dfa0-fb81-40b3-b87b-a16e4ba0c430
2006
Kelly, Michael
dcc9dfa0-fb81-40b3-b87b-a16e4ba0c430
Kelly, Michael
(2006)
The reception of French Catholic intellectuals in Britain after the second world war.
French Cultural Studies, 17 (3), .
(doi:10.1177/0957155806068093).
Abstract
French intellectuals had a major impact on British cultural life during the post-war years from 1945 to 1960. Among them, Catholic intellectuals were a significant group. This article seeks to reveal some patterns taken in the process of ‘diaspora of ideas’. It identifies three groups of Catholic intellectuals: philosophers such as Mounier and Marcel, writers such as Mauriac and Bernanos, and priests such as Lubac and Teilhard de Chardin. It shows that their ideas travelled through personal contacts, through the work of literary and academic commentators, and especially through published translations. They were received by a largely Catholic audience, divided between elite and working-class groups with different priorities. British publishers and their advisors scanned the French intellectual scene, selecting for translation those items that seemed most relevant to British concerns. They largely ignored or neglected historical, political or institutional issues specific to the French context, and used French ideas to assist them in addressing key issues in Britain
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Published date: 2006
Keywords:
britain, catholics, france, intellectuals, post-war, writers
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Local EPrints ID: 41975
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/41975
ISSN: 0957-1558
PURE UUID: 7b17c7fb-dbd2-4402-947e-be00fd513190
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Date deposited: 23 Oct 2006
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 02:36
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