وسوسه غرب

by André Malraux, آندره مالرو, سیروس ذکاء (Translator)

Andre Malraux's first major publication takes the form of an exchange of letters between a young Chinese visiting Europe and a young Frenchman traveling to China in the 1920's. In Robert Hollander's eloquent translation, we hear Malraux's prediction: while China will be tempted by Western doctrines of individualism and Marxism, Europe will find its sense of purpose questioned by 'the great, troubled drama' of the East.

Genres: Fiction, French Literature, Essays, Philosophy

110 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1926

About the author

Malraux was born in Paris during 1901, the son of Fernand-Georges Malraux and Berthe Lamy (Malraux). His parents separated during 1905 and eventually divorced. He was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother, Berthe and Adrienne Lamy in the small town of Bondy. His father, a stockbroker, committed suicide in 1930. Andre had Tourette's Syndrome during his childhood, resulting in motor and vocal tics.

At the age of 21, Malraux left for Cambodia with his new wife Clara Goldschmidt. In Cambodia, he undertook an exploratory expedition into the Cambodian jungle. On his return he was arrested by French colonial authorities for removing bas-reliefs from one of the temples he discovered. Banteay Srei (The French government itself had removed large numbers of sculptures and artifacts from already discovered sites such as Angkor Wat around this time). Malraux later incorporated the episode into his second novel La Voie Royale.

Malraux became very critical of the French colonial authorities in Indochina, and during 1925 helped to organize the Young Annam League and founded a newspaper Indochina in Chains.

On his return to France, he published The Temptation of the West (1926) which had the format of an exchange of letters between a Westerner and an Asian comparing aspects of the two cultures. This was followed by his first novel The Conquerors (1928), then by The Royal Way (1930) which was influenced by his Cambodian experience, and then by Man's Fate (La Condition Humaine). For La Condition Humaine, a novel about the 1927 failed Communist rebellion in Shanghai, written with obvious sympathy for the Communists, he won the 1933 Prix Goncourt.

During the 1930s, Malraux was active in the anti-Fascist Popular Front in France. At the beginning of the Spanish Civil War he joined the Republican forces in Spain, serving in, and helping to organize, their small air force. His squadron, called "España", became something of a legend after his claims of nearly annihilating part of the Nationalist army at Medellín.

According to Curtis Cate, his biographer, he was slightly wounded twice during efforts to stop the Falangists' takeover of Madrid, but the British historian Hugh Thomas denies this. He also toured the United States to raise funds for the Spanish Republicans. A novel influenced by his Spanish war experiences, Man's Hope, (L'Espoir) was published during 1938.

At the beginning of the Second World War, Malraux joined the French Army. He was captured in 1940 during the Battle of France but escaped and later joined the French Resistance. He was captured by the Gestapo during 1944 and underwent a mock execution. He later commanded the tank unit Brigade Alsace-Lorraine in defence of Strasbourg and in the attack on Stuttgart (Germany). He was awarded the Médaille de la Résistance, the Croix de Guerre. He was also awarded the British Distinguished Service Order for his work with British liaison officers in Corrèze, Dordogne and Lot, and after Dordogne had been liberated, leading a battalion of former resistance fighters to Alsace-Lorraine where they fought alongside the First Army.

During the war he worked on a long novel, The Struggle with the Angel based on the story of the Biblical Jacob. The manuscript was destroyed by the Gestapo after his capture in 1944. A surviving first part titled The Walnut Trees of Altenburg, was published after the war. He would never write another novel.

Malraux and his first wife divorced during the 1940s. His daughter from this marriage, Florence (b.1933), married the filmmaker Alain Resnais.

Malraux had two sons by his second wife Josette Clotis: Pierre-Gauthier (1940-1961) and Vincent (1943-1961). During 1944, while Malraux was fighting in Alsace, Josette died when she slipped while boarding a train. His two sons were killed during 1961 in an automobile accident.


After the war, Malraux served in a variety of government p

Reviews

[Mia · Rating 2 out of 5]

شاید من زیادی اندیشه اسلامی خوندم، شایدم این واقعاً شبیهش بود

[Άννα Μακρή · Rating 1 out of 5]

-Ω, τι ανούσιοι άνθρωποι που είστε, εσείς οι Ευρωπαίοι, τι ανάπηροι πνευματικά και συναισθηματικά...
-Ω, τι υπερβολικά που θίγετε την αδυναμία μας, αγαπητέ Ασιάτη φίλε...

Μόλις διαβάσατε όλο το βιβλίο.

[Eng. Mohamed ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

مجموعة من الرسائل تبين نظرة كاتب الرسائل للغرب وحياتهم...رسائل ممتعه

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure if the quality of the translation has anything to do with it, but this epistolary novel-of-ideas suffers badly from the very abstractions its Chinese protagonist finds to form much of the faultiness of classical European thought.

[Adriana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pentru a-l distruge pe Dumnezeu, si după ce l-a distrus, spiritul european a nimicit tot ce se putea impotrivi omului: ajuns la capătul eforturilor precum Rancé in fata trupului iubitei sale, el nu mai găseste decît moartea. Ajuns, in sfirsit, la imaginea ei, descopera că ea nu-i mai poate trezi nici o pasiune. Si niciodată n-a mai făcut o descoperire atît de nelinistitoare...

[Marieta Marieta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cartas entre um ocidental e um chinês sobre ambos "os lados" civilizacionais. De uma profundidade, análise e prosa poética tocantes.

[مِستر کثافت درونگرا · Rating 4 out of 5]

اقای مارلو بشدت قلم قوی داره
این کتاب هم روایت قوی و خوبی داره
حتما پیشنهاد میدم کتاب ضدخاطرات ایشون رو بخونید

[Samia · Rating 1 out of 5]

i don't undersdtand what is writing in this book ,but i read all the book i don't recommend this book, i don't know if the transaltion to arabic language isn't good

[Laurent Szklarz]

Livre très intéressant, surtout quand on garde a l'esprit que c'est son premier livre .

[SleepWalkingPhilosophus · Rating 5 out of 5]

La tentation de l'Occident est un essai épistolaire où un Chinois et un Français abordent non sans sarcasme et sur différentes thématiques ; arts, religion, sexualité... à travers les échanges parfois virulents entre les deux hommes se dégage une thèse principale : l'Occident est en proie à un malaise civilisationnel terrible. Une angoisse existentielle mâtinée de pulsions de mort qu'il transmet aux autres civilisations. Les jeunes Chinois sont à la fois séduits et méfiants vis-à-vis des idéaux occidentaux véhiculés par la littérature. L'individualisme de l'Ouest, sa quête d'héroïsme mais aussi de tragique contraste avec l'esprit clanique du confucianisme qui cherche avant tout l'harmonie et l'accomplissement des devoirs. Curieusement, la religion y est peu abordée sauf pour pointer la totale incompréhension des occidentaux de la spiritualité asiatique (notamment sur la réincarnation). Bien qu'à charge contre un Occident que le jeune Malraux (24 ans à l'époque) croit moribond, il ne manque pas de pointer la décadence chinoise. La Chine de l'époque hésite entre rejeter l'Occident et faire définitivement le deuil de leur culture.
Récit plus qu'actuel dans un monde multipolaire où l'Asie a pris une place prépondérante et où l'oubli de ses racines, loin d'être le propre de l'Occident, est le fait généralisé de la modernité. Conclue sur un adieu d'une déchirante poésie à ses espérances, Malraux, bien sombre, ne propose pas réellement de solution à ce malaise ; solution qu'il n'a pas plus que nous et dont le passéisme béat ne fait point partie.
A ne pas lire si vous êtes en pleine crise existentielle. A lire pour en résoudre une

[baat1ste · Rating 3 out of 5]

Étrange essai écrit sous la forme épistolaire exposant par conséquent deux points de vue distincts.

D’un côté il y a le point de vue du jeune Français renseigné sur la culture chinoise. De l’autre, il y a le jeune Chinois imprégné de culture occidentale.

Leur échange de lettres vise à dépeindre les effets de l’introduction de la culture occidentale dans les pays orientaux. Cependant, tous deux se placent dans un entre-deux : détenteurs de codes occidentaux, ils aspirent à une spiritualité orientale.

En vérité, Malraux a sûrement voulu rendre l’ambivalence de sa situation lorsqu’il vécut en Asie. Il ne propose pas une réflexion personnelle sur les possibles conséquences de la domination de la culture occidentale, ni une confrontation entre les deux cultures, mais une exposition de ce que lui cherche, pense.

On sent sa présence à chacune des phrases, le style est encore maladroit, lourd par moments. Mais, heureusement, cela reste court et permet de situer, à peu près, la pensée de Malraux à cette époque ; pensée qu’il ne cessera de préciser par la suite.

[dv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nel 1925, dopo un paio di esperienze in Asia e prima della sua "trilogia asiatica", Malraux pubblica questo dialogo immaginario fra un francese e un cinese, strumento per esprimere le sue idee sulle "tentazioni" (e sulle malattie dell'occidente). Come rimarcano le note editoriali, questi pensieri degli anni '20 prefigurano la sensibilità del pensiero francese a (breve) venire, anticipando molte riflessioni sul senso del controllo del proprio destino, sul rapporto fra cultura e tecnica, sulla spettacolarizzazione della vita, nonché sui semi in nuce della mutazione - o forse della decadenza - della cultura cinese stessa. Da leggere.

[مريم · Rating 3 out of 5]

نبذة:

محادثة بين شابين من ثقافتين مختلفة أحدهم صيني والآخر أوربي.
يتناقشون عن كثير من أمور الحياة ومعناها وأسلوبها بالمجتمعين.

رأيي :
وجدت الكتاب غريب نوعاً ما ويلعق المخ لأن ما أملك هواي معلومات عن ثقافاتهم وطريقة السرد جانت متعبة بالنسبة إلي وصعب استوعبها بسهولة.
الترجمة محبيتها جداً ،أشعر بصعوبة فهم المفردات وطريقة صياغة الجمل!
الكتاب بمضمونه تحفة بس أسلوب وصول المعلومة ظالم كثير :).

[hanae · Rating 1 out of 5]

chiant à en crever

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it to basically an absurdist take on European and Asian Civilizations. The outcome of the novel (the plot) consists of the two letter writers, A.D. and Ling, pursuing their discussions of the respective civilizations, concentrating on the aesthetic domain, and coming to the conclusion that they are at their core meaningless. This an early expression of Absurdist movement, which became popular post-World War II. I would recommend it except to specialists of the period or to those interest in Malraux. It doesn't stand up well to the passage of time, and the themes are found more interesting expressed in later writers.

[Paul Gosselin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Il me semble malhonnête de décrire ce texte comme un "essai". Évidemment ce mot peut être de l'éditeur et non pas de l'auteur, mais il me semblerait plus honnête d'en parler en termes de texte poétique. En général, les échanges entre AD et Ling restent à des allusions et si le lecteur en tire quelque chose c'est qu'il a travaillé très fort. On ne peut en dire autant de Malraux. Ceci dit, les derniers échanges compensent le lecteur persévérant, mais il aurait été utile que Malraux nous ai éclairé quel chinois est ce "Ling", un bouddhiste, un Taôiste, un adepte de Confucius, un chrétien, un marxiste... Tout ça change la donne évidemment et pourrait nous éclairer, mais Malraux aime trop s'amuser à jouer avec les ambigüités. Mais, à la fin, c'est Malraux qui nous parle...

[Beatriz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Je n'ai pas aimé ce livre. C'est un livre triste, ses sujets sons vagues et difficiles de comprendre, parce qu'ils sont ennuyeux. Je ne m'identifie point avec les pensées des deux intervenients, les deux me semblent hypocrites.

[Amir · Rating 1 out of 5]

i don't suggest it to anybody!

[Arefeh.ps · Rating 1 out of 5]

سخت بود نتونستم تمومش کنم :(