Year: 2012

fiction

Five-sixths of a Smart Set set

September 11, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
Over at From the Libertarian Library, I’ve added translations of two more of the short stories by Han Ryner published in French in The Smart Set: “The Cheapskate” (1913) “The Paradox” (1913) “The Secret of Don Juan” (1915) “Deo Optimo Maximo” (1919) “The Little Exile” (1920) Of the new pieces, one revolves around a bit of wordplay which translates fairly well, and the other is rather opaque in any language. All are entertaining, and together I think they give some indication of Ryner’s breadth as a writer of fiction. The sixth story was not available online, and I’ve sent of […]
fiction

Han Ryner, Deo Optimo Maximo (1919)

September 11, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
Deo Optimo Maximo By Han Ryner L’HOMME parle: O Dieu, tu ne saurais m’entendre, et pourtant je te parle. Comme il m’arrive de parler à Hélène, à don Quichotte, à Faust, ou à quelque autre de mes fils. Mais à plusieurs de mes fils je parle en me glorifiant, car je leur ai donné le trésor d’immortalité. Toi à qui je n’ai su donner que la pauvre éternité, je te parle en humilité inquiète. O mon fils que j’appelais Père, je n’ai pas su te créer viable, et, voici que tu es mort. Lorsque je te créai Dieu, je ne […]
fiction

Han Ryner, “Duel upon Duel” (“The Penny-Pincher”) (1899)

September 10, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
Duel sur Duel (L’AVARE) Par Han Ryner LORSQUE, au bras de son mari, Mme Geneviève Serre se promenait sur l’Esplanade, grande, souple et lente, le visage vaguement éclairé d’un sourire, les jeunes gens de la petite ville suivaient d’un long regard cette statue qui marche. Us la trouvaient belle, malgré la sobriété de ses lignes, et leurs rêves émus lui faisaient une ardente escorte. Elle ignorait les désirs soulevés sur ses pas et, si elle eût deviné leur accompagnement, elle s’en fût irritée comme d’injures. Elle était restée la rougissante et irritable pensionnaire qui, ne comprenant jamais avec netteté, se […]
fiction

Jean Grave, The Adventures of Nono — Chapter IV

September 9, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
THE ADVENTURES OF NONO by JEAN GRAVE [continued from Chapter III]   IV IN THE COUNTRY OF AUTONOMY The sun continued its course. If he did not want to let himself by caught by nightfall in his solitude, it was necessary that our wanderer not let himself be beaten down by sadness. He must, on the contrary, summon all his energy and get on his way again. So, shaking his head, as a sign of his resolution and to chase away unwelcome ideas, he got up to resume his journey, but not before tying up two of the baskets of […]
fiction

Jean Grave, The Adventures of Nono — Chapter III

September 7, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
THE ADVENTURES OF NONO by JEAN GRAVE [continued from Chapter II]   III WE LEARN BY TRAVELING The reflections of our little friend were not cheerful: In what country was he? Would he find something to eat? Was he doomed to die of hunger, or, like a new Robinson Crusoe, would he be forced to make the best of his life, far from every companion? Robinson, in his shipwreck, had been able to save weapons, tools, and provisions. He had landed on an island stocked with game and edible fruits. In his walk Nono had seen nothing edible, apart from […]
Proudhon Library

Henriette, artiste, “Letter to Proudhon” (1849)

September 3, 2012
[“En amour, la propriété c’est le viol.” One of the major voices in French feminist circles around the time of the 1848 Revolution signed her name as “Henriette, artiste,” and was probably Henriette Wild. She argued with Jenny d’Hericourt on the subject of celibacy in the pages of the Voix de Femmes, and she wrote a strange and interesting open letter to Proudhon in the pages of La Démocratie pacifique (January 5, 1849). The heart of the letter comes when Henriette hijacks Proudhon’s famous phrase, “Property is theft”—”la propriété c’est le vol” in French—and changes it to say that “in […]
fiction

Jean Grave, The Adventures of Nono — Chapter II

September 3, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
[I ended up neglecting The Adventures of Nono for longer than I had intended, while some other projects came together, but it’s time to return to our anarchist children’s novel.] THE ADVENTURES OF NONO by JEAN GRAVE [continued from Chapter I]   II.  FIRST ADVENTURES When Nono awoke, it was broad daylight. But, surprisingly, instead of being in his bed he was lying on a lawn thick, filled with flowers raising their petalsover the green grass. The sun lit up that place, making the floral colors gleam, shimmering off the variegated wings of the countless insects that fluttering in its […]
Contr'un

1838: Property is theft (Jules Leroux)

August 30, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
EPISODES in another history of anarchism: In volume 4 of the Encyclopédie nouvelle, which appeared in 1838, Jules Leroux contributed a lengthy entry on Political Economy. There is a lot there that is of interest, but perhaps nothing that touches this passage for topical interest here in the mutualist blogosphere: Et la propriété se trouve être nécessairement définie en ces termes: La possession et l’usage d’un objet propre à satisfaire un besoin. Supprimez le mot possession, et la propriété disparaît. Supprimez le mot usage, et la propriété devient une chose immorale, anti-humaine : c’est l’accaparement, c’est le vol. That is: […]
Contr'un

A Tale of Three Provisos

August 21, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
Related: Some thoughts on Locke’s proviso Responses on Locke’s proviso “Must we say, with some who pretend to metaphysics, that property is the expression of individuality, of the personality, of the self? But possession largely suffices for that expression…” — P.-J. Proudhon, The Theory of Property “I pass death with the dying, and birth with the new-washed babe …. and am not contained between my hat and boots…” — Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself” It’s funny, in some ways at least, how Proudhon has earned a rather scandalous reputation for his work on property, while Locke remains the name to […]