Read complete books and articles on: Francois Rabelais

Rabelais, FranÇois - răbˈəlā, Fr. fräNswäˈ räblāˈ, c.1490–1553, French writer and physician, one of the great comic geniuses in world literature. His father, a lawyer, owned several estates, including "La Devinière," near Chinon, the presumed birthplace of Rabelais.

Early Life

Becoming a novice

Early Life

Becoming a novice in a Franciscan monastery early in his life, Rabelais went as a monk to Fontenay-le-Comte. He studied Greek and Latin, as well as science, law, philology, and letters, becoming known and respected by the humanists of his time, including Budé. Harassed because of his humanist studies, Rabelais petitioned Pope Clement VII and received permission to leave the Franciscan order and enter the Benedictine monastery of Maillezais; the monastery's scholarly bishop became his friend and patron.

The facts concerning Rabelais's study of medicine are obscure, but it is probable that he studied in Paris and at other universities before receiving (1530) his degree of bachelor of medicine at the Univ. of Montpellier. In 1532 he went to Lyons, then an intellectual center, and there, besides practicing medicine, he edited various Latin works for the printer Sebastian Gryphius. For another publisher he composed burlesque almanacs.

Gargantua and Pantagruel

At Lyons in 1532 there appeared Gargantua: Les grandes et inestimables cronicques du grand et énorme géant Gargantua, a chapbook collection of familiar legends about the giant Gargantua. Their popularity apparently inspired Rabelais to write a similar history of Pantagruel, son of Gargantua. Pantagruel appeared in 1532 or 1533. His book had great success and he followed it, in 1534, with a romance concerning Pantagruel's father: Gargantua: La vie inestimable du grand Gargantua, père de Pantagruel.

The third book of the romance, which differed greatly from the first two, was published in 1546; an incomplete edition of the fourth book appeared in 1548 and a complete one in 1552. After Rabelais's death a fifth book appeared (1562); the question of its authorship remains unsettled. Rabelais's novel is one of the world's masterpieces, a work as gigantic in scope as the physical size of its heroes. Under its broad humor, often ribald, are serious discussions of education, politics, and philosophy. The breadth of Rabelais's learning and his zest for living are evident.

Later Life

Rabelais made several trips to Rome with his friend Cardinal Jean du Bellay; he lived for a time in Turin with du Bellay's brother, Guillaume. Francis I was for a time a patron of Rabelais. Rabelais apparently spent some time in hiding, threatened with persecution for heresy. Du Bellay's protection saved Rabelais after the condemnation of his novel by the Sorbonne. He taught medicine at Montpellier in 1537 and 1538 and after 1547 became curate of St. Christophe de Jambe and of Meudon, offices from which he resigned before his death in Paris in 1553.

Bibliography

The classic translation of Rabelais is that of Sir Thomas Urquhart (Books I–II, 1653, Book III, 1693); Books IV and V were translated by P. Motteux. W. F. Smith made a translation of the five books, with other writings (1893, new ed. 1934). More recent translations include those by J. M. Cohen (1955) and J. Le Clercq (1936, repr. 1963). See biographies by J. Plattard (1931, repr. 1969) and A. Tilley (1907, repr. 1970); studies by A. J. Krailsheimer (1963) and D. G. Coleman (1971).

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16 of the Best Books and Articles on: Francois Rabelais

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1.

Rabelais » Read Now
by Michael J. Heath. 138 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library
2.

Rabelais and the Franciscans » Read Now
by A. J. Krailsheimer. 338 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

...Amys letters, all but one of Rabelaiss and probably several of...friend and fellow humanist, Francois Deloynes, that he owed Amy...1521, at the request of Francois I, two...
3.

Two Perspectives on Rabelais: Celine and Bakhtin, in Romance Quarterly » Read Now
by Ann L. Murphy. 9 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

...not entirely overlooked, at least neglected. It involves the fact that Celine, like Bakhtin, wrote a piece on Francois Rabelais. Bakhtins full-length study is, of course...
4.

Pilgrimage and Narrative in the French Renaissance: The Undiscovered Country ("Rabelais: Fantasizing Resurrection" begins on p. 273 and "Rabelais: Pilgrims and Tourists" begins on p. 283) » Read Now
by Wes Williams. 328 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

This is the first full-length study of the place and meaning of pilgrimage in European Renaissance culture. It makes new material available and also provides fresh perspectives on canonical writers such as Rabelais, Montaigne, Margurite de Navarre, Erasmus, Petrarch, Augustine, and Gregory of Nyssa...
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This is the first full-length study of the place and meaning of pilgrimage in European Renaissance culture. It makes new material available and also provides fresh perspectives on canonical writers such as Rabelais, Montaigne, Margurite de Navarre, Erasmus, Petrarch, Augustine, and Gregory of Nyssa. Wes Williams undertakes a bold exploration of various interlinking themes in Renaissance pilgrimage: the location, representation, and politics of the sacred, together with the experience of the everyday, the extraordinary, the religious, and the represented. Williams also examines the literary formation of the subjective narrative voice in his texts, and its relationship to the rituals and practices he reviews. This wide-ranging and timely new work aims both to gain a sense of the shapes of pilgrim experience in the Renaissance and to question the ways in which recent theoretical and historical research in the area has determined the differences between fictional worlds and the real.
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5.

Fools and Jesters in Literature, Art, and History: A Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook ("Francois Rabelais" begins on p. 370) » Read Now
by Vicki K. Janik, Emmanuel S. Nelson. 552 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

Jesters and fools have existed as important and consistent figures in nearly all cultures. Sometimes referred to as clowns, they are typological characters who have conventional roles in the arts, often using nonsense to subvert existing order. But fools are also a part of social and religious...
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Jesters and fools have existed as important and consistent figures in nearly all cultures. Sometimes referred to as clowns, they are typological characters who have conventional roles in the arts, often using nonsense to subvert existing order. But fools are also a part of social and religious history, and they frequently play key roles in the rituals that support and shape a society's system of beliefs. This reference book includes alphabetically arranged entries for approximately 60 fools and jesters from a wide range of cultures. Included are entries for performers from American popular culture, such as Woody Allen, Charlie Chaplin, and the Marx Brothers; literary characters, such as Shakespeare's Falstaff, Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel, and Singer's Gimpel; and cultural and mythological figures, such as Birbal, the American circus clown, the Native American Coyote, Taishu Engeki of Japan, Hephaestus, Loki the Norse fool, schlemiels and schlimazels, and the drag queen.
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6.

A History of the French Novel (To the Close of the 19th Century), Vol. 1 (Chap. VI "Rabelais") » Read Now
by George Saintsbury. 494 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

...rate, Kingsley was soaked in Rabelais, and one of the real curiosities...Of the other two--Thomas Francois , who was by marriage Comte...COMMON LIFE 89 RABELAIS 105 THE...
7.

A History of French Literature (1912) (Chap. V "Rabelais") » Read Now
by C. H. Conrad Wright. 964 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

...THE TRANSITION IN POETRY. THE RHETORIQUEURS. LEMAIRE. MAROT 144 IV THE PLATONISTS 155 V RABELAIS 164 VI THE PLEIADE AND ITS THEORIES 174 VII THE PLEIADE AND ITS WORK...
8.

Visions and Revisions: A Book of Literary Devotions ("Rabelais" begins on p. 25) » Read Now
by John Cowper Powys. 298 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

...PREFACE 9 RABELAIS 25 DANTE 35...Shakespeare and Hardy, Milton and Rabelais, into appropriate niches? Every critic...modest role. If, in my reaction from Rabelais, for...
9.

Titans of Literature: From Homer to the Present (1932) ("Rabelais and Medieval Gusto" begins on p. 162) » Read Now
by Burton Rascoe. 496 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

...and The Complete Works of Francois Villon , translated by...RENAISSANCE 154 RABELAIS AND MEDIEVAL GUSTO 162...DANTE 130 RABELAIS 164 CERVANTES...Johannes Secundus and...
10.

The Life and Death of an Ideal (Chap. 1 "The Renaissance and Medieval Tradition: Rabelais") » Read Now
by Albert Guerard. 396 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...century are Clement Marot and Francois Rabelais: an ill-assorted pair of worthies...greater things. In his art, Rabelais also belongs to the middle ages...ancient learning...
11.

The Classical Tradition: Greek and Roman Influences on Western Literature (Chap. 10 "Rabelais and Montaigne") » Read Now
by Gilbert Highet. 764 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

This landmark book explores the ways in which the Greco-Roman tradition has shaped modern European and American literature.
12.

Distant Voices Still Heard: Contemporary Readings of French Renaissance Literature (Chap. 1 "The Highs and Lows of Structuralist Reading: Rabelais, Pantagruel, Chapters 10-13" and Chap. 2 "Rabelais' Strength and the Pitfalls of Methodology") » Read Now
by John O'Brien, Malcolm Quainton. 243 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

The aim of this book is to introduce the modern student to readings of French Renaissance literature, drawing on the perspectives of contemporary literary theories. The volume is organized by paired readings of five major sixteenth-century French writers, with interpretations covering, among others...
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The aim of this book is to introduce the modern student to readings of French Renaissance literature, drawing on the perspectives of contemporary literary theories. The volume is organized by paired readings of five major sixteenth-century French writers, with interpretations covering, among others, structuralism, semiotics, feminism and psychoanalysis. Linking these interpretations is a constant interest in problems such as the role of the reader, the nature of the text and the question of gender. The Introduction contextualizes the encounter between literary theory and Renaissance texts by using the contributions as pivotal points in the development of critical thinking about this period in early modern literature. All foreign language quotations are translated into English, and the book is intended to be of practical interest to a wide range of readers, from modern linguists to those studying critical theory, comparative literature or cultural history.
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13.

Laughter at the Foot of the Cross (Chap. 43 "Christian Wit and Christian Comedy: 'The Great Jester of France'") » Read Now
by M. A. Screech. 327 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library
14.

Rabelais: Etudes Sur Gargantua, Pantagruel, le Tiers Livre » Read Now
by Abel Lefranc. 377 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

...grande edition des OEuvres de Francois Rabelais publees, sous la direction...1 OEuvres de Francois Rabelais, edit. Abet Lefranc , t. I...publiees dans OEuvres de Francois...
15.

Gargantua and Pantagruel » Read Now
by Francois Rabelais, Burton Raffel. 604 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

Biting and bawdy, smart and smutty, lofty and low, Gargantua and Pantagruel is fantasy on the grandest of scales, told with an unquenchable thirst for all of human experience. Rabelais's vigorous examination of the life of his times-from bizarre battles to great drinking bouts, from satire on...
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Biting and bawdy, smart and smutty, lofty and low, Gargantua and Pantagruel is fantasy on the grandest of scales, told with an unquenchable thirst for all of human experience. Rabelais's vigorous examination of the life of his times-from bizarre battles to great drinking bouts, from satire on religion and education to matter-of-fact descriptions of bodily functions and desires-is one of the great comic masterpieces of literature.
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16.

The Histories of Gargantua and Pantagruel » Read Now
by Francois Rabelais, J. M. Cohen. 712 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

...GARGANTUA AND PANTAGRUEL By Francois Rabelais Translated and with an Introduction...opened his book. Of course Francois Rabelais was a Rabelaisian writer...workings of his...