Jules Vallès by Corinne Saminadayar-Perrin (review)

In her useful new biography Corinne Saminadayar-Perrin recounts the life of Jules Vallès (1832–1885), the great irrégulier of nineteenth-century French writers, under the double imperative of Vallès’s radical singularity — ‘Il faut être soi, jeter au loin les livres et les drapeaux lourds, affirmer, faible ou forte, sa personnalité’—and his intense engagement with his times—‘J’ai pris des morceaux de ma vie et je les ai cousus aux morceaux de la vie des autres’ (from L’Insurgé, 1886). Singular, first of all, in his uncompromising stands against all forms of consecrated authority, whether in the rigid hierarchies of the family, the school and its cult of the classics, the repressive politics of the Second Empire, or the sectarian tendencies in his own socialist-republican camp. Singular as well, though, in his unapologetic embrace of journalism as opposed to the mystical (and mystifying) prestige of ‘le Livre’, as well as in his consistent advocacy of an absolute freedom of expression, ‘la liberté sans rivages’. Saminadayar-Perrin’s account is particularly effective in tracing how Vallès gradually fought his way into the ranks of the opposition press during the Second Empire, linking his idiosyncratic positions to his journalistic practice conceived as a means of direct communication with the public, an egalitarian form of dialogue with the crowd. Drawing on her extensive knowledge of the period, she skilfully guides us through the labyrinth of the mid-century world of French journalism to show how Vallès forged a public identity as a writer, organized around a constellation of recognizably Vallèsian terms: ‘réfractaire’, ‘révolté’, ‘irrégulier’, ‘la rue’, etc. She also points out how modern Vallès was in his journalistic innovations, in particular with respect to his pioneering work in the techniques of social reportage and investigative journalism (on-site reporting, eyewitness testimony, immersive experience) as well as his careful attention to layout and the idea of the page as a signifying whole that breaks with discursive linearity. On the other hand, Saminadayar-Perrin has little to say about the significant literary innovations in Vallès’s most well-known work — the autobiographical trilogy comprising L’Enfant, Le Bachelier, and L’Insurgé — preferring to mine the works instead for the light they shed on Vallès’s life, however indirect and allusive. It is an understandable choice, given the limits of the format, but also a missed opportunity, as most readers will no doubt be drawn to this biography through their reading of one or more of these works. Vallès’s journalistic and political activities during the Paris Commune—the culminating moment of his life and career—are likewise summarized a bit too briskly, as Saminadayar-Perrin focuses mostly on the chaotic events of the ‘semaine sanglante’ and Vallès’s dramatic escape. These reservations notwithstanding, Saminadayar-Perrin’s biography offers a concise, accessible synthesis that effectively distils the work of previous Vallès scholars, in particular Roger Bellet’s full-dress biography of 1995 (Paris: Fayard). Although it proposes no radical new interpretation of Vallès’s life, the present work will serve the needs of a wider audience seeking a better understanding of an author who remains remarkably relevant today.