Bonjour! Dr. Anne Frédérique Caballero joined David for a half pint to talk about the reception of C. S. Lewis in France.
This interview came about following the interview of Dr. Mark Noll about “C. S. Lewis in America” by Dr. Mark Knoll. Dr. Caballero reached out and agreed to have an article published here on Pints With Jack.
Discussion
01. “About Anne”
Q. Could you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself?
- Dr. Caballero is a university lecturer in northern France, specialising in English literature. She is one of ten people in France to complete their Ph.D. with a focus on C. S. Lewis. A few of her available courses include “The Influence of the Bible on English Literature”, a course on “The Handmaid’s Tale”, and one on fantasy literature, discussing Lewis and Tolkien.
02. “Minimal Exposure”
Q. You reached out to me after our episode on C. S. Lewis’ reception in America, and you wanted to talk about his reception in France. I’ve heard that the exposure of the French to Lewis is exceptionally minimal. How much did the French know about C. S. Lewis during his lifetime?
- Back in season two, David had Pastor Justin Thomas on the show to discuss his vignettes about “The Great Divorce”, in the episode S2E18 – AA – Justin Thomas – Pints With Jack. Thomas said that the exposure of the French to Lewis was minimal at best.
- The first of Lewis’ books to be translated into French was “Tactique du Diable”, or in the English version, “The Screwtape Letters”.
- Besides “Screwtape“, the only books of Lewis’ that were published in the French language during his lifetime were “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, “Prince Caspian”, and “Out of the Silent Planet”.
03. “Posthumous”
Q. How much exposure has France had to C. S. Lewis since his death?
- Lewis was virtually unknown in France before the Narnia films were created.
- Many of the French people who knew of Lewis were those in the science-fiction community, because he was known as one of the first sci-fi novelists, for his “Ransom Trilogy”.
- He was also known in a few select intellectual Catholic circles. In the 80s, some more translations popped up that became known in Evangelical Protestant circles; “Mere Christianity”, “The Screwtape Letters”, and “God in the Dock”.
- Most of the Narnian Chronicles had not been translated prior to the “Harry Potter” phenomenon swept the country, which sparked an interest in fantasy literature.
04. “New Names”
- Many of the French translations of Lewis’ works are given different titles. Many of the Narnian books reflected this. “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” became “The Odyssey of the Dawn Treader”, or “The Voyage of the Beautiful Dawn”. And “The Horse and His Boy” was now “The Horse and His Squire”.
- “Mere Christianity” became “The Foundations of Christianity”, “Letters to Children” was instead called “The Letters of the Land of Narnia”, and “Till We Have Faces” was subsequently named “A Face for Eternity”, “Until We Have a Face”, and “Till We No Longer Lack a Face”. Another fiction book was “Out of the Silent Planet”, which was renamed “Out of the Silence of the Earth”.
05. “The Narnia Effect”
Q. Earlier you said that things changed when the Narnia movies came out. What kind of impact did that have in France?
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06. “Secondary Literature Catastrophe”
Q. Up until now, we’ve been speaking about Lewis’ primary sources, the books which he himself wrote. What has the landscape looked like regarding secondary literature about C. S. Lewis?
- Thus far, there have only ever been eighteen French books written about C. S. Lewis and his work. Only one was published prior to 2005 (around the time of the first Narnian film), and only ten were written in French. Several of them were not books written for the general public.
07. “French Resources Online”
Q. What Lewis resources are there for people who are French speakers?
- There is a deficiency in literature to explore the author.
- One French blog was written by a Canadian, however, many of the links are broken due to the age of the site.
- Online, there is a small YouTube channel called “La TABLE de PIERRE”, or “The Stone Table”, which discusses the Narnia series.
- Dr. Caballero also began a FaceBook group called C.S. Lewis en francophonie to celebrate C. S. Lewis Reading Day.
08. “C.S. Lewis and Gender”
Q. Could you tell us a little more about your own area of study, particularly with Lewis? What is it about his writings that you’ve explored in detail?
- Dr. Caballero’s Ph.D. topic was about C. S. Lewis and gender. Two years after her paper’s publication, Monika Hilder published the first in her series of books on the topic, “Surprised by the Feminine: A Rereading of C. S. Lewis and Gender”. The second book was “The Feminine Ethos in C. S. Lewisʼs Chronicles of Narnia”, and the third was “The Gender Dance: Ironic Subversion in C. S. Lewis’s Cosmic Trilogy”.
- Next season, David, Matt, and Andrew will begin “Perelandra”, where they will dip their toes into C. S. Lewis and gender.
- Dr. Caballero published an article on Pints With Jack called C. S. Lewis in France .
Wrap Up
Concluding Thoughts
- For more information on French exposure to Lewis, and specific French resources, read “C.S. Lewis in France” by Anne-Frédérique Caballero.
