INTERVIEW. "If, through my book, some people rediscover Gautier and all this Occitan culture, I will have gained

Alain Doucet, can you present your book “On the Grand Chemin”?

One day, really by chance, I came across an old book by Théophile Gautier in a second-hand bookstore. I took it and, from there, I became passionate about this great Tarbais. I realized that we really don’t know Gautier well; In Tarbes, we think of high school, that’s all. But his journey, his travels, his life, it’s quite a novel! Few people know who he really was. So I started digging, tracking down his works. I tried to build up a collection, which is not easy or given… In Tarbes, you can barely find his books, sometimes you have to go to Paris, to the Latin Quarter or end up on Amazon. I’m not rich, but if I try, I’ll end up having them all.

Do you have the impression that Gautier has been somewhat forgotten?

Yes, a little, it must be said. It took so much out of me that, for six months, I was with Gautier every day. Search, search, read. Even poetry, although it’s not my favorite thing at all. But there is a concrete poetry in him, very accessible for a layman like me. Eventually, I told myself that we had to remind everyone, at least in Bigorre, who he was. He was someone who held certain values.

What do you remember about his journey? Why did this figure strike you?

He didn’t live so much in Tarbes, ultimately; he left early and only returned briefly in his fifties. But that’s his story. When he arrived in Paris, he only spoke Gascon patois. His comrades, even the pawns, mocked him; he experienced it badly, to the point of coming close to suicide. He changed colleges to finally find his place. He was passionate about painting, but as he was myopic, he branched off. He met Hugo, frequented Baudelaire. His life is a fresco, really. Little is known, but the bawdy song “De profundis morpionibus” is taken from one of his poems. He also made a book of letters… I didn’t even dare to have my partner read them again. It’s vulgarity, but organized vulgarity… He was writing to a Parisian courtesan. Maybe it was a naughty girl he was going to see from time to time.

Is your book a classic biography?

Frankly, I hate linear biographies! I accumulated anecdotes, images, and then I wanted to bring Gautier to life in a different way. I thought of the Saint-Sever show. All the people in the village participated in the different paintings over time. I modeled my book on that. Three young students from the Théophile-Gautier high school are going to travel through Occitanie “On the big road”, that’s the common thread: they meet d’Artagnan in Gers, Olympe de Gouges in Tarn-et-Garonne… There are plenty of adventures and this side travels in time and space.

So we come across many historical figures?

In each department, we meet local characters. There is Champollion, Françoise Sagan, Brassens, Molière, Gréco! Even Nougaro at the end, in Toulouse. All these characters have a designation of geographical origin, AOG. And then the anecdotes flow…

The Captain Smashis it Gautier’s best-known work?

It took him more than twenty years to complete it. *Captain Fracasse* was released as a serial. He only did the books after the last episode. Gautier was above all an art critic, a serialist; he worked for lots of newspapers. The constraints of the soap opera slowed down his creativity, but he had to earn his crust – he went through all the upheavals of the 19th century. In his texts, you find humor, perspective on life, sometimes absurd but very human things.

After this first book, are you already working on other projects?

I’m not a writer, but I wanted to put this society back into the spotlight in writing. I have this connection to the transmission. I continue to meet people, to draw their portraits. My next project will be called “BlaBlaCÅ“ur”: meetings based on carpooling. You get out of your circle, you see people.

Exactly, what is BlaBlaCÅ“ur?

These will be portraits of people we meet on the road. Blablacar, it helps me, but above all, it brings people together. It’s strong. You transport very different people. These are slices of life. People’s lives open up a world to you; some have incredible merit.

And the writing in all this?

I got a taste for it, yes! I believe that we escape even more by writing than by reading. We invent, we create… it’s something very different. You shouldn’t do it for the money: you know how much you get from a book sold! But the real reward is pleasure.

In your research, do you also come across some great anecdotes?

Oh yes, tons! For example, the Clioupatre in Ariège: a woman who disguised herself to follow her husband to the Egyptian countryside. Or these bear trainers from the Pyrenees, who left with their bears to New York! Gautier had written an article on the stupidity of Parisians on this subject. Every story is incredible. The book ends at the Capitole, in Toulouse, but at each stage there is a nugget.

And these stories of Gautier’s obelisks?

Yes, two famous poems: the obelisk of Paris which is bored and complains about the birds, the rain… and the one remaining in Luxor. There is all of Gautier’s humor in these texts. Moreover, the obelisk was not stolen: it was a gift from Egypt to France, brought back to Paris after many adventures, and the second one was returned to Egypt in 1989.

Six months of research, discoveries… Don’t you regret?

Not for a second! Every day, a new story, new characters, that’s what gives life some spice. And if, through my book, some people rediscover Gautier and all this Occitan culture, I will have won my bet.

 

“On the big path”, published by Arcane 17.