Pierre Mertens (born 9 October 1939) is a Belgian French-speaking writer and lawyer who specializes in international law, director of the Centre de sociologie de la littérature at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, and literary critic with the newspaper Le Soir.
Influenced by Franz Kafka, Mertens started to publish novels and short stories in 1969 and received the Prix Médicis in 1987 for Les éblouissements. He nevertheless continued his activities as a lawyer, participating in many battles for human rights. In 1989, he entered the Académie royale de langue et littérature de Belgique, and was also named Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France.
Mertens has reflected much on the social function of the writer. For him, private life, fiction, and history are inseparable. Thus he grants a central place to the memory in the creation of his works. To him the novelist finds his inspiration in their personal and the historical past. Mertens is particularly marked by the activities of his parents, his father a journalist and music lover and his mother a biologist and pianist. He was also much affected by the German occupation, the execution of the Rosenbergs or the tragedy of the miners of Marcinelle in 1956. Later as a scholar of international law he strongly denounces the genocide in Biafra, torture in Ireland, and the prisons of Pinochet.
Another important inspiration is music. In his novels, one finds the influence of music, such as the leitmotifs which cross them (the figure of the tiger, for example). He is also the author of a booklet on opera, La passion de Gilles (1982).
His many travels and his extensive education has given him an international perspective. In Les Bons offices (1974) and Terre d'asile (1978), for example, Belgian history is presented from a foreign perspective. Mertens often sees his country as a synthesis of Europe and its problems.
He caused a major controversy in his homeland with his book Une paix royale, published in 1995, which tells a fictionalised story of Belgium's royal family, mixing fiction and reality. He was tried and forced to remove a couple of pages from the subsequent editions.
WorksEdit
L'Inde ou l'Amérique – 1969
Le Niveau de la mer – 1970
L'Imprescriptibilité des crimes de guerre et contre *l'humanité – 1974
Les Bons offices – 1974
Terre d'asile – 1978
Nécrologies – 1979
La Fête des anciens – 1983
Terreurs – 1983
Perdre – 1984
Berlin – 1986
Les éblouissements – 1987
Uwe Johnson, le scripteur de murs – 1989
L'Agent double – 1989
Lettres clandestines – 1990
Les Chutes centrales – 1990
Les Phoques de San Francisco – 1991
Flammes – 1993
Une paix royale – 1995
Collision et autres nouvelles – 1995
Tout est feu – 1999
Perasma – 2001
External linksEdit
Pierre Mertens at ARLFFB (in French)
October 21, 2023
pierre, mertens, this, biography, living, person, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, adding, reliable, sources, contentious, material, about, living, persons, that, unsourced, poorly, sourced, must, removed, immediately, from, article, t. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page especially if potentially libelous Find sources Pierre Mertens news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2010 Learn how and when to remove this template message Pierre Mertens born 9 October 1939 is a Belgian French speaking writer and lawyer who specializes in international law director of the Centre de sociologie de la litterature at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles and literary critic with the newspaper Le Soir Pierre MertensBorn 1939 10 09 9 October 1939 age 84 Boitsfort BelgiumNationalityBelgianOccupation s lawyer writerInfluenced by Franz Kafka Mertens started to publish novels and short stories in 1969 and received the Prix Medicis in 1987 for Les eblouissements He nevertheless continued his activities as a lawyer participating in many battles for human rights In 1989 he entered the Academie royale de langue et litterature de Belgique and was also named Chevalier de l Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France Mertens has reflected much on the social function of the writer For him private life fiction and history are inseparable Thus he grants a central place to the memory in the creation of his works To him the novelist finds his inspiration in their personal and the historical past Mertens is particularly marked by the activities of his parents his father a journalist and music lover and his mother a biologist and pianist He was also much affected by the German occupation the execution of the Rosenbergs or the tragedy of the miners of Marcinelle in 1956 Later as a scholar of international law he strongly denounces the genocide in Biafra torture in Ireland and the prisons of Pinochet Another important inspiration is music In his novels one finds the influence of music such as the leitmotifs which cross them the figure of the tiger for example He is also the author of a booklet on opera La passion de Gilles 1982 His many travels and his extensive education has given him an international perspective In Les Bons offices 1974 and Terre d asile 1978 for example Belgian history is presented from a foreign perspective Mertens often sees his country as a synthesis of Europe and its problems He caused a major controversy in his homeland with his book Une paix royale published in 1995 which tells a fictionalised story of Belgium s royal family mixing fiction and reality He was tried and forced to remove a couple of pages from the subsequent editions Works EditL Inde ou l Amerique 1969 Le Niveau de la mer 1970 L Imprescriptibilite des crimes de guerre et contre l humanite 1974 Les Bons offices 1974 Terre d asile 1978 Necrologies 1979 La Fete des anciens 1983 Terreurs 1983 Perdre 1984 Berlin 1986 Les eblouissements 1987 Uwe Johnson le scripteur de murs 1989 L Agent double 1989 Lettres clandestines 1990 Les Chutes centrales 1990 Les Phoques de San Francisco 1991 Flammes 1993 Une paix royale 1995 Collision et autres nouvelles 1995 Tout est feu 1999 Perasma 2001External links EditPierre Mertens at ARLFFB in French Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Pierre Mertens amp oldid 1082281777, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
