{"id":8824,"date":"2011-08-04T22:00:24","date_gmt":"2011-08-05T02:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=8824"},"modified":"2017-10-19T14:53:56","modified_gmt":"2017-10-19T12:53:56","slug":"victor-hugos-joker-lhomme-qui-rit-the-man-who-laughs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/victor-hugos-joker-lhomme-qui-rit-the-man-who-laughs\/","title":{"rendered":"Victor Hugo’s Joker: “L’Homme qui rit”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Only a select few of people, even amongst the most passionate die-hard superhero comics fans and “connaisseurs<\/em><\/strong>“, seem to be aware that Batman<\/strong>‘s\u00a0tragicomic arch-nemesis, the Joker<\/strong><\/span><\/span>, finds his original inspiration in a literary work—a work by the same author of les Mis\u00e9rables<\/em>,<\/strong>\u00a0Victor Hugo<\/span><\/a><\/strong>, of all people!<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>
\nDans un<\/strong><\/em> roman <\/strong><\/em>(in a novel) published in 1869<\/strong>, where the action takes place in l’<\/strong><\/em><\/span>Angleterre <\/strong><\/em>(England), at the turn of the 18th century,\u00a0<\/span>Victor\u00a0<\/strong>Hugo <\/strong>introduces us to yet another <\/span>personnage imaginaire <\/strong><\/em>(fictional character), to whom he lent the rather peculiar name of\u00a0<\/span>“<\/strong>Gwynplaine<\/strong><\/span><\/span>.<\/em>“<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=mW7fUry20Z4<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Victor Hugo’s “L’Homme qui rit<\/em>” (“The Man Who Laughs”) was the subject of\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span>an early American cinematographic adaptation, directed by Paul Leni in 1928, which was to supply the direct basis for Batman’s arch-enemy character “The Joker”<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Reminiscent in many ways of Hugo’s “Baroque <\/span><\/a>characters<\/strong>” (remember that the word Baroque reflects an idea of asymmetry and deformity), such as\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span>Quasimodo<\/span><\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0<\/em>of\u00a0Notre-Dame de Paris<\/span><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0fame, or Han d’Islande<\/em><\/strong>, the Norwegian character starring in Hugo’s very first work,\u00a0Gwynplaine is a man afflicted with a facial distortion, exhibiting some sort of a constant ludicrous grin. A disfiguring condition which serves him only too well when it comes to distracting les plus puissants <\/em><\/strong>(the most powerful) leaders of his country.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A commoner, un homme du peuple <\/em><\/strong>(a man of the people) who grew up among the poor and the less fortunate of his society, Gwynplaine finds himself suddenly,\u00a0<\/span>et par hasard <\/strong><\/em>(and by chance), the host of the House of the Lords<\/span>!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Needless to say, a most favorable chance for him to deliver a certain “message” to their most illustrious lordships…<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=61UueukU30k<\/a><\/span>
\n Eighty years after its release, Paul Leni’s silent movie has in turn “inspired” Rob Zombie’s song “The Man Who Laughs” (Hellbilly Deluxe 2, 2010)\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

* En voici un extrait<\/em><\/span> (here is an excerpt<\/span>):<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

“Je repr\u00e9sente l’humanit\u00e9 telle que ses ma\u00eetres l’ont faite. L’homme est<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

“I represent humanity such as its masters rendered it. Man is<\/span><\/p>\n

un\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>mutil\u00e9. Ce qu’on m’a fait, on l’a fait au genre humain. \u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

mutilated. What was done to me, was done to humankind.<\/span><\/p>\n

On lui a d\u00e9form\u00e9 le\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>droit, la justice, la v\u00e9rit\u00e9, la raison, l’intelligence,<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Its right was distorted, and so were its justice, truth, reason, and intelligence;<\/span><\/p>\n

comme \u00e0 moi les yeux, les narines et les oreilles ; comme \u00e0 moi,\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

the same way was done to my eyes, nostrils and ears; like me, \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

on lui a mis au\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>coeur un cloaque de col\u00e8re et de douleur, et sur la face <\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

a cesspit of anger and grief was placed into its heart, and on the face<\/span><\/p>\n

un masque de contentement. O\u00f9 s’\u00e9tait pos\u00e9 le doigt, de Dieu,<\/p>\n

a mask of satisfaction. Where once laid the finger of God<\/span><\/p>\n

s’est appuy\u00e9e la griffe du roi. Monstrueuse superposition. \u00c9v\u00eaques, pairs et<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

leans the claw of the king. Monstrous superposition. Bishops, peers and\u00a0
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

princes, le peuple c’est le souffrant profond qui rit \u00e0 la surface.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

princes, the people are the deep sufferers who laugh on the surface.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mylords, je vous le dis, le peuple, c’est moi. Aujourd’hui vous l’opprimez,<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Mylords<\/strong>,\u00a0<\/span><\/a>I tell you, the people, it’s me. Today you oppress them,<\/span><\/p>\n

aujourd’hui vous me huez. Mais l’avenir, c’est le d\u00e9gel sombre. Ce qui \u00e9tait\u00a0\"\"<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

today you boo me. But the future<\/span><\/a><\/strong> will bring a dark thaw. That which was once \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

pierre devient flot. L’apparence solide se change en submersion.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

a rock shall turn into flood. The appearance of solidity will change into a submersion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Un craquement, et tout est dit. Il viendra une heure o\u00f9 une convulsion brisera<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

A crack, and it will all be over. The time will come when a convulsion will break
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

votre oppression, o\u00f9 un rugissement r\u00e9pliquera \u00e0 vos hu\u00e9es. <\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

your oppression, when a roar will reply to your boos.<\/span><\/p>\n

[…]
\n
\nTremblez. Les incorruptibles solutions approchent, les ongles coup\u00e9s<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Tremble therefore. The incorruptible solutions are neigh, the nails that were cut
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

repoussent, les langues arrach\u00e9es s’envolent, et deviennent des langues de feu<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

are growing back, the tongues that were torn are flying away, becoming tongues of fire<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e9parses au vent des t\u00e9n\u00e8bres, et hurlent dans l’infini ; ceux qui ont faim<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

scattered in the winds of darkness, and howling into the infinite space; those who are starving<\/span><\/p>\n

montrent leurs dents oisives, les paradis b\u00e2tis sur les enfers chancellent,\u00a0\"\"<\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

show their idle teeth, the heavens built upon hells are tottering, \u00a0
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

on souffre, on souffre, on souffre, et ce qui est en haut penche,
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

People are suffering, suffering, suffering, and what is on top is tilting,<\/span><\/p>\n

et ce qui est en\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>bas s’entrouvre, l’ombre demande \u00e0 devenir lumi\u00e8re,
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

and what is below is parting, shadow demands to become light,<\/span><\/p>\n

le damn\u00e9 discute l’\u00e9lu,<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

the damned questions the elect,<\/span><\/p>\n

c’est le peuple qui vient, vous dis-je, c’est l’homme qui monte,
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

It’s the people coming, I tell you, it’s mankind rising<\/span><\/a>,
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

c’est la fin qui commence, c’est la rouge aurore de la catastrophe, <\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

It’s the end that begins, it’s the red daybreak of the catastrophe,<\/span><\/p>\n

et voil\u00e0 ce qu’il y a dans ce rire, dont vous riez !”<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

And that is what is within this laughter, of which you laugh!”<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Only a select few of people, even amongst the most passionate die-hard superhero comics fans and “connaisseurs“, seem to be aware that Batman‘s\u00a0tragicomic arch-nemesis, the Joker, finds his original inspiration in a literary work—a work by the same author of les Mis\u00e9rables,\u00a0Victor Hugo, of all people!\u00a0 Dans un roman (in a novel) published in 1869…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":23647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,108,13],"tags":[65724,13571,65727,65720,65725,65721,9124,527,65723,553,65726,65719,65722,9138],"class_list":["post-8824","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-music","category-vocabulary","tag-65724","tag-baroque","tag-batman","tag-gwynplaine","tag-han-dislande","tag-lhomme-qui-rit","tag-les-miserables","tag-notre-dame-de-paris","tag-paul-leni","tag-quasimodo","tag-rob-zombie","tag-the-joker","tag-the-man-who-laughs","tag-victor-hugo"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t