The 20th century French composer Olivier Messiaen was a devout Roman Catholic and notably claimed that his music was an expression of his faith. Unsurprisingly, many performers and listeners consider Messiaen's strong religiosity central to their appreciation of the composer's music. Music scholars have devoted much energy to exploring how Messiaen's music was an extension of his religious beliefs. Yet, these works tend to discuss Messiaen's Catholicism solely in terms of personal religious identity and ignore the composer's broader connections to the cultural landscape of Roman Catholicism in France. In Olivier Messiaen: Texts, Contexts, and Intertexts (1937-1948) the late French literature scholar Richard Burton examines nine of Messiaen's works in the context of the broader French Catholic intellectual tradition. Drawing on an expansive knowledge of the Catholic literature and the surrealist tradition, Burton reveals that Messiaen's middle-period compositions are filled with intertextual references to the Bible and other theological writings, which Messiaen, given his reputation for falsifying facts, may have gone to great lengths to obscure. As a Catholic, Messiaen is presented as somewhat removed from the ethos of his time and place, taking no part in the social side of Catholicism that found expression in the Pétainist litany of 'Patrie, Famille, Travail'. Rather, Messiaen regarded himself as having a 'vertical' relationship with God, which could make him seem unworldly and even uncaring. With insights into the artistic careers of Messiaen's notable contemporaries and historical perspectives on the breakdown of French politics during World War II, Burton creates a vivid picture of the previously unexamined spiritual and philosophical inspirations behind Messiaen's pivotal mid-century compositions.

Olivier Messiaen: Texts, Contexts, and Intertexts (1937--1948)

Arts & Photography

Burton, Richard D. E.

Music

Oxford University Press

This book is the first fully comprehensive study of Baudelaire's actions, reactions, and writings from the Revolution of February 1848 to the Bonapartist coup d'état of December 1851. From the biographical, textual, and contextual evidence presented, a picture emerges of Baudelaire as a consistent radical republican. A book which traces in detail the links between literary texts and socio-political contexts, Baudelaire and the Second Revolution will appeal to students and scholars of Baudelaire and of mid-nineteenth-century French politics and society.

Baudelaire and the Second Republic: Writing and Revolution

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

Clarendon Press

This book is an intensive study of what was by far the most productive year in Baudelaire's literary career. It combines biographical investigation with detailed textual analysis in order to locate the sources of the extraordinary 'explosion' (Baudelaires' own word) of poetic creativity that he experienced during that year, and which resulted, amongst other things, in the writing of his greatest 'Paris poems'. Baudelaire in 1859 differs from 'synchronic' approaches in stressing the need for a reappraisal of his development as man and poet. To this end, Dr Burton devotes a large part of the book and thorough investigation of the fundamental difference between the first (1857) edition of Les Fleurs du mal and its successor of 1861. A picture of Baudelaire emerges, which calls into question the received view of him as a poet committed - in Sartre's words - to a life-long quest for sterility.

Baudelaire in 1859: A Study in the Sources of Poetic Creativity (Cambridge Studies in French, Series Number 24)

Cambridge University Press

This book is an intensive study of what was by far the most productive year in Baudelaire's literary career. It combines biographical investigation with detailed textual analysis in order to locate the sources of the extraordinary 'explosion' (Baudelaires' own word) of poetic creativity that he experienced during that year, and which resulted, amongst other things, in the writing of his greatest 'Paris poems'. Baudelaire in 1859 differs from 'synchronic' approaches in stressing the need for a reappraisal of his development as man and poet. To this end, Dr Burton devotes a large part of the book and thorough investigation of the fundamental difference between the first (1857) edition of Les Fleurs du mal and its successor of 1861. A picture of Baudelaire emerges, which calls into question the received view of him as a poet committed - in Sartre's words - to a life-long quest for sterility.

This wide-ranging book explores the origins, development, and character of Afro-Caribbean cultures from the slave period to the present day. Richard D. E. Burton focuses on ways in which African traditions--including those in religion, music, food, dress, and family structure--were transformed by interaction with European and indigenous forces to create the particular cultures of Jamaica, Trinidad, and Haiti. He demonstrates how the resulting Afro-Creole cultures have both challenged and reinforced the social, political, and economic status quo in these countries. Jamaican slaves opposed slavery in many ways and one of the most important, Burton suggests, was the development of Afro-Christianity. He pays particular attention to the African-derived Christmas celebration of Jonkonnu as an expression of opposition and then documents religion in the post-slavery period, with an emphasis on Rastafarianism in Jamaica and Vodou in Haiti. The element of play has always figured importantly in Afro-Caribbean life. Burton examines the evolution of carnival and calypso in Trinidad and describes the significance of cricket in defining Caribbean national identity. Based on ten years of research, Afro-Creole draws on historical, anthropological, sociological, and literary sources. Burton characterizes the emergence of Caribbean identity with three different national flavors and demonstrates how culture both reflects and impacts people's changing sense of their own political power.

Afro-Creole: Power, Opposition, and Play in the Caribbean

History

Americas

Cornell University Press

The Terror of 1793-94, the Paris Commune of 1871, the Dreyfus Affair―explosions of violence punctuated French history from the start of the Revolution until the Liberation at the close of World War II. The distinguished scholar Richard D. E. Burton here offers a stunningly original account of these outbursts, concluding that recourse to political violence was not occasional and abnormal, but rather the usual pattern, in French history. 
Instead of adhering to conventional chronological lines, Blood in the City is structured topologically around a number of major Parisian "sites of memory," including Place de la Concorde, Sacré Coeur, and the Eiffel Tower. For thirty years Burton has visited and revisited Paris, criss-crossing the streets on foot, and lived with great nineteenth- and twentieth-century literary depictions of the city. Drawing on historical, literary, visual, anthropological, and psychological sources, he develops a wide-ranging account of violence in modern French politics. In so doing, he provides powerful insights into political violence, scapegoating, the idea of sacrifice, and the widespread French obsession with conspiracy. 
Burton demonstrates that time and again the same basic scenario has been acted out on the streets of Paris: one or more people would be singled out from the community and imprisoned, exiled, or, more often, subjected to violence by the crowd or the state. In particular, he explores how Catholicism―in its extreme, ultrareactionary form―shaped the worldviews of Parisians and how the killing of a sacrificial victim came to be seen as a reenactment of the crucifixion of Christ.

Blood in the City: Violence and Revelation in Paris, 1789–1945

Europe

This wide-ranging book explores the origins, development, and character of Afro-Caribbean cultures from the slave period to the present day. Richard D. E. Burton focuses on ways in which African traditions―including those in religion, music, food, dress, and family structure―were transformed by interaction with European and indigenous forces to create the particular cultures of Jamaica, Trinidad, and Haiti. He demonstrates how the resulting Afro-Creole cultures have both challenged and reinforced the social, political, and economic status quo in these countries.
Jamaican slaves opposed slavery in many ways and one of the most important, Burton suggests, was the development of Afro-Christianity. He pays particular attention to the African-derived Christmas celebration of Jonkonnu as an expression of opposition and then documents religion in the post-slavery period, with an emphasis on Rastafarianism in Jamaica and Vodou in Haiti. The element of play has always figured importantly in Afro-Caribbean life. Burton examines the evolution of carnival and calypso in Trinidad and describes the significance of cricket in defining Caribbean national identity. 
Based on ten years of research, Afro-Creole draws on historical, anthropological, sociological, and literary sources. Burton characterizes the emergence of Caribbean identity with three different national flavors and demonstrates how culture both reflects and impacts people's changing sense of their own political power.

In 1946, after more than three hundred years as French colonies, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana were transformed into "overseas departments" of France, equal and identical in theory to any French department. This book assesses the effects of almost half a century of political assimilation into France and asks to what extent the high standard of living enjoyed by French West Indians today has been offset by losses on the political, cultural, and psychological levels.
The book, whose contributors come from the French West Indies themselves and from Britain and Jamaica, brings a variety of perspectives to bear on what to many observers will seem a paradox in the postcolonial age: three West Indian societies that are now part of Europe and whose desire to remain French far outweighs- or so it seems- their desire to be West Indian.

French and West Indian: Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana Today (New World Studies)

Literary

Univ of Virginia Pr

Richard Burton explores the fascinating world of early to mid-twentieth century artistic gay Paris and in particular the links between Poulenc's sexuality, his music and his relgious beliefs, with extensive reference to other artists in his circle, including Cocteau and Radiguet.

Francis Poulenc (Outlines)

Biographies & Memoirs

Absolute Pr

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Burton, Richard D. E.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Burton, Richard D. E.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Burton, Richard D. E.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Olivier Messiaen: Texts, Contexts, and Intertexts (1937--1948)

Baudelaire and the Second Republic: Writing and Revolution

Baudelaire in 1859: A Study in the Sources of Poetic Creativity (Cambridge Studies in French, Series Number 24)

Baudelaire in 1859: A Study in the Sources of Poetic Creativity (Cambridge Studies in French, Series Number 24)

Afro-Creole: Power, Opposition, and Play in the Caribbean

Blood in the City: Violence and Revelation in Paris, 1789–1945

Afro-Creole: Power, Opposition, and Play in the Caribbean

French and West Indian: Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana Today (New World Studies)

Francis Poulenc (Outlines)