Armand Petitjean (1913-2003) the author of this unpublished essay was an intellectual and
critic whose work has not yet received full recognition for its depth and significance. Between
1933 and 1935 Petitjean produced a typescript in English called Essay on the Situation of Joyce
which Joyce himself described as an amazing study of W[ork]. I[n]. P[rogress]. Petitjean
frequented James Joyce in Paris and played a rather important role in the latter's life until
Joyce's death in 1941. This edition contains an introduction which outlines the genesis of the
Essay and the connected dealings of its author with important figures from the French literary
scene of the 1930s. Along with other sources this section relies upon numerous unpublished
letters from Petitjean and Joyce's international milieu. It describes how the essay fits into
its contemporary literary context and highlights the significance of the text in the reception
of Joyce. *** The existence of Armand Petitjean's Essay on the Situation of Joyce was known to
the author's closest circle but it has remained unpublished to this day to the regret of
Joyceans. The publication of this text from the beginning of the 1930s provides us with
essential information on the genesis of Work in Progress Finnegans Wake and on the Joycean
community in Paris. A historical overview analysis commentary and annotations make up the
rest of this volume which presents unpublished material such as letters from Sylvia Beach T.
S. Eliot Richard Ellmann Valery Larbaud Charles Du Bos Jean Ballard Auguste Bréal Maria
Jolas Stéphanie Chandler Aline Mayrisch-de Saint Hubert Victoria Ocampo Louis Gillet
Georges Pelorson Emeric Fiser Jean Gosset Ettore Settanni and Armand Petitjean himself as
well as extracts from his unpublished autobiography. *** Armand Petitjean (1913-2003)
Precocious and prolific intellectual Philosophy's Rimbaud (Bachelard) friend of Lacan
secretary at and contributor to La Nouvelle Revue Française writer essayist critic and
literary reviewer journalist publicist author of philosophical works (Imagination et
Réalisation 1936 Le Moderne et son prochain 1938) translator (Ernst Jünger W. H. Auden
Christopher Isherwood John Crowe Ransom) delegate to the Secretariat of Youth (a secretariat
attached to the Ministry of Propaganda in Vichy) infantryman in the French army director of
the Lancôme company (created by his father) director of the Écologie collection in the Fayard
publishing house co-founder of the movement Ecoropa (European Network for Ecological
Reflection and Action). Gaston Mannes (1947) Professor of German literature scholar attached
to the Centre national de littérature (Luxembourg) librarian to the Court of the Grand-Duke of
Luxembourg curator of exhibitions author of works of science history and fiction. He is
curator of the exhibition James Joyce in Luxembourg (2022) at the National Library of
Luxembourg.
