The Fabulists French: Verse Fables of Nine Centuries

Antioch Review, The, Wntr, 1995 by Barbara B. Davis

After the towering and probably mythic figure of Aesop, La Fontaine is synonymous with the verse fable. But as Shapiro suggests in his prologue, although a modest genre, it is also tenacious, attracting a wide and varied authorship. This collection begins in the late 12th century with several finely crafted examples by Marie de France, the first identifiable woman writer in French, and concludes with the light-hearted Fabliettes of Eugene Guillevic, written in 1981. In between, nearly 70 fabulists are represented, ranging from the now obscure to such famous literati as Jacques Prevert and Jean Anouilh, and including French-speaking writers from Canada, Louisiana, North and West Africa, as well as metropolitan France.

Such a long and impressive history suggests the adaptability of the verse fable. A didactic genre employing animals to illustrate the foibles of human nature, it is well suited to exploring the realities of power and weakness. Its rural setting, pragmatism, and uncomplicated structure put the fable within the rich sphere of folkloric culture. As was so often the case in old France, the greatest practitioners of popular culture were elites - courtly aristocrats, ecclesiastics, and the urban bourgeoisie, among whom were jurists, doctors, and booksellers. Modern writers, often from the same social groups, have had no difficulty in maintaining the traditional form, while including people and machines updates common themes. This remarkable unity over time suggests the porous nature of cultural expression as well as the continuing attraction to the verse fable.

The original French is here accompanied by Shapiro's lively translations, to which are appended scholarly notes and bibliography. The text is further adorned by Schorr's amusing woodcuts. Translator, artist, and publisher have provided both scholar and layman with a useful, beautifully produced anthology.

Barbara B. Davis