Noa Noa

Morice, Charles, 1861-1919Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.8

Word count: 205K words
Chapters: 21

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Noa Noa by Paul Gauguin and Charles MoriceAuthor: Morice, Charles, 1861-1919,Language: French, Class: ND: Fine Arts: Painting, Release Date: Mar 1, 2004

Editor's review

This French text, a collaboration between Paul Gauguin and Charles Morice, is an early literary version of Noa Noa, recording Gauguin's impressions and inner monologue upon first arriving in Tahiti. Its value lies not in offering complete art-historical verification but in showing how a painter used words to capture an exotic experience: colonial perspective, the imagining of "the primitive," personal desire, and artistic reflection are interwoven. Morice's editing gives the text a symbolist style, with dense sentences suited to slow reading. As you read, pay attention to how Gauguin describes landscape, bodies, and local customs, and to the European gaze implicit in those descriptions. For readers studying Post-Impressionism, colonial-era art writing, or French travel literature, this is a tension-filled primary source; general readers should approach it with critical distance and not treat it as objective ethnography. The electronic edition is easy to search and cross-reference, making it suitable for note-taking reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Art history readers studying Post-Impressionism and Gauguin's artistic practice
Literary scholars interested in colonial travel writing and exotic imagination
Advanced readers with French reading ability who want to engage with the original text
Readers interested in Tahitian cultural writing and reflection on the European gaze

Not a good fit for

Beginners seeking a systematic Gauguin biography or complete commentary on his works
Social science readers expecting an objective ethnographic record of Tahiti
Learners who cannot read French and do not wish to use a parallel translation

Reading tips

Read the preface or editor's note first to understand Morice's role in the text's formation, then move on to the main text.
Prepare a map and images of Gauguin's contemporaneous paintings for comparison, noting differences between textual and visual experience.
Annotate passages of colonial tone and personal lyricism, then review these marks together after finishing.
If French is difficult, find an English translation for side-by-side comparison, but follow the rhythm of the French original.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a novel or nonfiction?

It is closer to travel essays and artistic autobiography with literary embellishment, mixing observations, memories, and symbolist description. It is neither a strict novel nor an objective field record. It is best read as a literary treatment of Gauguin's Tahitian experience.

Can I read it without knowing French?

You can grasp the content with an English or parallel translation, but much of the original rhythm and Morice's style will be lost. For background understanding, a translation suffices; for studying textual details, consult the French original.

Do I need to know Gauguin's biography first?

You need not read a full biography, but knowing that Gauguin went to Tahiti in 1891 in pursuit of "primitive" art will make the expectations and disappointments in the text easier to understand. A one-page chronology of Gauguin's life before the main text is enough.

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About the author

Morice, Charles, 1861-1919 Author · French · 1861–1919

Charles Morice (1861–1919) was a French poet and art critic who played a significant role in Symbolist literary circles. He is best known for collaborating with the painter Paul Gauguin on the preparation of Gauguin's celebrated Tahitian travel journal Noa Noa, a collaboration that made him one of the Symbolist critics bridging literature and painting. As a critic, Morice maintained a sustained interest in and commentary on Symbolist literature, and his writings had a certain influence within such circles at the time. Public information about the details of his life is limited, and no reliable records of his education, posts, or specific experiences are available. Overall, he was a French man of letters who took part in the Symbolist movement through poetry and art criticism.