USP - Conférence : "Jean Giono, romancier de la nature ou précurseur écologique ?"

Jean Giono (1895–1970) is now considered a pioneer of environmentalism. The success of *The Man Who Planted Trees* is a testament to this. Nature features prominently in his work, from *Colline* to *Batailles dans la montagne*. More than just a backdrop, it is a force, a power with which man must come to terms. In his essays from the 1930s, *Les Vraies Richesses* and *Lettre aux paysans sur la pauvreté et la paix*, he combines pacifism, a critique of industrial civilization, and a celebration of country life. So, is Jean Giono merely a writer committed to defending the environment? Isn’t his complex relationship with the natural elements that of a creator—a novelist and poet—rather than that of a thinker?

Jean-Yves LAURICHESSE is professor emeritus of French literature at the University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurès.

His research focuses on Jean Giono, Claude Simon, and contemporary literature (Lignes de terre: Writing About the Rural World Today, 2020).

On Giono, he has published *Giono et Stendhal: chemins de lecture et de création* (1994), co-edited the *Dictionnaire Giono* (2016), and serves as editor-in-chief of the *Revue Giono* (Association des Amis de Jean Giono).

He is also a writer, the author of about ten novels and short stories, including *Les Noces rouges selon Bruegel* (Ateliers Henry Dougier, 2022), *Les Réalités premières* (La Guépine, 2023), and *Le Destin d’un poète* (Le Temps qu’il fait, 2025).