In the 19th century, there were very few authors who had never been involved in a duel.

In the 19th century, few authors had never been involved in a duel. And Marcel Proust was no exception: though we might imagine him as a feverish, sickly man confined to bed (or lounging on the sofa), he nevertheless fought a pistol duel 🔫 with Jean Lorrain, who had publicly accused him of being homosexual. Lorrain was, incidentally, a notorious homosexual himself, but that clearly didn’t stop him from doing so. 🤷🏻‍♂️

In the 19th century, therefore, literature and the press were a “vox publica” 🗞️ where all manner of opinions—and sometimes denunciations—were voiced, forming a sort of counterbalance to the “res publica”, that egalitarian republic to which many intellectuals did not subscribe, perhaps because its meritocracy ran counter to aristocracy. Within the young Proust’s inner circle there was a whole network of ideologues who were fervent Catholics, politically very, very far to the right. In short, it was much lik@parismatch in the days of its former owner... 😬🤐

“What’s that got to do with sport?”, you might ask. That’s exactly what I’m getting at.

In the 1890s, Proust was twenty years old and a certain Pierre de Coubertin had the idea of reviving the Olympic ideal 🥇, drawing inspiration from the Olympic Games of antiquity. Dr Adrien Proust, our author’s father, held an important post as a public health doctor 🩺🦠, and he was deeply convinced that life in the open air and physical exercise were beneficial, particularly for someone of a frail constitution such as… Marcel, who nearly died from his first asthma attack when he was around 9 or 10 years old 🤒.

Hence the Proust family’s holidays on the Normandy coast in the 1880s, the sea bathing 🌊 and the outdoor holidays. Hence, later on, the portrayal in the novel of this whole health-conscious society, notably through the group of ‘young girls in bloom’ 🌺, whom the narrator initially suspects of being the young mistresses of racing cyclists 🚴🏻‍♂️ and regulars at the winter velodrome.

… to be continued.

🗳️ Do you remember the sports mentioned in “the Search”? Let us know in the comments! 🤓

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