Читать книгу Neurological Disorders in Famous Artists - Part 4 - Группа авторов - Страница 31

After the First World War, Louis Destouches also complained of frequent and severe tinnitus sometimes accompanied by vertigo. These phenomena appeared on several occurrences in his work and letters. Unlike the issue of trepanation, Céline mentioned tinnitus in the left ear very early, in particular to Marcel Brochard. His father-in-law, and director of the Medical School of Rennes, Prof. Athanase Follet (1867–1932) performed an air insufflation in Céline’s ear. However, this procedure worsened the tinnitus [Gibault, 1985, pp. 157–164].

Around the publication of Voyage au bout de la nuit (Journey to the End of the Night), Céline described his ear disorders in detail, while he was creating his trepanation legend. He even discussed the implausible aetiology of a very small piece of shrapnel in his inner ear. In 1932, in the newspaper L’Intransigeant, Céline explained: “As I am talking to you, at this very moment, there is a train in my left ear, a train in Bezons station. It arrives, it stops, it leaves. Now, it is no longer a train, it’s an orchestra. This ear is lost. It hears only pain” [Bromberger, 1932].

In his later novels, Céline specified that the symptoms began after his First World War wound: “My sleep has been constantly interrupted since November 1914… I deal with ear sons… I listen to them as they become trombones, complete orchestras, stations” [Céline, 1960, p. 180]. In Rigodon (Rigadoon), published posthumously in 1969, Céline highlighted the medical reality of his ear troubles: “(They) have been medically confirmed, with two … or three assessments… as early as 1916 and much later at the Ryshospital Copenhague” [Céline, 1969, p. 175].

It is interesting to note that Céline worked on the topic of tinnitus when a medical student, 1 year before he obtained his medical thesis. In 1923, in L’Union pharmaceutique, he wrote the summary of a communication he presented to the Société de thérapeutique: “Sur une petite thérapeutique des acouphènes par le son et la transmission osseuse” (“On a Small Treatment of Tinnitus with Sound and Bone Transmission”). The device he developed sought to help patients suffering from tinnitus and improve their hearing impairment [Céline, 1923] (Fig. 6). This early medical interest in tinnitus may confirm that Céline suffered from ear disorders from his First World War wound.

The question of the origin of these disorders is still a matter of debate. Some aetiologies may be evoked: a noise trauma, a direct traumatism of the left petrous bone during the First World War, or Menière’s disease as discussed by the writer Élisabeth Porquerol (1905–2008) in 1933 [Les Cahiers, 1976, p. 30]. As a medical doctor, Céline also raised the issue of a potential Menière’s disease in Féérie pour une autre fois (Fable for Another Time) published in 1952: “…I vomit!… I buzz! … Vertigo! It’s called Menière’s vertigo… The houses are spinning! And then! They rise!” [Céline, 1952, p. 295]. A noise trauma was the explanation given by Marcel Brochard: “The one and only blow which put an end to your war also hurt your eardrum with its noise, leaving you with noxious tinnitus” [Brochard, 2007].

Fig. 6. L’Union pharmaceutique, 1923.

Lucette Destouches, Céline’s wife, also gave her point of view on the origin of his ear troubles: “Louis often told me of his 1914 wound. A shell had thrown him to the ground. Once back on his horse, his arm was hit. There was no patent wound on his face. Only his left ear was bleeding. No one took care of it. He was severely shocked by the wound and the blow. Afterwards, Louis thought he had suffered from a petrous bone fracture” [Vitoux, 1988, pp. 87–88]. In 1946, during his incarceration in Denmark, he wrote about his first potential wound during the First World War: “Complete deafness in the left ear with intensive and permanent buzzing and whistling sounds. This has been my state since 1914 and my first wound when a shell explosion threw me against a tree… These troubles have become particularly intense for two years and especially during my incarceration” [Gibault, 1985, pp. 157–164].