Georges Perec
Georges Perec | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 7 March 1936 Paris, France |
| Died | 3 March 1982(aged 45) Ivry-sur-Seine,France |
| Occupation | Novelist,filmmaker,essayist |
| Language | French |
| Spouse | Paulette Petras |
Georges Perec(French:[ʒoʁʒpeʁɛk];[1]7 March 1936 – 3 March 1982) was a Frenchnovelist,filmmaker,documentalist,andessayist.He was a member of theOulipogroup. His father died as a soldier early in theSecond World Warand his mother was killed inthe Holocaust.Many of his works deal with absence, loss, and identity, often throughword play.[2]
Early life[edit]
Born in a working-class district of Paris, Perec was the only son of Icek Judko and Cyrla (Schulewicz) Peretz, Polish Jews who had emigrated to France in the 1920s. He was a distant relative of theYiddishwriterIsaac Leib Peretz.Perec's father, who enlisted in the French Army during World War II, died in 1940 from untreated gunfire or shrapnel wounds, and his mother was killed in theHolocaust,probably inAuschwitzsometime after 1943. Perec was taken into the care of his paternal aunt and uncle in 1942, and in 1945, he was formally adopted by them.
Career[edit]
Perec started writing reviews and essays forLa Nouvelle Revue françaiseandLes Lettres nouvelles,prominent literary publications, while studying history andsociologyat theSorbonne.In 1958/59 Perec served in the army as aparatrooper(XVIIIe Régiment de Chasseurs Parachutistes), and married Paulette Petras after being discharged. They spent one year (1960/1961) inSfax,Tunisia, where Paulette worked as a teacher; these experiences are reflected inThings: A Story of the Sixties,which is about a young Parisian couple who also spend a year in Sfax.
In 1961 Perec began working at the Neurophysiological Research Laboratory in the unit's research library funded by theCNRSand attached to theHôpital Saint-Antoineas anarchivist,a low-paid position which he retained until 1978. A few reviewers have noted that the daily handling of records and varied data may have influenced his literary style. In any case, Perec's work on the reassessment of the academic journals under subscription was influenced by a talk about the handling of scientific information given byEugene Garfieldin Paris and he was introduced toMarshall McLuhanbyJean Duvignaud.Perec's other major influence was theOulipo,which he joined in 1967, meetingRaymond Queneau,among others. Perec dedicated his masterpiece,La Vie mode d'emploi(Life: A User's Manual) to Queneau, who died before it was published.
Perec began working on a series ofradio playswith his translator Eugen Helmle and the musicianPhilippe Drogozin the late 60s; less than a decade later, he was making films. His first work, based on his novelUn Homme qui dort,was co-directedbyBernard Queysanne,and won him thePrix Jean Vigoin 1974. Perec also createdcrosswordpuzzles forLe Pointfrom 1976 on.
La Vie mode d'emploi(1978) brought Perec some financial and critical success—it won thePrix Médicis—and allowed him to turn to writing full-time. He was awriter-in-residenceat theUniversity of Queensland,Australia, in 1981 during which time he worked on53 Jours(53 Days), which he would not finish. Shortly after his return from Australia, his health deteriorated. A heavy smoker, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He died the following year inIvry-sur-Seineat age 45, four days shy of his 46th birthday; his ashes are held at thecolumbariumof thePère Lachaise Cemetery.
Work[edit]
Many of Perec's novels and essays abound with experimentalword play,lists and attempts atclassification,and they are usually tinged withmelancholy.
Perec's first novelLes Choses(published in English asThings: A Story of the Sixties) (1965) was awarded thePrix Renaudot.
Perec's most famous novelLa Vie mode d'emploi(Life A User's Manual) was published in 1978. Its title page describes it as "novels", in the plural, the reasons for which become apparent on reading.La Vie mode d'emploiis a tapestry of interwoven stories and ideas as well as literary and historical allusions, based on the lives of the inhabitants of a fictitious Parisian apartment block. It was written according to a complex plan of writing constraints and is primarily constructed from several elements, each adding a layer of complexity. The 99 chapters of his 600-page novel move like a knight's tour of a chessboard around the room plan of the building, describing the rooms and stairwell and telling the stories of the inhabitants. At the end, it is revealed that the whole book actually takes place in a single moment, with a final twist that is an example of "cosmic irony".It was translated into English byDavid Bellosin 1987.
Perec is noted for hisconstrained writing.His 300-page novelLa disparition(1969) is alipogram,written with natural sentence structure and correct grammar, but using only words that do not contain the letter "e". It has been translated into English byGilbert Adairunder the titleA Void(1994). His novellaLes revenentes(1972) is a complementaryunivocalicpiece in which the letter "e" is the only vowel used. This constraint affects even the title, which would conventionally be speltRevenantes.An English translation byIan Monkwas published in 1996 asThe Exeter Text: Jewels, Secrets, Sexin the collectionThree.It has been remarked byJacques Roubaudthat these two novels draw words from twodisjoint setsof the French language, and that a third novel would be possible, made from the words not used so far (those containing both "e" and a vowel other than "e" ).
W ou le souvenir d'enfance,(W, or the Memory of Childhood,1975) is a semi-autobiographical work which is hard to classify. Two alternating narratives make up the volume: one, a fictional outline of a remote island country called "W", at first appears to be autopiansociety modelled on theOlympicideal, but is gradually exposed as a horrifying,totalitarianprison much like aconcentration camp.The second narrative is a description of Perec's childhood during and after World War II. Both narratives converge towards the end, highlighting the common theme ofthe Holocaust.
"Cantatrix sopranica L. Scientific Papers" is a spoof scientific paper detailing experiments on the "yelling reaction" provoked in sopranos by pelting them with rotten tomatoes. All the references in the paper are multi-lingualpunsand jokes, e.g. "(Karybb&Szyla,1973) ".[5]
David Bellos,who has translated several of Perec's works, wrote an extensive biography of Perec:Georges Perec: A Life in Words,which won theAcadémie Goncourt'sboursefor biography in 1994.
The Association Georges Perec has extensive archives on the author in Paris.[6]
In 1992 Perec's initially rejected novelGaspard pas mort(Gaspard not dead), which was believed to be lost, was found by David Bellos amongst papers in the house of Perec's friendAlain Guérin.The novel was reworked several times and retitledLe Condottière[7]and published in 2012; its English translation by Bellos followed in 2014 asPortrait of a Manafter the1475 painting of that namebyAntonello da Messina.[8]The initial title borrows the name Gaspard from thePaul Verlainepoem "Gaspar Hauser Chante"[2](inspired byKaspar Hauser,from the 1881 collectionSagesse) and characters named "Gaspard" appear in bothW, or the Memory of ChildhoodandLife: A User's Manual,while inMICRO-TRADUCTIONS, 15 variations discrètes sur un poème connuhe creatively re-writes the Verlaine poem 15 times.
Honours[edit]
Asteroidno. 2817,discovered in 1982, was named after Perec. In 1994, a street in the20th arrondissement of Pariswas named after him,rue Georges-Perec.TheFrench postal serviceissued a stamp in 2002 in his honour; it was designed byMarc Taraskoffand engraved byPierre Albuisson.For his work, Perec won the Prix Renaudot in 1965, the Prix Jean Vigo in 1974, and the Prix Médicis in 1978. He was featured as aGoogle Doodleon his 80th birthday.[9]
Works[edit]
Books[edit]
The most complete bibliography of Perec's works is Bernard Magné'sTentative d'inventaire pas trop approximatif des écrits de Georges Perec(Toulouse, Presses Universitaires du Mirail, 1993).
| Year | Original French | English translation |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Les Choses(Paris: René Juillard, 1965) | Things: A Story of the Sixties,trans. byHelen Lane(New York: Grove Press, 1967); Things: A Story of the SixtiesinThings: A Story of the Sixties & A Man Asleeptrans. byDavid Bellosand Andrew Leak (London: Vintage, 1999) |
| 1966 | Quel petit vélo à guidon chromé au fond de la cour?(Paris: Denoël, 1966) | Which Moped with Chrome-plated Handlebars at the Back of the Yard?,trans. byIan MonkinThree by Perec(Harvill Press, 1996) |
| 1967 | Un homme qui dort(Paris: Denoël, 1967) | A Man Asleep,trans. by Andrew Leak inThings: A Story of the Sixties & A Man Asleep(London: Vintage, 1999) |
| 1969 | La Disparition(Paris: Denoël, 1969) | A Void,trans. byGilbert Adair(London: Harvill, 1994) |
| 1969 | Petit traité invitant à la découverte de l'art subtil dugo,with Pierre Lusson andJacques Roubaud(Paris: Christian Bourgois, 1969) | A Short Treatise Inviting the Reader to Discover the Subtle Art of Go,trans. by Peter Consenstein (Cambridge, MA: Wakefield Press, 2019) |
| 1972 | Les Revenentes,(Paris: Editions Julliard, 1972) | The Exeter Text: Jewels, Secrets, Sex,trans. by Ian Monk inThree by Perec(Harvill Press, 1996) |
| 1972 | Die Maschine,(Stuttgart: Reclam, 1972) | The Machine,trans. by Ulrich Schönherr in "The Review of Contemporary Fiction: Georges Perec Issue: Spring 2009 Vol. XXIX, No. 1" (Chicago: Dalkey Archive, 2009) |
| 1973 | La Boutique obscure: 124 rêves,(Paris: Denoël, 1973) | La Boutique Obscure: 124 Dreams,trans. by Daniel Levin Becker (Melville House, 2013) |
| 1974 | Espèces d'espaces(Paris: Galilée 1974) | Species of Spaces and Other Pieces,ed. and trans. byJohn Sturrock(London: Penguin, 1997; rev. ed. 1999) |
| 1974 | Ulcérations,(Bibliothèque oulipienne, 1974) | — |
| 1975 | W ou le souvenir d'enfance(Paris: Denoël, 1975) | W, or the Memory of Childhood,trans. by David Bellos (London: Harvill, 1988) |
| 1975 | Tentative d'épuisement d'un lieu parisien(Paris: Christian Bourgois, 1975) | An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris,trans. by Marc Lowenthal (Cambridge, MA: Wakefield Press, 2010) |
| 1976 | Alphabetsillust. byDado(Paris: Galilée, 1976) | — |
| 1978 | Je me souviens,(Paris: Hachette, 1978) | Memories,trans./adapted by Gilbert Adair (inMyths and MemoriesLondon: HarperCollins, 1986); I Remember,trans. by Philip Terry and David Bellos (Boston: David R. Godine, 2014) |
| 1978 | La Vie mode d'emploi(Paris: Hachette, 1978) | Life: A User's Manual,trans. by David Bellos (London: Vintage, 2003) |
| 1979 | Les mots croisés,(Mazarine, 1979) | — |
| 1979 | Un cabinet d'amateur,(Balland, 1979) | A Gallery Portrait,trans. by Ian Monk inThree by Perec(Harvill Press, 1996) |
| 1980 | La Clôture et autres poèmes,(Paris: Hachette, 1980) – Contains apalindromeof 1,247 words (5,566 letters).[10] | — |
| 1980 | Récits d'Ellis Island: Histoires d'errance et d'espoir,(INA/Éditions du Sorbier, 1980) | Ellis Island and the People of America(withRobert Bober), trans. byHarry Mathews(New York: New Press, 1995) |
| 1981 | Théâtre I,(Paris: Hachette, 1981) | — |
| 1982 | Epithalames,(Bibliothèque oulipienne, 1982) | — |
| 1985 | Penser Classer(Paris: Hachette, 1985) | Thoughts of Sort,trans. by David Bellos (Boston: David R. Godine, 2009) |
| 1986 | Les mots croisés II,(P.O.L.-Mazarine, 1986) | — |
| 1989 | 53 Jours,unfinished novel ed. byHarry MathewsandJacques Roubaud(Paris: P.O.L., 1989) | 53 Days,trans. by David Bellos (London: Harvill, 1992) |
| 1989 | L'infra-ordinaire(Paris: Seuil, 1989) | — |
| 1989 | Voeux,(Paris: Seuil, 1989) | Wishes,trans. by Mara Cologne Wythe-Hall (Cambridge, MA: Wakefield Press, 2018) |
| 1990 | Je suis né,(Paris: Seuil, 1990) | — |
| 1991 | Cantatrix sopranica L. et autres écrits scientifiques,(Paris: Seuil, 1991) | "Cantatrix sopranica L. Scientific Papers" withHarry Mathews(London: Atlas Press, 2008) |
| 1992 | L.G.: Une aventure des années soixante,(Paris: Seuil, 1992) Containing pieces written from 1959 to 1963 for the journalLa Ligne générale:Le Nouveau Roman et le refus du réel; Pour une littérature réaliste; Engagement ou crise du langage; Robert Antelme ou la vérité de la littérature; L'univers de la science-fiction; La perpétuelle reconquête;Wozzeckou la méthode de l'apocalypse. |
— |
| 1993 | Le Voyage d'hiver,1993 (Paris: Seuil, 1993) | The Winter Journey,trans. byJohn Sturrock(London: Syrens, 1995) |
| 1994 | Beaux présents belles absentes,(Paris: Seuil, 1994) | — |
| 1999 | Jeux intéressants(Zulma, 1999) | — |
| 1999 | Nouveaux jeux intéressants(Zulma, 1999) | — |
| 2003 | Entretiens et conférences(in 2 volumes, Joseph K., 2003) | — |
| 2008 | L'art et la manière d'aborder son chef de service pour lui demander une augmentation(Hachette) | The Art of Asking Your Boss for a Raise,trans. by David Bellos (Verso, 2011) |
| 2012 | Le Condottière(Éditions du Seuil, 2012) | Portrait of a Man Known as Il Condottiere,translated by David Bellos (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014) |
| 2016 | L'Attentat de Sarajevo(Éditions du Seuil, 2016) | |
| 2019 | Entretiens, conférences, textes rares, inédits(in one volume, 1104 p., Joseph K., 2019) |
Films[edit]
- Un homme qui dort,1974 (with Bernard Queysanne, English title:The Man Who Sleeps)
- Les Lieux d'une fugue,1975
- Série noire(Alain Corneau,1979)
- Ellis Island(TV film with Robert Bober)
References[edit]
- ^Jenny Davidson,Reading Style: A Life in Sentences,Columbia University Press, 2014, p. 107: "I have an almost Breton name which everyone spells as Pérec or Perrec—my name isn't written exactly as it is pronounced."
- ^abDavid Bellos(1993).Georges Perec: A Life in Words: a Biography.D. R. Godine. p.108.ISBN978-0-87923-980-0.
- ^"L'écrit touareg du sable au papier.Un typographe français a retranscrit l' Alpha bet des hommes du désert".Liberation(in French). 27 July 1996.Retrieved7 August2021.
- ^"Les tristes épousailles d'Andin Basnoda, Pierre di Sciullo & Bernard Magné".Cabinet Perec(in French). Archived fromthe originalon 5 February 2007.Retrieved22 August2021.
- ^"Mise en évidence expérimentale d'une organisation tomatotopique chez la soprano (Cantatrix sopranica L.) "Archived23 December 2011 at theWayback Machine(in French)
"Experimental demonstration of the tomatotopic organization in the Soprano (Cantatrix sopranica L.) " - ^"Association Georges Perec".
- ^"The Letter Vanishes"Archived3 November 2018 at theWayback Machineby James Gibbons,Bookforum,December/January 2006
- ^"Georges Perec's Lost Novel"byDavid Bellos,The New York Review of Books,8 April 2015
- ^"Georges Perec's 80th Birthday".google.Retrieved7 March2016.
- ^Georges Perec:"Le grand palindrome"Archived5 January 2014 at theWayback MachineinLa clôture et autre poèmes,Hachette/Collection P.O.L., 1980
Further reading[edit]
Biographies
Criticism
- The Poetics of Experiment: A Study of the Work of Georges Perecby Warren Motte (1984)
- Perec ou les textes croisésby J. Pedersen (1985). In French.
- Pour un Perec lettré, chiffréby J.-M. Raynaud (1987). In French.
- Georges Perecby Claude Burgelin (1988). In French.
- Georges Perec: Traces of His Passageby Paul Schwartz (1988)
- Perecollages 1981–1988by Bernard Magné (1989). In French.
- La Mémoire et l'obliqueby Philippe Lejeune (1991). In French.
- Georges Perec: Ecrire Pour Ne Pas Direby Stella Béhar (1995). In French.
- Poétique de Georges Perec: «...une trace, une marque ou quelques signes»by Jacques-Denis Bertharion (1998) In French.
- Georges Perec Et I'Histoire,ed. by Carsten Sestoft & Steen Bille Jorgensen (2000). In French.
- La Grande Catena. Studi su "La Vie mode d'emploi"by Rinaldo Rinaldi (2004). In Italian.
External links[edit]
- L'Association Georges Perec, in French
- Je me souviens de Georges Perec – comprehensive site in French by Jean-Benoît Guinot, with extensive bibliography of secondary material and links
- Petri Liukkonen."Georges Perec".Books and Writers.
- Université McGill: le roman selon les romanciers (French)Archived16 March 2012 at theWayback MachineInventory and analysis of Georges Perec non-novelistic writings about the novel
- Reading Georges Perec, by Warren Motte
- Perec's "Negative Autobiography"at theWayback Machine(archived 23 December 2007)
- Récits d'Ellis Island'atIMDb
- Un homme qui dortatIMDb
- Les Lieux d'une fugeatIMDb
- Georges PerecatIMDb
- Georges Perèc o la Literatura como Arte Combinatoria. Instrucciones de uso | in Spanish | by Adolfo Vasquez Rocca
- Pensar y clasificar; Georges Perèc, escritor y trapecista | in Spanish | by Adolfo Vasquez Rocca PhD
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1936 births
- 1982 deaths
- Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery
- Writers from Paris
- Oulipo members
- French people of Polish-Jewish descent
- Puzzle designers
- 20th-century French Jews
- Jewish French writers
- French Holocaust survivors
- Prix Médicis winners
- Prix Renaudot winners
- Postmodern writers
- French adoptees
- 20th-century French novelists
- French male novelists
- Deaths from lung cancer in France
- 20th-century French male writers
- Go (game) writers
- Crossword creators
- Palindromists