Corps sanglants, souffrants et macabres, XVIe–XVIIe siècle éd. par Christine Bouteille-Meister, Kjerstin Aukrust

Abstract

but sought to build something new and positive; Garnier’s Spatialism distinguished itself with supranational intentions. The six essays in the opening chapter, “Langue poétique, langue maternelle ,” comment on Garnier’s poetic apprenticeship and his efforts to revive literature in Picard, helping to save the language from oblivion. In 1966, Garnier served as literary editor for Eklitra, a new journal devoted to Picard; thence and into the twenty-first century, he discusses Picard and composes even Spatialist poetry in it. The next section, “Pierre et Ilse Garnier: œuvres croisées,” presents four articles about their collaborations and, among other interesting aspects, examines the international blend of Ilse’s Germany and Pierre’s France. Stressing Pierre Garnier’s rejection of language as a national political construct, the discussants examine how the marriage of the two writers and their bilingual texts become statements of supranational reconciliation. Most important and useful in this section is the analysis of several of their Spatialist works. Avant-garde works of this nature are difficult to explicate, and rarely attract the attention that this volume devotes to them. Gaby Gappmayr’s essay deals with the question of space around the physical word on the page, while Alfons Knauth discusses Spatialism as supranationalism and explores the poetic space created by the Garniers’ French-German interlecte. Today’s graphic design studios make page layout seem easy, but not long ago it was difficult to get words and letters arranged in anything but straight lines. Thus the Garniers’ poem “Adam et Eve im Paradies,” published in Poèmes mécaniques, is drawn and lettered in a somewhat clumsy hand and the typewriter becomes the instrument of composition. In this instance the machine’s role is integral to the poetry, while in others it seems simply the means of text creation. The section “Langue des mots, langue des signes” focuses on Pierre’s promotion of Picard, his love of birds, and his connections with writers of the École de Rochefort in East Germany and Czechoslovakia. Contributors Francis Édeline, Claude Debon, and Philippe Buschinger discuss central aspects of visual poetry, such as the text-image relationship, the use of color as an additional visual element , and the Spatialist use of the white space on the page. Each of these authors engages in a convincing close analysis of one work, and they underscore Garnier’s statement, “poetry is typography / typography is poetry.” It is gratifying to see reference to the “reader-viewer,” acknowledging the particular nature of visual poetry. This volume presents a well-rounded portrait of the long careers of the Garniers, illuminating some lesser-known aspects of their work and experience . Most of all, it focuses valuable attention on their Spatialist poetry and gives it in-depth critical consideration. This is an important reference work in avant-garde studies. Georgia Southern University David W. Seaman BOUTEILLE-MEISTER, CHRISTINE, et KJERSTIN AUKRUST, éd. Corps sanglants, souffrants et macabres, XVIe –XVIIe siècle. Paris: PU Sorbonne Nouvelle, 2010. ISBN 978-287854 -489-3. Pp. 376. 29 a. La violence de la représentation de la souffrance, ainsi que la fascination pour la “beauté de l’horrible” (11) marquent le point de départ des actes du colloque 746 FRENCH REVIEW 85.4 international “Corps sanglants”, organisé par l’Université d’Oslo (12–14 octobre 2008). Les études qui sont réunies dans cet ouvrage se déclinent à travers les genres et les représentations des corps martyrisés, marqués par la violence de cette période historique, entre Guerre de Religions, grandes découvertes scientifiques et géographiques et remises en question de l’ordre commun. Toutes ces communications entrent dans la problématique formulée en introduction par Bouteille-Meister, à savoir “cerner le sens de ces représentations dans une société donnée, travaillée par des représentations d’ordre religieux, médical et politique” (9). Ce qui est particulièrement intéressant dans ces différentes contributions est l’utilisation qui est faite du corps et de son image. Elle permet de sublimer la souffrance et l’horreur, en faisant du lecteur un acteur et un voyeur, à la manière de ce que Christina Bien fait remarquer...