Abstract
The Road is Wider than Long is a paradoxical artist’s book created by Roland Penrose in 1939. At the same time documentary and poetic, a travel report and a lyrical production, it comprises free verse, typographic poetry, “papiers colles”, and photographs. This heterogeneous nature allows to explore the contrasts and contradictions between but also the coming together of avant-garde poetry and photography. First, this article shows how The Road is Wider than Long draws from amateur practices by focusing on Penrose’s method of handling the pictures. Then, turning to the actual text, it elaborates on the notion of “poetic rendition”. Finally, it discusses the power of poetry when it is interwoven with and combines different aesthetics and intentions, and this at the crossroads of memory and document. Originally a keepsake to keep a record of a couple’s trip memories in the Balkans, The Road is Wider than Long belongs at the same time to Surrealist books with photography illustrations and to the tradition of the photobooks focused on territories.
Highlights
The Road is Wider than Long is a paradoxical artist’s book created by Roland Penrose in 1939
A keepsake to keep a record of a couple’s trip memories in the Balkans, The Road is Wider than Long belongs at the same time to Surrealist books with photography illustrations and to the tradition of the photobooks focused on territories
What can one make of glorious memories of an exceptional trip to the Balkans? What should one make of a once-in-a-lifetime experience? These questions may have been on the mind of British poet and artist Roland Penrose when he left his partner, the great American photographer Lee Miller, behind in
Summary
The Road is Wider than Long is the ideal case study for those wishing to consider the links between poetry and the concept of document. 3. Following research by Elena Gualtieri and others (Grojnowski; Reverseau 2018) into Blaise Cendrars’ 1924 poem collection Kodak (Documentaire), which, unlike Penrose’s book, contained no images, this article explores the various aspects of the idea of “poetic document” through this peculiar case study. Following research by Elena Gualtieri and others (Grojnowski; Reverseau 2018) into Blaise Cendrars’ 1924 poem collection Kodak (Documentaire), which, unlike Penrose’s book, contained no images, this article explores the various aspects of the idea of “poetic document” through this peculiar case study This notion – meaning a concrete support used for another purpose than its initial purpose – allows us to emphasise the contrasts and contradictions between and the coming together of avant-garde poetry and photography. It discusses the power of poetry when it interweaves with and combines different aesthetics and intentions
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