Elio Petri WRITINGS on CINEMA & LIFE
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Dedicated to the value & the indispensable importance of the individual voice, to testing the boundaries of thought and experience. CATALOG 2015 CONTRA MUNDUM PRESS CATALOG 2015 Only the book matters, such as it is, far from genres, outside of categories —. prose, poetry, novel, testimony — under which it refuses to be classed, and to which it denies the ability to assign its place & determine its form. A book no longer belongs to a genre; every book belongs to literature alone, as if literature possessed beforehand, in their generality, the secrets and formulæ that alone allow what is written to assume the reality of a book. It seems as if genres have vanished, and literature alone asserted itself, gleamed solitary in the mysterious clarity that it propagates, and which each literary creation reflects by multiply- ing it — as if there were, in short, an “essence” of literature. But the essence of literature is precisely to escape any essential determination, any assertion that stabilizes it or even realizes it: it is never already there; it always has to be rediscovered or reinvented. .— Maurice Blanchot, The Book to Come Title: Gilgamesh Translated with an introduction by Stuart Kendall ISBN: 9780983697206. $18, 14£, 12€ Pub.Date: January 2012 encomiums “The exemplary version for our time.” —Jerome Rothenberg Stuart Kendall’s Gilgamesh is the exemplary ver- Composed over 2,500 years, lost in the deserts of Iraq for 2,000 Kendall Stuart sion for our time, a reading that allows the mind more, Gilgamesh presents a palimpsest of ancient Middle Eastern cultic and courtly lyrics and lore. The story of a vision- to see what had been too long lost to us and what ary journey beyond the limits of human experience, Gilgamesh is a tale of friendship, adventure, mortality, and loss. The leg- we so much need to make us fully human. This is ends it collects ultimately informed Greek and Egyptian myths, the place to go for further sustenance. Hebrew Scriptures, and Islamic literature. Scholarly translations of Gilgamesh often dilute the .— Jerome Rothenberg expressive force of the material through overzealous erudition. Gilgamesh Popular versions of the poem frequently gloss over gaps in the text with accessible and comforting, but ultimately falsely This strikingly handsome edition ofGilgamesh ecumenical language. has the feel of picking up a fragment of the cu- In this new translation, Stuart Kendall animates the latest scholarship with a contemporary poetic sensibility, inspired by neiform tablet, miraculously lucid, magically set, the pagan worldview of the ancient work. Transcriptions of all of the available tablets and tales have been harnessed to present the solemn priestly tablets of the ‘original’ are a fluid and holistic Gilgamesh, true to the archaic mind. transformed into communiqués from the field This Gilgamesh is a poem of environmental encounter and, ultimately, ecological disaster. It is a contemporary poem of action. An exemplary translation that recovers rooted in the origins of our civilization, a record of the first the time of listening. break of light at the dawn of our consciousness. — Robert Kelly Stuart Kendall . Image, Front Cover: isbn 978-0-9836972-0-6 Demon, called Humbaba, terracotta, c. 2000-1500 bce, 6.9 cm high, Iraq Museum, www.contramundum.net Baghdad, Iraq Composed over 2,500 years, lost in the deserts sions of the poem frequently gloss over gaps of Iraq for 2,000 more, Gilgamesh presents a in the text with accessible and comforting, palimpsest of ancient Middle Eastern cultic but ultimately falsely ecumenical language. and courtly lyrics & lore. The story of a vi- In this new version, Stuart Kendall ani- sionary journey beyond the limits of human mates the latest scholarship with a contempo- experience, Gilgamesh is a tale of friendship, rary poetic sensibility, inspired by the pagan adventure, mortality, and loss. The legends worldview of the ancient work. Transcrip- it collects ultimately informed Greek and tions of all of the available tablets and tales Egyptian myths, Hebrew Scriptures, and have been harnessed to present a fluid and Islamic literature. holistic Gilgamesh, true to the archaic mind. Scholarly translations of Gilgamesh often This Gilgamesh is a poem of environ- dilute the expressive force of the material mental encounter and, ultimately, ecological through overzealous erudition. Popular ver- disaster. 0 CONTRA MUNDUM PRESS CATALOG 2015 Title: Ghérasim Luca, Self-Shadowing Prey Translated with an introduction by Mary Ann Caws ISBN: 9780983697268. $20, 15£, 15€ Pub.Date: March 2012 encomiums Ghérasim Luca is a great poet among the greatest: Self-Shadowing Prey, one of the final texts by the Romanian LUCA GHÉRASIM he invented a prodigious stammering, his own. poet Ghérasim Luca (1913–1994), is clearly constructed around the sought complications of language. Embodying the surrealist .— Deleuze operation of play with considerable exactitude and rigor, Self- Shadowing Prey is rich with neologistic stupors, nouns made verbs, and compelling repetitions and linguistic expansions. Mary Ann Caws’ passionate translations render Language is not merely put into play but made to participate in an erotic act, and words become the locus of an exploding self. deft, delightful facets of the formidable Ghérasim This linguistically joyous text reveals the arresting syn- Prey Self-Shadowing Ghérasim Luca Luca: virile servings of refreshment and tumult, tactic creation and creative stammering which Deleuze and Guattari both saw in Luca and what led Deleuze to call him liberating language from the yoke of Duty. Self- a great poet among the greatest. “If Ghérasim Luca’s speech is Translation & eminently poetic,” Deleuze pronounced, “it is because he makes Introduction by Shadowing Prey calls for vertiginous reading, in stuttering an affect of language and not an affectation of speech. Mary Ann Caws exhilarating reflection of the sonorous scintilla- The entire language spins and varies in order to disengage a final block of sound, a single breath at the limit of the cry, tions of Luca’s own reading performances. je t’aime passionnément.” .— Julian & Laura Semilian, translators of Ghé- Transformed for the first time into English by distinguished translator Mary Ann Caws, this bilingual edition of Self-Shadow- rasim Luca’s The Inventor of Love& Other Works ing Prey gives us yet one more important text by a key figure of the Romanian branch of Surrealism. isbn 978-0-9836972-1-3 Bilingual French-English edition www.contramundum.net Self-Shadowing Prey, one of the final texts by This linguistically-joyous text reveals the the Romanian poet Ghérasim Luca (1913– arresting syntactic creation& creative stam- 1994), is clearly constructed around the mering which Deleuze and Guattari both sought complications of language. Embody- saw in Luca and what led Deleuze to call him ing the surrealist operation of play with con- a great poet among the greatest. “If Ghérasim siderable exactitude& rigor, Self-Shadowing Luca’s speech is eminently poetic,” Deleuze Prey is rich with neologistic stupors, nouns pronounced, “it is because he makes stutter- made verbs, and compelling repetitions and ing an affect of language and not an affecta- linguistic expansions. Language is not merely tion of speech. The entire language spins and put into play but made to participate in an varies in order to disengage a final block of erotic act, and words become the locus of an sound, a single breath at the limit of the cry, exploding self. JE T’AIME PASSIONNÉMENT.” 1 CONTRA MUNDUM PRESS CATALOG 2015 Title: Rainer J. Hanshe, The Abdication ISBN: 9780983697220. $20, 16£, 14€ “A visionary novel of dangerous ideas” Pub.Date: April 8, 2012, Easter — Stuart Kendall “A visionary novel of dangerous ideas” —Stuart Kendall RAINER RAINER HANSHE J. Spring : an enigmatic band- lectuals, or eco-terrorists? Religious leader named Triboulet arrives and political authorities grow leery by helicopter in Rome, where his of the troupe and suspicious of Tri- carnivalesque troupe awaits with a boulet, whose true identity remains legion of animals and unruly kids. a mystery. e very future of the When provoking states of joy- world is at stake, and while touring ous panic through their ritualistic Israel during Christmas, Triboulet frenzies, the troupe’s arrival proves and his raucous band of pranksters restorative, for the world is beset bear witness to the world’s pivotal with famines, plagues, and religious crossing into a new reality. confl icts, which Triboulet seeks to e Abdication neutralize with freeing laughter. Albert Camus noted that ‘the As Triboulet and his troupe metaphysics of the worst’ expresses begin constructing strange edifi ces itself in a literature of damna- in the Eternal City, sacred sites tion and argued that ‘we have still around the world suff er terrible, not yet found the exit’ from such often beguiling forms of vandalism, literature. With his second novel, and rumors abound that the Christ Hanshe has found the way out, of- has actually fi nally returned. Al- fering in fact something not only though radical Islamic sects claim promising, but astounding, a path- responsibility for the vandalism, way that is into a new reality, into the culprits remain unknown: is it a ‘physics of the best.’ e Abdica- the Jihadists, anarcho-atheist intel- tion is a true ero(t)icomic epic. ---- .. Spring 2032: an enigmatic bandleader cho-atheist intellectuals, or eco-terrorists? named Triboulet arrives by helicopter in Religious & political authorities grow leery Rome, where his carnivalesque troupe of the troupe and suspicious of Triboulet, awaits with a legion of animals & unruly whose true identity remains a mystery. The kids. When provoking states of joyous panic very future of the world is at stake, and through their ritualistic acts, the troupe’s -ar while touring Israel during Christmas, Tri- rival proves restorative, for the world is beset boulet and his raucous band of pranksters with famines, plagues, and religious con- bear witness to the world’s pivotal crossing flicts, which Triboulet seeks to neutralize into a new reality.