The Thinking Notebooks of André du Bouchet By Sandra K. Simmons A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (French) at the UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON 2012 Date of final oral examination: 05/17/12 The dissertation is approved by the following members of the Final Oral Committee: Steven Winspur, Professor, French Richard Goodkin, Professor, French Névine El-Nossery, Assistant Professor, French Ernesto Livorni, Professor, Italian Brian Hyer, Professor, Music Theory © Copyright by Sandra K. Simmons 2012 All Rights Reserved i I dedicate this work to my son, Jacques Lee Gleizer-Simmons, with love and hope always. ii Acknowledgement page In deep gratitude and joyful acknowledgment, it is my privilege to have this opportunity to thank so many people for their accompaniment in the evolution of this project. First and foremost, I must express my wholehearted gratitude to my advisor, Steven Winspur, without whom I would never have been able to finish this work. His patient readership of my unwieldy words brought sense to many an abrupt sentence. But it is his sensitivity to the process of writing and thinking, and his understanding of a walking poet, that has made it such a pleasure to have worked alongside him. To others in my committee, notably Ernesto Livorni and Richard Goodkin, who have been part of the conversation, and thus the intellectual honing of ideas, I am indebted for certain suggestions that gave me much-needed direction as well as for seeds of other writings to come. Another committee member, Brian Hyer, through his own passion for innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to works of art (music in particular) inspired me to look at du Bouchet’s work from a different angle, and I am so very thankful for having been part of his experience as a music theorist. To Névine El-Nossery, who also served on my committee, I am especially grateful for her kind and generous way of mentoring me through the process of writing. Many others have been an integral part of the development of this dissertation, some more directly and others more discreetly. Anne de Stael du Bouchet graciously opened her home to me, allowing me to peruse the manuscript notebooks and also shared with me several meals. She deserves my heartfelt thanks for her generosity and support. As well, I am grateful to Jean-Pascal Léger and Michel Collot who permitted me to join their colloquium, “Présence d’André du Bouchet” organized at Cerisy-la-Salle (2010), in honor of du Bouchet’s work, thanks also to (grâce à) Edith Heurgon. Many of the scholars, poets and artists present then also gave me insightful comments about my second chapter, and I thank them for their interest in my work. I thank those with whom I participated in a dissertation group (Olivia Donaldson, Beth Schewe, and Hanna Nyala West as well as Nataša Bašić and Preea Leelah) for the time they spent reading my rough drafts, writing comments, and discussing the process. Walks with Olivia and Beth, and also with Gwenola Caradec (to whom I owe my third chapter’s ecocritical base) while hashing out thoughts on our respective subjects brought unexpected results, and often made the work we were doing more relevant somehow. Although more rare, conversations with Franz Voelker usually shed light on aspects I was unsure about, and so I owe him thanks for sharing his thoughts with me. I am grateful to the group of thinkers with whom I have had the privilege to interact in the elaboration of the theory known as Textique (which informed my understanding of various modes found on a page of written word) and to Jean Ricardou for his patient encouragement as a thinking writer. I also owe my complete gratitude to Michel Sirvent who set me on this exceptional journey of reading du Bouchet’s poetry. iii Finally, I must thank those who supported me in my personal life, allowing me to focus on this endeavor and to each one of them (Linda Brindeau, Trena Caldwell, Geneviève Guetemme, Herb and Rosemary Wang, The Elbaums, Micah Zwern, Dorothy Simmons, Pam Simmons-Brooks, Debra Simmons, Jacques Gleizer-Simmons, Gene Simmons, and Dorothy Richter), I owe more than words can express. I am especially grateful for my father’s help in getting through the long process. I also thank my sisters, mother, and son for their inextinguishable faith in me. The loss of my brother, Jon Eric Simmons, in the midst of writing this dissertation made me appreciate the quiet moments of relationship that are always unfolding among us. And in line with that kind of appreciation, I also am profoundly thankful for the writings of André du Bouchet. iv Table of contents Introduction to a Walking Poet p. 1-7 I. Walking through Writing pp. 8-69 Use of the Carnet p. 8 Rhythm of Walking and Writing p. 20 Gesture and the Hand p. 35 From e-motion to feeling p. 45 Return of the Same p. 55 Gesturing Toward Words p. 57 II. (S)pacing the Page pp. 70-138 Graphic Elements p. 72 Musical Arrangements p. 103 Visual Reversibility p. 107 Painting with Words p. 124 III. Reading across Spaces pp. 139-197 Questions of Relationship p. 141 Reading the Traces p. 155 Three Hinged Spaces: souffle, face, jour p. 170 Ethical Conclusions p. 198-200 v List of Illustrations 1. Carnet Manuscrit non-dated, André du Bouchet p. 10 2. Carnet Manuscrit 1967, André du Bouchet p. 14 3. Joachim’s Dream, painting by Giotto p. 94 4. Ace 1962, painting by Rauschenberg p. 96 5. Tête d’homme, drawing by Alberto Giacometti p. 99 6. Sans titre, encre de chine by Tal-Coat p. 108 7. Syncopated Texture (In Imaginary Music), by Tom Johnson p. 111 8. Carnet Manuscrit 1951 p. 114 9. L’Inhabité (incipit), André du Bouchet p. 127 10. Peinture, pp. 16-17, André du Bouchet p. 129 vi Note to Readers The unconventional use of punctuation in contemporary poetry often characterizes the experimental nature of these writings, as is the case for André du Bouchet, who pushes the limits of what punctuation does within the structure of syntactical flow. In the interest of clarity, I have chosen to use the French system of punctuation, as opposed to an American (MLA) style, where quotation marks are concerned. In the former, punctuation of the critical text is not included in the part cited, whereas in the latter all punctuation cited belongs to the original text. This should allow the reader of my dissertation to distinguish between punctuation that is clearly part of the work cited (even if many of the excerpts are set apart from the main text rather than cited within quotes) and marks of punctuation that I am using in my own writing. Where du Bouchet’s words are also accompanied by punctuation, and where I have chosen to use quotation marks, it seems necessary in the context of my arguments for the distinction to be transparent. This is the case for the example on page 81 which illustrates why this distinction is necessary. In in the excerpt I cite of du Bouchet’s book-length poem Aujourd’hui c’est, it is important to note how the fragments are bordered by unconventional punctuation (“couler ici comme la pierre coule.” and “si pierre,”). Therefore, in order to remain as consistent as possible throughout my dissertation, I have continued the French system in all other citations, including those not taken from poetry, even in the bibliography. I hope this will provide a coherent way to make note of the poet’s experimentations. 1 Introduction Born in France (1924), André du Bouchet spent 1941-1948 in Massachusetts, where his family had fled during the Occupation, leaving France on foot (his journey took him from war- torn Paris across the Pyrenees Mountains of Pau in the south), with only one book under his arm (Bailly’s Greek dictionary). After finishing the last semester of his secondary studies in Connecticut at the Loomis School he graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Greek at Amherst, then studied comparative literature at Harvard where he received a Master’s of Arts, so it was only after his return to his native land that he regained his mother tongue. Translator and art critic, his first collections of poetry (Air, Le Moteur Blanc) are published in France upon the encouragement of Pierre Reverdy. He also publishes criticism and translations of poets such as Baudelaire (Baudelaire Irrémédiable), Victor Hugo, and Paul Celan. The way he positions phrases in groups, visually similar to the spacing of Mallarmé’s Coup de dès, stuns his peers. Some critics (notably Francis Ponge) have viewed his writing as a continuation of the Mallarméan aesthetic, though du Bouchet’s syntax interrupts, breaks apart, even obliterates perfected language.1 His poems are often composed of continual pages of fragments with no page numbers. If du Bouchet’s goal is to maintain the moment of perception this would explain the reason for ongoing movement as part of his experiment of pattern and perception. 1 In a handwritten hommage to the poet’s spatial style, Francis Ponge wrote: “’Inimitables’, disais-je, mais c’est dans la mesure où cette originalité se manifeste visiblement (et même, comme on dit, saute aux yeux) dans la disposition des mots en archipel (Hölderlin) ou en constellation (Mallarmé), qu’elle a été très imitée ou pour mieux dire plagiée”. (“Pour André du Bouchet (Quelques notes)”. L'Ire des Vents, N◦ 6-8, Espaces pour André du Bouchet, 1983, p.