Luc Étienne Périn, also known as Luc Étienne, (8 September 1908 – 27 November 1984) was a French writer and a proponent of

'pataphysics Pataphysics (french: 'pataphysique) is a "philosophy" of science invented by French writer Alfred Jarry (1873–1907) intended to be a parody of science. Difficult to be simply defined or pinned down, it has been described as the "science of ima ...

. He was born on 8 September 1908, in the small town of

Neuflize Neuflize () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ardennes department The following is a list of the 449 communes of the Ardennes department of France. The communes coopera ...

, in the

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

, and died on 27 November 1984, in

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

. After having studied in

Charleville Charleville can refer to: Australia * Charleville, Queensland, a town in Australia **Charleville railway station, Queensland France * Charleville, Marne, a commune in Marne, France *Charleville-Mézières, a commune in Ardennes, France ** ...

, he went on, in 1945, to teach mathematics and physics in a secondary school in Reims. In 1952, his first 'pataphysical works were published in the books of the College of 'Pataphysics, whose Regent and Chief of Practical Work he later became. He published 'The Art of the

Spoonerism A spoonerism is an occurrence in speech in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched (see metathesis) between two words in a phrase. These are named after the Oxford don and ordained minister William Archibald Spooner, w ...

' in 1957, and maintained until his death a weekly section of linguistic gaffes in the French satirical newspaper,

Le Canard enchaîné (; English: "The Chained Duck" or "The Chained Paper", as is French slang meaning "newspaper") is a satirical weekly newspaper in France. Its headquarters is in Paris. Founded in 1915 during World War I, it features investigative journalism a ...

. In 1970, he became a member of the equally experimental

Oulipo Oulipo (, short for french: Ouvroir de littérature potentielle; roughly translated: ''"workshop of potential literature"'', stylized ''OuLiPo'') is a loose gathering of (mainly) French-speaking writers and mathematicians who seek to create works ...

, a loose group of Francophone writers and mathematicians. Périn is most famed for his avant garde humour, and his interest in many literary facets, such as slang, palindromes,Oulipo compendium Harry Mathews, Alastair Brotchie, Raymond Queneau – 2005 – Page 77 "Luc Étienne, L'Art du palindrome phon&ique (The Art of the Phonetic Palindrome), 1984. This fascicle contains a detailed account of Luc Étienne's breakthrough acoustical research that led to his invention of the phonetic •palindrome: that is, .." spoonerisms, Bouts-Rimés, and

charades Charades (, ). is a parlor game, parlor or party game, party word game, word guessing game. Originally, the game was a dramatic form of literary charades: a single person would act out each syllable of a word or phrase in order, followed by the w ...

Bibliography

* ''L' album de la Comtesse'' Pauvert 1967 * ''L'Art de la charade à tiroirs : petit traité pour en fabriquer soi-même...'' Livre de poche. 1972. (Jean-Jacques Pauvert 1965) * ''L'Art du contrepet : petit traité à l'usage des amateurs pour résoudre les contrepèteries proposées et en inventer de nouvelles''. Livre de poche. 1972. (Jean-Jacques Pauvert 1957) * ''La Méthode à Mimile : l'argot sans peine'', (a collaboration with

Alphonse Boudard Alphonse Boudard (17 December 1925 – 14 January 2000) was a French novelist and playwright. He won the 1977 Prix Renaudot for ''Les Combattants du petit bonheur''. Boudard's 1995 novel ''Dying childhood '' was awarded and recognised by the ...

) Jeune Parque, 1970. * ''Les jeux du langage chez

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

'', Les Cahiers de l'Herne, n°17, 1971 * ''Le nouvel album de la Comtesse''. Stock 1979. * ''Palindromes bilingues''. Cymbalum Pataphysicum. 1984. * ''Textes à expurger''. Oleyres 1984. * ''Limericks''. Oleyres 1984.

References

External links

Discussion of Etienne with links to many works of his being read out
{{DEFAULTSORT:Etienne, Luc 1908 births 1984 deaths People from Ardennes (department) Oulipo members Pataphysicians French male writers 20th-century French male writers