Michel Butor (; 14 September 1926 – 24 August 2016) was a French poet, novelist, teacher, essayist, art critic and translator.
Life and work
Michel Marie François Butor was born in
Mons-en-Barœul
Mons-en-Barœul () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.
It is a suburb of the city of Lille, and is adjacent to it on the northeast. The name Mons-en-Barœul means mount in the Barœul, the city is built on a slight hill; th ...
, a suburb of
Lille
Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...
, the third of seven children. His parents were Émile Butor (1891–1960), a railroad inspector and Anna ( Brajeux, 1896–1972). He studied philosophy at the
Sorbonne, graduating in 1947. He taught in Egypt,
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
,
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
, the United States, and
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
. He won many literary awards for his work, including the
Prix Fénéon
The Fénéon Prize (''Prix Fénéon''), established in 1949, is awarded annually to a French-language writer and a visual artist no older than 35 years of age. The prize was established by Fanny Fénéon, the widow of French art critic Félix Fénà ...
and the
Prix Renaudot.
Journalists and critics have associated his novels with the
nouveau roman, but Butor himself long resisted that association. The main point of similarity is a very general one, not much beyond that; like exponents of the nouveau roman, he can be described as an experimental writer. His best-known novel, ''
La Modification
''Second Thoughts'' () is a novel by Michel Butor first published in French in 1957. It is the author's most famous work. It was translated into English by Jean Stewart, with the title ''Second Thoughts'' (Faber and Faber, 1958) as well as under ...
'', for instance, is written entirely in the second person. In his 1967 ''La critique et l'invention'', he famously said that even the most literal quotation is already a kind of parody because of its "trans-contextualization."
For decades, he chose to work in other forms, from essays to poetry to artist's books
Manuel Casimiro
Manuel Casimiro (born November 21, 1941) is a Portuguese painter, sculptor, designer and film director. He was born in Porto, Portugal, where he is currently living. Manuel Casimiro has spent a large part of his life living abroad, especially in ...
, ''Books on Manuel Casimiro''. to unclassifiable works like ''Mobile''. For
artists' books
Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that utilize the form of the book. They are often published in small editions, though they are sometimes produced as one-of-a-kind objects.
Overview
Artists' books have employed a ...
he collaborated with artists like
Gérard Serée. Literature, painting and travel were subjects particularly dear to Butor. Part of the fascination of his writing is the way it combines the rigorous symmetries that led
Roland Barthes
Roland Gérard Barthes (; ; 12 November 1915 – 26 March 1980) was a French literary theorist, essayist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. His work engaged in the analysis of a variety of sign systems, mainly derived from Western popular ...
to praise him as an epitome of structuralism (exemplified, for instance, by the architectural scheme of ''Passage de Milan'' or the calendrical structure of ''L'emploi du temps'') with a lyrical sensibility more akin to
Baudelaire
Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited fro ...
than to
Robbe-Grillet.
In an interview in the Museum of Modern Art, New York, conducted in 2006, the poet
John Ashbery
John Lawrence Ashbery (July 28, 1927 – September 3, 2017) was an American poet and art critic.
Ashbery is considered the most influential American poet of his time. Oxford University literary critic John Bayley wrote that Ashbery "sounded, in ...
describes how he wanted to sit next to Michel Butor at a dinner in New York.
After meeting in 1977, Butor became a friend of Elinor S. Miller, a French professor at
Rollins College
Rollins College is a private college in Winter Park, Florida. It was founded in November 1885 and has about 30 undergraduate majors and several graduate programs. It is Florida's fourth oldest post-secondary institution.
History
Rollins Colle ...
at the time. They worked collaboratively on translations, catalogues and lectures. In 2002, Miller published a book on Butor entitled ''Prisms and Rainbows: Michel Butor's Collaborations with Jacques Monory, Jiri Kolar, and Pierre Alechinsky.''
Awards and honors
* 1956
Prix Fénéon
The Fénéon Prize (''Prix Fénéon''), established in 1949, is awarded annually to a French-language writer and a visual artist no older than 35 years of age. The prize was established by Fanny Fénéon, the widow of French art critic Félix Fénà ...
, for ''L'Emploi du temps''
* 1957
Prix Renaudot, for ''La Modification''
* 1960
Grand prix de la Critique littéraire
The grand prix de la Critique littéraire was created in 1948 by Robert André. It is awarded each year by the French PEN club to a literary essay. Chaired by , its jury is now made up of Jean Blot, Jean-Luc Despax, Jean-Claude Lamy, Daniel Leuwer ...
, for ''Répertoire I''
* 1998 Grand prix du romantisme Chateaubriand, for ''Improvisations sur Balzac''
* 2006
Prix Mallarmé The Prix Mallarmé is a poetry prize awarded each year by the Académie Mallarmé to a French speaking poet. To be eligible for the prize the poet must have published a piece in the year concerned, even though the prize does not reward a specific pi ...
, for ''Seize lustres''
* 2007
SACEM Grand prix des poètes
* 2013
Grand prix de littérature de l'Académie française
Grand may refer to:
People with the name
* Grand (surname)
* Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor
* Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist
* Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper
Places
* Grand, Oklahoma
* Grand, Vosges, village and commun ...
, for his body of work
* 2016
Grand prix de poésie de la SGDL The grand prix de poésie de la SGDL is a French literary award created by the Société des gens de lettres in 1983 in order to reward an author for the whole of his work. This award is given to the winner during the spring session of the company. ...
, for ''Ruines d'avenir : un livre tapisserie''
Bibliography
Novels
* ''Passage de Milan'' (Les Editions de Minuit, 1954)
* ''L'Emploi du temps'' (Les Editions de Minuit, 1956). ''Passing Time'', trans. Jean Stewart (
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...
, 1960;
Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...
, 1961; Pariah Press, 2021).
* ''
La Modification
''Second Thoughts'' () is a novel by Michel Butor first published in French in 1957. It is the author's most famous work. It was translated into English by Jean Stewart, with the title ''Second Thoughts'' (Faber and Faber, 1958) as well as under ...
'' (Les Editions de Minuit, 1957). Trans. Jean Stewart as ''Second Thoughts'' (Faber and Faber, 1958), ''A Change of Heart'' (Simon & Schuster, 1959) and ''Changing Track'' (Calder, 2017; revised).
* ''Degrés'' (Gallimard, 1960). ''Degrees'', trans.
Richard Howard (Simon & Schuster, 1961;
Methuen, 1962; Dalkey Archive, 2005).
Experimental texts
* ''Mobile : étude pour une représentation des États-Unis'' (Gallimard, 1962)''. Mobile: Study for a Representation of the United States'', trans. Richard Howard (Simon & Schuster, 1963; Dalkey Archive, 2004).
* ''Réseau aérien : texte radiophonique'' (Gallimard, 1962)
*''Description de San Marco'' (Gallimard, 1963). ''Description of San Marco'', trans. Barbara Mason (York Press, 1983).
* ''6 810 000 litres d'eau par seconde : étude stéréophonique'' (Gallimard, 1965). ''Niagara: A Stereophonic Novel'', trans. Elinor S. Miller (Regnery, 1969).
Travel writing
* ''Le Génie du lieu''
-5(1958–1996):
**''Le Génie du lieu'' (1958). ''The Spirit of Mediterranean Places'', trans.
Lydia Davis (Marlboro Press, 1986).
** ''Ou : le Génie du lieu, 2'' (1971)
** ''Boomerang'' : ''le Génie du lieu, 3'' (1978). ''Letters from the Antipodes'', partial trans. Michael Spencer (University of Queensland Press, 1981).
** ''Transit : le Génie du lieu, 4'' (1992)
** ''Gyroscope : autrement dit le Génie du lieu, 5 et dernier'' (1996)
Other
* ''Illustrations''
–IV(1964–1976)
* ''Portrait de l'artiste en jeune singe'' (Gallimard, 1967). ''Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ape: A Caprice'', trans. Dominic De Bernardi (Dalkey Archive, 1995).
* ''
Votre Faust: Fantaisie variable genre Opéra'' (with
Henri Pousseur
Henri Léon Marie-Thérèse Pousseur (23 June 1929 – 6 March 2009) was a Belgian classical composer, teacher, and music theorist.
Biography
Pousseur was born in Malmedy and studied at the Academies of Music in Liège and in Brussels from 1947 to ...
) (premiered 1969)
* ''Intervalle'' (Gallimard, 1973). Screenplay
* ''Matière de rêves''
–V(1975–1985):
** ''Matière de rêves'' (1975)
**''Second sous-sol : Matière de rêves II'' (1976)
**''Troisième dessous : Matière de rêves III'' (1977)
**''Quadruple fond : Matière de rêves IV'' (1981)
**''Mille et un plis : Matière de rêves V'' (1985)
Poetry
* ''La Banlieue de l’Aube à l’Aurore'' (Fata Morgana, 1968). ''The Suburbs from Dawn to Daybreak'', trans. Jeffrey Gross (2013)
* ''La Rose des Vents : 32 Rhumbs pour
Charles Fourier
François Marie Charles Fourier (;; 7 April 1772 – 10 October 1837) was a French philosopher, an influential early socialist thinker and one of the founders of utopian socialism. Some of Fourier's social and moral views, held to be radical in ...
'' (Gallimard, 1970)
* ''Travaux d'approche'' (Gallimard, 1972)
* ''Envois'' (Gallimard, 1980)
* ''Exprès : Envois II'' (Gallimard, 1983)
*''Seize lustres'' (Gallimard, 2006)
*''Ruines d'avenir : un livre tapisserie'' (Actes Sud Editions, 2016)
Essays
*''Répertoire''
–V(1960–1982)
* ''Histoire extraordinaire : essai sur un rêve de
Baudelaire
Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited fro ...
'' (1961). ''Histoire extraordinaire: Essay on a Dream of Baudelaire's'', trans. Richard Howard (Cape, 1969).
* ''Essais sur les modernes'' (1964)
* ''Essais sur
Les Essaies'' (1968)
*''Improvisations sur
Flaubert'' (1984)
* ''Retour du boomerang'' (1988)
* ''Improvisations sur Rimbaud'' (1989)
* ''Essais sur le roman'' (1992)
*''Improvisations sur Michel Butor : l'écriture en transformation'' (1993). ''Improvisations on Butor: Transformation of Writing'', trans. Elinor S. Miller (University Press of Florida, 1996).
*''L'Utilité poétique'' (1995)
*''Improvisations sur Balzac'' (1998)
*''Improvisations sur Henri Michaux'' (1999)
Art criticism
*''Hérold'' (1964)
*''Les Mots dans la peinture'' (1969)
* ''Vanité'' : ''conversation dans les Alpes-Maritimes'' (1980)
*''Avant-Goût''
–IV(1984–1992)
* ''L'Embarquement de la Reine de Saba : d'après le tableau de Claude Lorrain'' (1989)
*''Parrure'' (1994). ''Ethnic Jewelry: Africa, Asia, and the Pacific'', trans. Daniel Wheeler, Mary Laing, and Emily Lane (Vendome Press, 1994).
*''Quant au livre : triptyque en l'honneur de
Gauguin
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetism, Synthetist style that were d ...
'' (2000)
Interviews and conversations
* ''Frontières : entretiens avec Christian Jacomino'' (1985). ''Frontiers'', trans. Elinor S. Miller (1989).
* ''Entretiens : Quarante ans de vie littéraire'' (1999)
* ''Conversation'' (with Dan Graham), ed. Donatien Grau (Sternberg Press, 2015)
Compilations in English
* ''Inventory: Essays by Michel Butor'', edited by Richard Howard (Simon & Schuster, 1968; Cape, 1970).
Translations of pieces from ''Répertoire I-III''.
* ''Selected Essays'', ed. Richard Skinner, trans. Mathilde Merouani (Vanguard Editions, 2022). Translations of pieces from ''Répertoire I-V''.
References
Further reading
''Courrier des Antipodes'' – Notes on Michel Butor’s ''Letters from the Antipodes''by Pam Brown in ''Cordite Poetry Review''
* Lydon, Mary, ''Perpetuum Mobile. A study of the novels and aesthetics of Michel Butor''.
University of Alberta Press
University of Alberta Press (UAlberta Press) is a publishing house and a division of the University of Alberta that engages in academic publishing.
Overview
The offices of University of Alberta Press (UAlberta Press) are located in the Rutherfo ...
, 1980.
*
Rambures, Jean-Louis de, ''Comment travaillent les écrivains'', Paris: Flammarion, 1978 (interview with Michel Butor, in French)
External links
*
Michel Butor page, University of Edinburgh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butor, Michel
1926 births
2016 deaths
People from Nord (French department)
20th-century French novelists
20th-century French male writers
Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni
Prix Renaudot winners
French male novelists
20th-century French poets
French male poets
French psychological fiction writers
Prix Fénéon winners