André du Bouchet

Emma Wagstaff, Ph.D. (2003), University of Cambridge, is Senior Lecturer in French at the University of Birmingham. She has published on modern and contemporary French poetry, translation, and links between literature and art, including Provisionality and the Poem (Rodopi, 2006).

• ContentsAcknowledgementsAbbreviationsIntroduction1 Du Bouchet and his Poetic Context2 Du Bouchet’s Contributions to the Review l’Éphémère1  L’Éphémère and the Twentieth-Century French Literary Review2  L’Éphémère and3 ‘« Sous les pavés, la plage » Notes du [ ] mai 1968’4 The Form of l’Éphémère3 Poetry and Pauses1 The Material World2 Time in the Texts3 Forms of Temporal Attention4 ‘Soutiré à un futur’4 Tensions and Translation1 Foreignness and Relation2 ‘Notes sur la traduction’3 ‘Lit de neige’5 Criticism and Slowness1  Du Bouchet critic2 Art Writing3 Du Bouchet’s Slow Art Writing4  De plusieurs déchirements dans les parages de la peinture6 A Life Writing1 Autobiography and Projects2 Rewriting the Carnets 3 Rewriting Published Texts4 ‘À l’arrêt’Conclusion1  A Note on Translation2 Poetry’s Role?BibliographyIndex

“This study’s author establishes an intriguing closeness to and slight distance from her peers, grounding her arguments in recent criticism while indicating where she is inclined to agree or disagree. […] we continually learn essentials about Du Bouchet while entering as possible the mindset corresponding to specific works and to his overall poetic project. […] The critical apparatus offers a reliable guide, as does the laudable overall intentionality. The author communicates to a broad audience, structures the study meaningfully as regards primary sources, shows with precision how texts shape perception, progresses toward examination of art writing (134–55) and the process of life writing (158–92), consistently incorporates important thinkers and academics, and provides English translations at all junctures. The diverse analyses concerning awareness of form, attentiveness to time, and appreciation for people and things in the outer world are compelling. This monograph of lasting value facilitates access to Du Bouchet’s writings and eloquently demonstrates his oeuvre’s ongoing relevance.”- Aaron Prevost, French Review, May 2022.