ABC’s of Letterism:
Construction of an Avant-Garde
by David W. Seaman
Shortly after the end of World War II the Parisian literary and
artistic scene was invaded by the stirrings of a new movement called
Lettrisme, in English Letterism. This was crafted as not only a new
movement, but also as a new art form, combining the visual aspect and
the literary aspect of Letters. In the view of the movement’s founder,
Isidore Isou, this represented a new beginning, in the wake of the
decline of literature to the meaningless babbling of Dada, and the
decline of the visual arts to the nullity of Malevitch’s White on White.
Starting with the primal atom, the written or painted letter, and in
poetry the naked sound, Letterism sought to refresh both arts with its
potentialities, and indeed to create a new art, which would have all the
amplitude and ramifications of the genres of writing and visual arts.
Letterism at the beginning of the new millennium is a mature but active
movement. The Letterist artists and poets exhibit in the United States
and across Europe, they have been featured on the on-line art auction
N@rt, and their own dedicated internet site, the Lettriste pages,
receives thousands of “hits” per month. A typical exhibition in the
United States, such as one held recently at a university museum in
Georgia featured early Letterist works from the beginnings of the
movement, as well as current paintings and an event where a floating
Letterist work was launched by the artist. A review of this show by Tom
Lavazzi in Art Papers (September-October 2000, p. 42), concludes that
“by bringing pressure to bear on our systems of meaning production,
Lettriste Art remains… ‘an avant-garde for the new millennium.’ ”
The 9th annual intellectual festival called “Cité de la Réussite” was
held at the Sorbonne in Paris, October 21-22, 2000, and featured sixty
sessions, with notables from all fields, such as Christo and
Jeanne-Claude, Sonia Rykiel, Ousmane Sow, Thierry Lhermitte, Boutros
Boutros-Ghali, and Elie Wiesel. Letterist founder Isidore Isou was the
only speaker with a full session to himself, exploring the question of
continued creativity.
Clearly, Letterism has arrived. But how did it start?
It is not my intention here to debate or to critique the merits of this
theoretical and æsthetic stance, but rather to examine the steps taken
in the effort to launch a new movement. Much of the information here is
extracted from the work of Jean-Paul Curtay, one of Isou’s disciples,
and a scholar with whom I discussed some of these concepts. He has
compiled many early recollections about the movement in the first
chapters of his book, La Poésie lettriste (Paris: Seghers, 1974), and
they are a useful source for this discussion. Rather than refer readers
to rare and out-of-print sources, I will primarily reference Curtay.
Most of the other information is either condensed from my own research
and writing on Letterism, or extracted from interviews I have conducted
with Isidore Isou and other Letterists from 1995 to the present. From
this discussion we may gain insights into the evolution of the arts.
I is for Idea.
In the beginning one needs an idea. An avant-garde movement is
naturally going to seek to be new, and to go beyond what it perceives as
the most advanced form at the time it begins.
Isidore Goldstein emigrated from Rumania to Paris in 1945, changed his
artistic name to Isou, and integrated himself into the intellectual and
artistic milieu of the left bank. As Curtay recounts, Isou had already
conceived of the fundamental idea of Letterism in Rumania in 1942, at
the age of 17. Isou’s initial revelation came from a misreading of a
French critic who asserted that the essential element of poetry was in
the “vocable,” and Isou at first mistook this for a Rumanian cognate
meaning “vowel,” not “word.” In a flash Isou realized he saw a new point
of departure for creating poetry. (Curtay, 5-30)
Isou subsequently conceived his ingenious idea that both literature and
painting had completed an exhaustive cycle of growth and decline, which
he dubbed the amplifying and the chiseling phases of their existence. In
the amplifying phase the possibilities are explored and exploited,
reaching a culmination in the highest achievements of the form. Thus he
notes the beginnings of painting in the caves of Altamira and Lascaux,
its evolution through primitivism and other developments until the
highest expression is reached in Renaissance painting. This is followed
by a decline into mannerism and finally the movements which tear apart
the integrated forms and isolate color and geometric shapes and finally
arrive at the annihilation of representational painting.
Similarly, writing begins with pictograms and evolves through the early
developmental phases until oral traditions give way to written
expression and the apogee is attained with the novels of the 19th
century. This amplification is followed by the chiseling of James Joyce,
Apollinaire, and the Dada poets, who reduce literature to nothing.
Isou did not want to contribute to the chiseling of poetry; instead, he
took the letter - whether phonetic sound or written sign - as the starting
point for a new phase of amplification.
L is for Leader
It also seems important for an avant-garde movement to have a central
charismatic figure, such as André Breton, the lion of Surrealism, and
Marinetti, the maestro of Futurism. Isidore Isou became this figure. His
role was challenged for a time by Maurice Lemaître, one of the early
disciples and prolific theorists of Letterism; in 1979, when I first
encountered the movement, it was Lemaître who met me at the Salon de la
Lettre et du Signe at the Musée du Luxembourg. At that time, he claimed
that Isou was interned in a mental institution and no longer played a
significant role. This was not entirely true: Isou had committed himself
briefly for psychological problems, but quickly made his return and
today, although he is physically weakened by a condition that keeps him
mostly confined to his apartment in the Quartier Latin he still controls
the workings of the movement through regular phone contacts and visits
from his lieutenants.
In the early days, Isou was the continually active force behind
Letterism, arriving in Paris in 1945 with the manuscript for his
Introduction à une nouvelle poésie et une nouvelle musique (Paris:
N.R.F. 1947), and pursuing all avenues until it was published six months
later. He soon followed with numerous other books, and with rare
exceptions was the leader who always came up with new publications
promoting new developments for the movement.
The charisma of Isou seems evident from his success at maintaining a
viable movement for more than half a century, and in early film
appearances he is seductive; in his film, Traité de bave et d’éternité
(1951), he has the dark glowering looks of an Elvis Presley. But he
could not do everything, especially since his spoken French was so
heavily accented. He had taught himself French and Latin by reading at
night in Rumania, and his prodigious intellect earned him success in
these areas as well as in absorbing the great writers of the Western
tradition. Solitary reading could not train his speech, however, so he
relied on friends to speak for him or read his texts. Clearly, a group
of allies was required.
D is for Disciples.
The second Letterist was Gabriel Pomerand. Isou met him at a shelter
where Jewish refugees were offered meals, and their conversations about
literature formed the basis of a devoted friendship, and eventually
earned Pomerand the sobriquet of Gabriel, “Archangel of Letterism.”
Pomerand was helpful to Isou in many ways. For one thing, he became the
actual voice of Letterism in settings where Isou’s accent made his
discourse incomprehensible or ridiculous. This was extremely important
because so many of the crucial events of those early days were readings
at cafés, theatres or lecture halls, or debates with other poets.
Pomerand was not only a useful voice, he also had some contacts. When
it was time for a decision about publishing Isou’s manuscript, Jean
Paulhan of Gallimard was persuaded because he admired Pomerand.
The start of the Letterist movement required legwork from the faithful,
people who would paste up posters, attend the events, and when
nececcssary engage in protests. Pomerand also set up the first Letterist
headquarters, at the Librairie de la Porte Latine, in the heart of
Paris. Around this location there was a first group of eight or nine
enthusiasts who wrote articles in the fledgling journal, La Dictature
lettriste, but as Curtay reports, Pomerand was the only one who had the
true Letterist vocation. Isou later termed this the “Pomerand period.”
(Curtay, 31)
Pomerand’s efforts from 1945 to 1947 capitalized on his extensive
involvement in the cultural and intellectual activities of the post-war
neighborhood around St.Germain des Prés, home to the famous Café de
Flore and Les Deux Magots. He succeeded in establishing a regular café
night at the Club Tabou, which opened in the rue Dauphine to showcase
the jazz of Boris Vian; after Vian had finished, Pomerand would climb up
on a table to a drum roll and recite some of Isou’s phonetic poetry. As
the popularity of the district attracted wealthy Americans and
Europeans, Pomerand could then pass the hat for contributions to the
Letterist cause, sometimes picking up thousands of francs in an evening.
(Curtay, 63-67)
Eventually the group numbered as many as thirty poets who were
attracted by the exciting new poetry, but Isou initially backed off from
adding more members, for fear of diffusing his ideas. It was also during
this time that Isou met Maurice Lemaître. It occurred during a walk
along the Champs Elysées, when Isou was explaining his new idea of the
Soulèvement de la Jeunesse to the publisher Louis Pauwels, and this
latter’s friend Lemaître joined them. Although Pauwels was not taken
with the theory, Lemaître became an enthusiast and later an important
member of the group. (Curtay, 63)
It ;must be noted that disciples come and they also depart. During this
time Guy Debord joined up and had brilliant beginnings with the group,
but after a few years and a misunderstanding over film, he broke off to
form the Lettrisme international and then Situationism. He is probably
the poet cuttingly referred to by Curtay as “un jeune membre du groupe
très doué, mais dont l’oeuvre deviendra malheureusement par la suite
sans grand intérêt.” (75) Lemaître, too, would become too strong, too
blatant in demanding his own place in the movement, and later when I
approached this subject with Isou he called Lemaître “celui dont je ne
peux pas dire le nom.” Even Pomerand would break from Isou for a while,
because they were both attracted to the same woman, and Pomerand went
off to Switzerland with her; the passions of poetry are not exempt from
the passions of the heart. (Curtay, 57-67)
The successive waves of new Letterist disciples increased in the decade
starting from the early 1960’s and it included some of the most prolific
and accomplished artists. First there was the arrival in Paris of the
Toulouse native Roland Sabatier, followed by his brother Alain Satié,
who changed his name to avoid confusion with Roland. They were both
graphic artists, trained in the Ecole de Beaux-arts de Toulouse, and
they became involved with the movement in Paris when they saw
exhibitions of Letterist painting - what we now consider visual poetry,
because of the inclusion of letters, texts, and signs in the
compositions. Once they were invited to exhibit, they became involved
with all the other Letterist activities.
One of the first women associated with the Letterists was Micheline
Hachette, who came in through her association with Sabatier. Over the
years, that was the typical manner of involvement by women, much as was
the case with women in other movements. It was the opposite, however,
with Frédérique Devaux, a journalist who was excited about cinema. She
tells how she went to do an interview with Maurice Lemaître about
Letterist cinema, and became so enthusiastic that the resulting article
was rejected as being too polemical, but instead she joined the
Letterist group. It was then through association with Devaux that her
partner, radio journalist Michel Amarger was pulled into the group.
A later group of disciples emerged from the lycée in the Paris suburb
of Sèvres, where young intellectuals of the late 1960’s sought their
unique identities by exploring the political and artistic avant-gardes.
François Poyet and Gérard-Philippe Broutin have told me how they admired
the behavior of Jean Pierre Gillard, a true “character.” Gillard
introduced them to the Paris intellectual milieu where they attended
Letterist exhibitions, met the artists, and after discussions of the
theory, were invited to join. Part of the allure was to be a young
rising artist and to have immediate access to group shows and
publications.
Another quality that appealed to disciples was the sense of inclusion.
In several of my interviews with Letterist artists, the phrases used for
their act of joining suggested that they felt like they were entering a
“foyer,” a protected space where they could develop their talents. When
I presented this idea to Isou, he said, “Bravo,” that was indeed the
conception he had sought. This leads us to examine the way that space
was organized.
O is for Organization
Regular meetings of the Letterists have always been a feature of the
movement. These meetings reinforce the solidarity, and provide a forum
for the discussion of activities, exhibitions, publications, and
directions to take. As mentioned previously, the first meetings were at
the bookstore headquarters, and later they moved to larger spaces. With
Isou at the center, the group would meet in a cafe, for a long time the
Café de l’Amérique on Place St. Sulpice. Then, when the group became
unmanageably large, it split up into several groups, such as the “groupe
L,” led by Maurice Lemaître. A central council of group leaders would
then gather to coordinate activities. Even today, when there are only a
handful of active Letterist artists, a cafe must be chosen for the
monthly meetings. The members have matured and are no longer a band of
Latin Quarter artists - one is an entrepreneur, who has run restaurants
and other businesses, another works for the city of Paris, another lives
in an outlying village, others are teachers and journalists; so the
meeting cafe is chosen less for character and charm than for its
strategic significance. One recent meeting cafe was located in a
neighborhood where no one had convenient access - so as to avoid the
appearance of gathering on one or another member’s “turf.” Isou’s health
prevents him from attending, and there is no designated successor.
The content of the meetings was long designed to socialize over a meal,
then to conduct business; now the monthly gatherings are more oriented
to business, and are held at the Café Français, Place de la Bastille.
Every year there is at least one publication to be planned, and more and
more often there are exhibitions, not only in France, but at the Venice
Biennale, in Iowa, Chicago and elsewhere in the United States; the most
recent project was an exhibition in Slovenia, held in December 2000.
S is for Scandal.
Avant-garde is a military term applied to the arts, and the creative
energy of avant-garde movements usually justifies the metaphor. Often
this has meant that the new movement reacts against the status quo,
attacking the accepted conventions of current taste. This is best
expressed by the goal of shocking the standards of good taste, or
“épater les bourgeois,” which is a principle sacred to avant-garde
movements of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.
Isou met several times with André Breton and courted his support; while
they were not able to work out a successful relationship, Isou admired
and adopted some of their techniques, including a modification of the
idea of “le scandale pour le scandale:” the Letterists were interested
in the scandal, but only in order to call attention to their ideas.
(Curtay, 37)
The Letterist attack was more inspired by Leninist methods, using
surprise attacks, especially in the form of tracts pasted up on public
walls, or graffiti painted on the facade of the publisher Gallimard. But
these efforts were merely provocative, and did not really spread the
word. And unlike Surrealism, which attacked bourgeois society, Letterism
chose another line of attack. Instead of challenging the conventional
(Tzara: “morality is chocolate in the veins of all men”), it aimed its
strongest criticism at those same avant gardes which had thought
themselves the sacred standard-bearers of rebellion. While Marinetti saw
museums as cemeteries, embalming art and ideas, Letterism saw the
antecedent avant-garde movements as the embalmers of revolution,
maintaining their old ideas as if they could not be superseded. Indeed,
Surrealism was considered no longer a movement, since there was no
movement there. (Curtay, 31-38)
The first important event occurred after Isou and Pomerand failed at
renting the theatre of the Vieux-Colombier for a public lecture in 1946.
They found that the next scheduled event there was a reading of Dada
leader Tristan Tzara’s play, La Fuite. The small but energetic Letterist
group bought tickets to the show, which started with a lecture by Michel
Leiris. As soon as he mentioned Dada, one of the Letterists in the
audience called out, “Parlez-nous d’un mouvement plus neuf, du
lettrisme, par exemple.” Others joined in the call, and Pomerand got up
on stage and asked for Isou to be called up and allowed to speak about
Letterism. They finally agreed to wait until the end of the play, at
which time most of the audience remained to hear a brief explanation of
how Letterism was a successor to Dada, with recitation of a few poems.
This earned the Letterists their first big break in the press, as
Maurice Nadeau wrote the next day in Le Combat, that “Les lettristes ont
fait fuir Tristan Tzara.” (Curtay, 14-15)
Such notoriety helped Gallimard decide to publish Isou’s manifesto,
Introduction à une musique et à une nouvelle poésie. Many other
publications would follow, as well as many surprise attacks, such as
turning on previous supporters like Jean Paulhan, when they wavered in
their allegiance.
H is for Homologation.
A typical manifesto-like declaration from the Letterists has a special
vocabulary that emphasizes their role as initiators and propagators. For
this reason, the word “homologuer,” (meaning to authenticate, or
certify, such as in making an entry in the Guinness book of world
records) takes on a special importance for the Letterists. Here is Isou
in the opening of an essay on “L’art corporel.”
Comme je vais le démontrer plus bas, l’art corporel dans son ensemble a
été créé et homologué dans les textes, par le mouvement lettriste, dès
1950 et l’expression même d’art corporel a été utilisée et homologuée
par le même groupe dès 1953. (L’art corporel lettriste hypergraphique et
esthapeïriste, Paris: Editions Psi, 1977)
The publication in 1977 of an essay discussing what happened in 1950 is
deemed necessary because the public generally does not appreciate the
pivotal role played by the Letterists.
Curtay reinforces this same tendency in his book, emphasizing the exact
dates when Isou recorded in his journal the initial ideas for Letterism:
“Puis, enfin, il découvre, le 19 mars 1942, la poésie lettriste, sa
première création.” (Curtay, 10) This same attention to dating is
applied to other Letterists as well, either dating poems by the event at
which they were read, or specifying in a publication the first date of
presentation.
In a similar effort to preserve the role of innovator, Isou regularly
deposits his writings at the Bibliothèque nationale, in order to have
the date of dépot légal recorded.
Y is for Youth
Letterism has endured and hopes to continue in part because it is
continually evolving, rather than becoming a frozen canon. While the
term Letterism is accepted by the group because it is widely understood,
the actual approaches have been renewed with successive new conceptions
such as Poésie Infinitésimale, Poésie Mécanique, Poésie Aphoniste,
Poésie Surtemporelle, and Poésie Excoordiste. When I asked Isou for
guidance about creation, he replied, “Allez au-delà!” From the very
beginning, Letterism sought to be the “avant garde de l’avant-garde,”
(Curtay, 36) This implies a devotion to potential, and a continuous
openness to creativity; Isou defines paradise as “le lieu de l’auto
renouvellement intégral.” (Curtay, 16) Isou’s system for keeping the
arts fresh is to maintain that protective foyer and be “un créateur de
producteurs et de novateurs.” (Curtay, 142)
The final and initial building block for an avant-garde is then to
privilege youth. When Isou approached André Breton with this idea,
Breton reportedly said he had not thought of youth. (Curtay, 59) Today’s
Letterists include young poets and artists such as Catherine James, a
student at the Ecole de Beaux-Arts, who at age 23 has already been
exhibiting with the Letterists for two years. And among Isou’s current
projects is a youth movement in the arts, for which he is seeking a
young leader.
C is for Conclusions
One quality that emerges from the above is the energy necessary to
establish a movement, and even more, the dedication required to maintain
it. The record of an avant-garde movement more than half a century old
is remarkable, and underscores the careful planning involved in the
organization of the movement, while continuing to renew and refresh the
ideas and personnel that propel it forward. The goal of nurturing a
perpetual avant-garde may be unrealizable, but in the process the
Letterists have provided insights into how it can be done, at least for
a lifetime - theirs and maybe ours.
Principal Sources
Curtay, Jean-Paul. La Poésie lettriste. Paris: Seghers, 1974.
Seaman, David. Interviews with Isidore Isou, Alain Satié, Roland
Sabatier, François Poyet, Gérard-Philippe Broutin, Catherine James.
Paris and Saumur, France. 1995-2000.
Lettriste Pages
Light and Dust Anthology of Poetry
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