Marc Decimo - Jean-Pierre Brisset

8/14/2019 Marc Decimo - Jean-Pierre Brisset

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Verbal Constraints and verbal play in the work of Jean-PierreBrisset.

Jean-Pierre Brisset (1837-11! wrote and p"blished all hislife witho"t a break# driven by an invol"ntary $o%p"lsion tode%onstrate by p"ns and other fi&"res of spee$h that %ankind de$endsfro% fro&s.

'e $hose if one $an talk of $hoi$e when the bo"ndariesof the $ons$io"s and the "n$ons$io"s are so va&"e to i%pose$ertain r"les "pon his writin& whi$h re%ained $onstant thro"&ho"t the&reater part of his )"vre. *he first r"le was to e+ploit to the li%it the

reso"r$es of ho%ophony and parony%y# $reatin& a %ode laterdes$ribed as ,holorhy%e verse. or e+a%ple# /es dents# la bo"$heso"nds the sa%e to the ear as 0 ,laides en la bo"$he# lait dans labo"$he# et$. 'en$e a phrase with its se"en$e of so"nds $an $allforth another phrase havin& the sa%e so"nd b"t a different %eanin& 2and any si&nifier $an# theoreti$ally# be $alled "pon to enri$h the series.Brissets ori&inality was to s"ppose that these $onfl"en$es of wordsand %eanin&s were deeply si&nifi$ant rather than fort"ito"s. 4f words

play &a%es a%on& the%selves if they are ,kissin& $o"sins (5lfredJarry! and ,%ake love to&ether (5ndr6 Breton! why sho"ld theynot enter into %eanin&f"l relationships and &ive birth to sense Brisset applied hi%self not only to listin& all the ho%ophonies andnear ho%ophonies he $o"ld find# b"t also to $o%%entin& "pon the%.orkin& ba$kwards# he had to dis$over first the trails that ran betweenapparently separate words and then the stories that %otivate the%.*h"s# by a te$hni"e of &lossin& whi$h one $alled

,vraise%blablalisation (,likelihoodwinkin&!# ,6po"vantable(dreadf"l! $o"ld be %ade to yield ,6po"+ vend table (h"sband sellstable!.

5s a $hild in 9or%andy# Brissets ed"$ation was li%ited toreadin& and arith%eti$. :ost of his ti%e was spent in the fields withhis parents who were day-labo"rers. 5t the a&e of 1; he %oved toParis to be$o%e a pastry-$ook# b"t h"n&er obli&ed hi% to enlist in thear%y. 5s a soldier# he fo"&ht in the Cri%ea at er%an invasion ofran$e. 'e was wo"nded twi$e 0 in 18? in the thi&h# and in 187= by a


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shell in the head. 'e was $apt"red twi$e and deported on$e to:a&deb"r&. 'e took advanta&e of the periods of $onvales$en$e andprison to learn 4talian and >er%an. 'e ret"rned to ran$e and $ivilianlife d"rin& the $ivil "prisin& of 1871# and a few %onths later p"blisheda short treatise $alledLa Natation ou lArt de nager, appris seul enmoins dune heure(*he 5rt of


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fa$t 0 h"%an bein&s have se+"ally differentiated &enitals. Con$l"sion 0the %ain %eta%orphoses that have o$$"red in the transfor%ation offro&s to %en are the e%er&en$e of the penis on the one hand and thefa$"lty of spee$h on the other. Dn$e "pon a ti%e# very lon& a&o# wheno"r an$estors were fro&s# so%ethin& be&an to &row in their &roin.,CIa CIa the fro&s $roaked in pain. ,CIa is the standardtrans$ription of the fro&s $ry in ren$h# b"t it is also the interro&ative,"oi (what !# analo&o"s to ,Q"est-$e "e $est (what isthat !. By ho%ony%y this latter phrase %ay be heard and spelled 0,Q"e se+e est (what is that se+ !. ,Ft le se+e f"t le pre%ier de to"sles e+$As (and se+ was the first e+$ess of all ,le se+e and ,lese+$As bein& virt"al ana&ra%s!.

*hro"&ho"t his $areer# Brisset $ontin"ed $reatin& s"$hp"ns as a way to open "p and e+pli$ate the ren$h lan&"a&e. 'e evenbe&an to $o%pose a ren$h ,5nalyti$al Ki$tionary. 4f he so%eti%esreferred briefly to other lan&"a&es# it was to repeat that his spe$ifi$r"les of pro$ed"re# ,the &reat /aw# $o"ld and sho"ld be "sed for all.*he ,&reat /aw testified to the pree%inen$e of the ,>reat ro forwhose e+isten$e Brisset had %"ltiple proofs. 4t is easy# for e+a%ple# toi%a&ine a fro& s%okin& $i&arettes# like any %an or wo%an. *he &ood

looks of the fro& are "n%istakable. 5nd if fro&s have fo"r fin&ersinstead of o"r five# we %"st re%e%ber that d"rin& the %atin& seasonfro&s &row a kind of th"%b for $l"t$hin& their partner (pousse#,&rows# in ren$h# bein& a ho%ony% ofpouce# ,th"%b!.

4n the sa%e style# Brisset p"blished in 1==La Science deDieu ou la Cration de lomme (*he knowled&e of >od or theCreation of :an!# and La Grande Nou!elle (*he >reat 9ews!. 4n1= he bro"&ht o"t Les "rophties accomplies #Daniel et

lApocalypse$ (*he Prophe$ies are Kone NKaniel and the5po$alypseO!# and finally in 113Les %rigines humaines(*he Dri&insof :an!. 4n 11R the ren$h writer J"les Lo%ains pi$ked "p one ofBrissets books fro% a bookstall on the Paris quais. 'e introd"$edBrisset to his friends# in$l"din& 5pollinaire#


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Brisset filled the need.Lo%ains also showed Brissets book to Pi$asso and to

:ar$el K"$ha%p# who later re$alled 0 ,Brisset and Lo"ssel were thetwo %en in those years N11R-1?O who% 4 ad%ired for their deliri"%of i%a&inationT Brissets work was a philolo&i$al analysis oflan&"a&e an analysis worked o"t by an in$redible network of p"ns.'e was a sort of Ko"anier Lo"ssea" of philolo&yT B"t Brisset wasone of the real people who was lived and will be for&otten. Lo"sselwas an another &reat of %ine in the early days. *he reason 4 ad%iredhi% was be$a"se he prod"$ed so%ethin& 4 had never seen. *hat is theonly thin& that brin&s ad%iration fro% %y inner%ost bein& so%ethin& $o%pletly independant nothin& to do with the &reat

na%es or infl"en$esT 4 felt that as a painter it was %"$h better to beinfl"en$ed by a writter than by another painterT :y ideal librarywo"ld have $ontained all Lo"ssels writin&s Brisset# perhaps/a"tr6a%ont and :allar%6. :allar%6 was a &reat fi&"re. *his was adire$tion in whi$h art sho"ld t"rn 0 to an intelle$t"al e+pression# ratherthan to an ani%al e+pression. 4 a% si$k of the e+pression ,bte $o%%e"n peintre st"pid as a painter.R

/ike Brisset# K"$ha%p (who referred to hi%self

ana&ra%%ati$ally as ,le %ar$hand d" sel Nsalt sellerO! relied on"bi"ito"s p"ns in his $onstant efforts to trans&ress the nor%. 'ebelieved that we %"st do away with ,retinal pleas"re in favor of a%ore intelle$t"al pleas"re when we view a work of art. By a &a%e ofwit and verbal li$en$e set in %otion by the title# words enter into aderisive relationship with the obEe$t they are s"pposed to representand identify. 4t is thanks to K"$ha%ps Morceau& moisis (


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of ho%ony%y# and Lobert Kesnoss Corps et .iens (13=! all tooktheir inspiration fro% Brissets literary style. Consider for e+a%pleKesnoss poe%LAumonyme(5l%sho%ony%o"s! written in 1R3 0

Lose aiselle vit. Lose ar%pit for pri$k.Lrose# essaie l# vit. Lrose# try here# pri$k.LIts et sel vie. B"rps and salt for life.Lose


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si%"ltaneo"sly workin& on his istoire de la -olie (:adness andCivilisation!# hisNaissance de la clinique(*he Birth of the Clini$!#and a book on Lay%ond Lo"ssel# p"blished an arti$le entitled ,/e$y$le des &reno"illes (*he Cy$le of ro&s! on Brissets +he0no1ledge o- God.? 4n 17= he $ontrib"ted a prefa$e to the firstreprintin& of Brissets %aEor works# openin& the way to several f"t"repsy$hiatri$# lin&"isti$# and psy$hoanalyti$ st"dies. 4t was d"rin& thissa%e period that Ja$"es /a$an be$a%e interested# in the wake ofre"d# in the $ase of president


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*rad"$tions.

,/e pr6sent o"vra&e ne pe"t tre absol"%ent trad"it en "ne a"trelan&"eT

D'# UoU ,4nvitation.

,4e ne sais ce que cest5 4eune se&e est5/a pre%iAre $hose"e re%ar"a lan$tre et "il ne $onnaissait pas# $6tait "n se+eEe"ne# en for%ation. Kans $e $as# les pl"s $lairvoyants sont en$ore"el"efois for$6s de dire 0 4e ne sais ce que cest5 4eune se&e est#va"t 0 se&e est 6eune# et 0 6eune est se&e. /e %ot 6eune pe"t tre$onsid6r6 $o%%e "n no%. 4l en r6s"lte "e6euned6si&ne et d6si&na

$e"+ "i prenaient le se+e. /es Ee"nes sont les enfants dont le se+e napas en$ore atteint to"te sa p"issan$e# $ar il se d6veloppe to"Eo"rs trAslente%ent.NTO

4e sais que cest /ien. 4eo" 6eu se&e est /ien. /e pre%ier6eu6tait le se+e. Ke l vient la passion d" Ee". /e pr"dent $a$hait sonEe". /e prono% 6e d6si&ne ainsi le se+e et "and 6eparle# $est "nse+e# "n %e%bre viril de lZternel-Kie" "i a&it par sa volont6 o" saper%ission. Cest en parlant de son se+e "e lan$tre saper@"t "il

parlait de son propre individ"# de l"i-%%e.NTOKans les pre%iers te%ps# les te%ps pass6s d" verbe 6taient

des te%ps pr6sents.4e leusvalait 06e lai# et a for%6 le pass6 d6finid" verbe lire 0 4e lus 7 tu leus, tu lus 7 il leut, il lut 7 nous l8umes,nous l9mes 7 !ous le9tes, !ous l9tes 7 ils lurent. /es pre%iers "ileurentf"rent les luronset la pre%iAre $hose "ils lurentf"t le se+e./e se+e est a"ssi la pre%iAre lyre# il prod"isait lire et rendaitiras$ible. Cest l "il fall"t dabord lire# dans le d6lire.

La Science de Dieu,,/a for%ation d" se+e# e+trait.

Fn an&lais.

,: do not ;no1 1hat that is5 :t is a young se&(4e ne sais ceque c


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newly p"bes$ent not yet f"ll-&rown# b"t &rowin&. *h"s $hallen&ed#even the %ost $lear-si&hted are so%eti%es for$ed to ad%it 0: ;no1not 1hat it is(4e ne sais ce que c

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Marc Decimo - Jean-Pierre Brisset