Joë Bousquet
Joë Bousquet was a French writer born on March 19, 1897, in Narbonne, and he spent much of his life in Carcassonne. Initially pursuing a business education in Paris, he enlisted in the military during World War I, where he distinguished himself as an officer. His life changed dramatically when he was severely injured in 1918, resulting in paraplegia and chronic pain, which confined him to bed for over five years. During this time, Bousquet began to engage with the literary world, contributing to various periodicals and attracting the attention of notable intellectuals and artists of the era, including poets and philosophers.
He became involved with the Surrealist movement, signing André Breton's Surrealist Manifesto in 1925. Bousquet's writings, which include novels, poetry, and diaries, are characterized by their experimental nature and a blend of Surrealism and existentialism, often eschewing conventional narrative structures. While his work did not achieve widespread recognition during his lifetime, he has since been rediscovered, leading to posthumous publications of his manuscripts. His former home in Carcassonne has been converted into a museum that showcases his artistic legacy. Bousquet's complex prose challenges readers, inviting them to explore his unique literary contributions.
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Joë Bousquet
Writer
- Born: March 19, 1897
- Birthplace: Narbonne, France
- Died: September 28, 1950
Biography
Joë Bousquet was born on March 19, 1897, in Narbonne, France, the son of a military doctor, and he spent most of his life in the nearby ancient walled town of Carcassonne, where his father opened a private practice. Bousquet attended business school in Paris, studying at the École des Hautes Études Commerciales, but he dropped out to enlist in the army soon after the outbreak of World War I. He rose to officer’s rank, earning a reputation for bravery.
Shortly after his twenty-first birthday, Bousquet experienced what would be the defining moment of his life, when on May 27, 1918, at Vailly, he was hit by enemy fire and his spinal cord was severed. Left a paraplegic and in chronic pain, Bousquet was returned to the family home in Carcasonne, where for more than five years he did little but lie upon an immense bed in a darkened room, constantly ingesting opium to ease the agony of his wound.
Gradually, Bousquet ventured out in public, confined to a wheelchair, and began contributing to such periodicals and literary journals as Cahiers du Sud, Confluences, Lettres, and Empedocle. A cadre of French intellectuals took interest in his character and his writing. Visitors to his home included many well-known personages of the era, including poets Rene Nelli, Paul Éluard, Paul Valéry, and Louis Aragon; philosophers Claude Esteve, Ferdinand Alquié, and Simone Weil; artists Jean Dubuffet and Max Ernst; and Nobel Prize-winning author André Gide. Bousquet was particularly taken with the Surrealistic movement of the 1920’s and was one of the signatories of André Breton’s Surrealist Manifesto, released to the public on January 27, 1925.
From the mid-1920’s until the end of his life, Bousquet poured out a voluminous number of diaries, articles, love letters to numerous women, and books. His books are difficult to classify and include pastiches of narration, dreams, journal entries, meditations, poetry, observations, fragments, and autobiographical revelations. His first published full-length work was Il ne fait pas assez noir (it is not dark enough), possibly a reference to the fact that he typically received visitors in a perpetually curtain-shrouded room. Other books released during the next fifteen years include the novels Une Passante bleue et blond, La Tisane de sarments, and Traduil du silence; a collection of novellas, Le Meneur de lune; and the poetry collection, La Connaissance du soir.
Bousquet’s books never achieved wide popularity during his lifetime because his work is frustrating and disorienting, a blend of Surrealism and existentialism, which can be partially attributed to his opium consumption. There are no plots. All of the characters, except the narrator, who is usually a physically impaired and isolated individual, appear and disappear at will. Chronology, order, and logic are thrown to the wind.
Bousquet died on September 28, 1950 and soon afterward fell into obscurity. However, he was rediscovered in the mid-1960’s. His home in Carcassonne has been turned into a museum, which houses some of the author’s extensive collection of artwork. Numerous lost manuscripts and collections of Bousquet’s letters have been published posthumously. Perhaps the challenge presented by such posthumously published works as Mystique, Le Bréviaire bleu, Isel, or Papillon de neige will appeal to a new generation of readers willing to spend time unraveling Bousquet’s demanding but somehow intriguing prose.