Georges Perec
Georges Perec was a renowned French writer born on March 7, 1936, in Paris to Jewish immigrant parents from Poland. His early life was marked by tragedy, as his father was killed in World War II, and his mother was deported to Auschwitz, leaving him in the care of relatives. Perec's literary career began after he attended the Sorbonne, and he published his first novel, "Les Choses" (1965), which explores themes of consumerism and dissatisfaction in modern life. Known for his innovative use of language, he joined the OuLiPo group, which focused on constrained writing techniques, exemplified in his famous lipogram "La Disparition" (1969), written entirely without the letter "e." His works often reflect his experiences during the Holocaust, with "W: Or, The Memory of Childhood" (1975) interweaving his childhood with fantastical elements. Perec's unique style and exploration of memory and identity have left a lasting impact on literature, and he continued to write until his death from lung cancer in 1982. His posthumous publications further showcase his diverse contributions to fiction and nonfiction, cementing his legacy as a significant figure in 20th-century literature.
Georges Perec
French novelist and nonfiction writer
- Born: March 7, 1936
- Birthplace: Paris, France
- Died: March 3, 1982
- Place of death: Ivry, France
Biography
Georges Perec was born in Paris, France, on March 7, 1936. His parents were working-class Jewish immigrants from Poland. His mother, Cyrla Szulewicz, who changed her name to Cecile, was a beautician. His father, a metal worker, changed his name from Icek Judko Peretz to Andre Perec. His father enlisted in the French army at the beginning of World War II and was killed in action on June 16, 1940, the day of the armistice between France and Germany.
In 1942, Perec’s mother sent him to the French Free Zone while she remained in occupied Paris. The following year she and other family members were sent to their deaths in the concentration camp at Auschwitz. Perec’s paternal grandmother, Rose Peretz, escaped and reunited with Perec in Villard, where he was hiding in a Catholic boarding school. By 1945, Esther and David Bienenfeld, Perec’s father’s sister and her husband who had escaped persecution, became his legal guardians.
In 1954, Perec entered the University of Sorbonne in Paris where he published review articles in periodicals such as Lettres Nouvelles. He became overwhelmed by depression and left after two years of studying history and sociology. He served a year of compulsory military service from 1958 to 1959, and then became a public opinion pollster. In 1960 he married Paulette Petras. Two years later he began a seventeen-year career as a research librarian in neurophysiology at the Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique.
Perec’s first published novel, Les Choses: Une histoire des annes soixante (1965; Things: A Story of the Sixties, 1968), was published in 1965 and won the Renaudot Prize. Perec drew on his study of sociology to portray a modern couple consumed, yet unfulfilled, by their desire to acquire possessions. The novel sold briskly for the next fifteen years. From 1966 to 1972, Perec produced four more novels, all in different literary styles. Quel petit vélo à guidon chromé au fond de la cour (1966; Which Moped with Chrome-Plated Handlebars at the Back of the Yard?, 1996), utilizes satire and word games. Un homme qui dort (1967; A Man Asleep, 1990), written in the second person singular, is a psychological coming-of-age novel of a depressed youth overcome by sleep.
La disparition was published two years after Perec joined the OuLiPo (Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle), a group whose members imposed rigid structures and strictures on their writing to emphasize the form of their work. Perec’s writing flourished under the stringent rules he proposed for it. La disparition (1969; A Void, 1994), is a 300-page lipogram: an entire book written without words containing the letter “e.” The plot revolves around the disappearance of Anton Voyl, who is plagued by the absence of “e” in his life. As his friends search his writings for clues to his disappearance, each one perishes when he is about to speak a word containing the letter “e.” Perec’s next novel, Les revenentes (1972), is a lipogram composed solely of words containing the letter “e.”
As much as Perec’s work is characterized by his masterful word games, it is also marked by the remembrance of the Holocaust. The title of Perec’s most famous work, W: Ou, Le Souvenir de l’enfance (1975; W: Or, The Memory of Childhood, 1988, suggests a pun on “double life” as W is pronounced “doble ve,” suggesting “doble vie,” that is, “double life.” It weaves together two plots: Perec as a Jewish child in collaborative Vichy France, and life on a fantasy island in the Antarctic devoted to Olympic-level athleticism that suggests Nazi ideals.
Perec died of lung cancer in 1982 leaving his final novel, 53 jours, unfinished. The eleven completed chapters and the outlines for the remaining seventeen were published posthumously in 1989. Several of Perec’s other works have been published posthumously as well, including Penser, classer (1985; Thoughts of Sorts, 2009), Cantarix sopranica L. et autres écrits scientifiques (1991; Cantatrix Sopranica L.: Scientific Papers, 2008, with Antony Melville, Harry Mattews, et al.), Le voyage d’hiver (1993; The Winter Journey, 1995), and Le Condottière (2012; Portrait of a Man Known as Il Condottiere, 2014). In 2013 the English translation of Perec’s dream diary, La boutique obscure: 124 Dreams, was published.
Author Works
Long Fiction:
Les Choses: Une histoire des annes soixante, 1965 (Les Choses: A Story of the Sixties, 1968; Things: A Story of the Sixties, 1999)
Quel petit vélo à guidon chromé au fond de la cour?, 1966 (Which Moped with Chrome Handlebars at the Back of the Yard?, 1996)
Un homme qui dort, 1967 (A Man Asleep, 1990)
La disparation, 1969 (A Void, 1994)
Les reventes, 1972 (The Exeter Text: Jewels, Secrets, Sex, 1996)
Die Maschine, 1972 (The Machine, 2009)
Ulcérations, 1974
W: Ou, Le Souvenir de l'enfance, 1975 (W: Or, The Memory of Childhood, 1988)
Tentative d'épuisement d'un lieu parisien, 1975 (An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris, 2010)
Alphabets, Galilée, 1976
Je me souviens, 1978 (I Remember, 2014)
La vie mode d'emploi, 1978 (Life: A User's Manual, 2003)
Les mots croisés, 1979
Un cabinet d'amateur, 1979
La clôture et autres poèmes, 1980
Théâtre I, 1981
Epithalames, 1982
Penser Classer, 1985
Les Mots croisés II, 1986
Vaeux, 1989
L'Infra-ordinaire, 1989
53 jours, 1989 (53 Days, 1992)
L. G.: Une Aventure des années soixante, 1992
Le Voyage d'hiver, 1993
Beaux présents belles absentes, 1994
L'attentat de Sarajevo, 2016 (wr. 1957)
Nonfiction:
La boutique obscure, 1973 (La Boutique Obscure: 124 Dreams, 2013)
Espèces d'espaces: Journal d'un usager de l'espace, 1974 (Species of Spaces, and Other Pieces, 1997)
Bibliography
Bellos, David. Georges Perec: A Life in Words. 1993. London: Harvill, 1999. The first complete biography of Perec.
Bellos, David. “The Old and the New: An Introduction to Georges Perec.” Review of Contemporary Fiction, vol 29, no. 1, 2009, pp. 11–24. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Apr. 2016. Presents a profile of Perec, providing details of his childhood during the 1940s.
Perec, Georges. “Georges Perec Owns Up: An Interview.” Interview by Marcel Bénabou and Bruno Marcenac. Review of Contemporary Fiction, vol. 29, no. 1, 2009, p. 25. Biography Reference Center. Web. 4 Apr. 2016. Presents a December 1965 interview with Georges Perec, in which he discusses his book Les Choses and the influence of Gustave Flaubert on his writing.
Rubin, Eric Beck. “Georges Perec, Lost and Found in the Void: The Memoirs of an Indirect Witness.” Journal of Modern Literature, vol. 37, no. 3, 2014, pp. 111–26. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Apr. 2016. Discusses the influence of Perec's role as an indirect witness to the Holocaust and its influence on his literary career.
Schwartz, Henri P. “The Oneiric Autobiography of Georges Perec.” Psychoanalytic Quarterly, vol. 85, no. 1, 2016, pp. 155–78. PsycINFO. Web. 4 Apr. 2016. Discusses the 1973 book La boutique obscure and provides details of Perec's life and career.