Pierre Michon et la corporation des écrivains : une lecture de Corps du roi

Dans Corps du roi, paru en 2002, l’écrivain français Pierre Michon développe l’idée que les écrivains appartiennent, au-delà du temps terrestre, à un même corps : celui de la littérature. Cette idée est, dans le même temps, contestée. Nous montrons alors, par une analyse des cinq textes de ce recueil, que l’ambivalence de Michon pose la question de la croyance en la littérature et met en évidence la fragilité de celle-ci, en même temps que sa nécessité.In Corps du roi, published in 2002, the French writer Pierre Michon develops the idea that all writers, beyond worldly time, belong to the same body: the body of Literature. And yet, at the same time, this idea is questioned. Through the analysis of five texts in this collection, we will show that Michon’s ambivalence asks the questions of the belief in Literature and highlights its fragility at the same time as its necessity

Les surréalistes face au travail. Ambiguïtés et ambivalences d’une condamnation

Le mouvement surréaliste français est connu pour son refus du travail, littéraire en particulier. Une lecture attentive des textes surréalistes des années 1920 nuance cependant ce cliché de l’histoire littéraire. Des ambiguïtés, voire des ambivalences, se font jour dans plusieurs textes importants, des Champs magnétiques (1919-1920) à Nadja et au Traité du style (1927-1928) en passant par le Manifeste du surréalisme de 1924. Leurs auteurs en étaient conscients et ont tenté, pour diverses raisons mises au jour ici, d’en atténuer (on pense à Breton) ou au contraire d’en exagérer (on pense à Aragon) la portée.The French Surrealist movement is famous for shying away from effort, particularly when it comes to literature. However, a careful reading of some surrealist texts from the Twenties shades this history of French literature’s cliché. Ambiguity and ambivalence come to light in very important texts, whether Les Champs magnétiques (1919-1920), the Manifeste du surréalisme (1924), Nadja or Traité du style (1927-1928). Their authors were aware of it and tried to tone it down (in Breton’s case) or to exagerate it (in Aragon’s case)

Henri Michaux:une entrée en littérature sous le signe de la malédiction

À son arrivée à Paris en 1924, le jeune écrivain belge Henri Michaux suscite chez ses contemporains des réactions en sens divers. Les uns l’accueillent chaleureusement : Jules Supervielle et, dans une moindre mesure, Jean Paulhan l’introduisent rapidement auprès des milieux modernistes. D’autres, comme Marcel Jouhandeau, se proposent pour être le guide moral du jeune poète, encourageant celui-ci dans sa volonté de suivre la voie des auteurs mystiques. D’autres encore s’indignent du comporteme..

Éditorial:Olivia Rosenthal: l'écriture aux aguets

International audienceThe introduction to this issue first draws up a state of the art of Rosenthal's studies, based on the paradoxical observation of the omnipresence of the work in contemporary concerns and a difficulty for critics to fully embrace it. We will thus distinguish a first moment, around the 2010s, which follows two directions: on the one hand, Rosenthal’s work is studied through the prism of a cinematographic imaginary, from the founding reflections on the forms of intermediality; on the other hand, through a reflexion about the status of the address and the figure of the reader. A renewed interest for Rosenthal’s work is currently developing, in relation with an increasingly asserted concern for literature outside the book as well as for the protocols and epistemologies of so-called “field” literatures. The introduction then proposes to approach this work through a dynamic that was visible from the first texts but becomes increasingly noticeable over time: a literature “on the look-out”, implying a constant vigilance both from the author as she writes and from her readers on a formal and esthetic level, as well as a capacity to welcome otherness without naivety or paranoia.L’introduction du dossier dresse dans un premier temps un état de l’art des études rosenthaliennes, à partir du constat paradoxal de l’omniprésence de l’œuvre dans les préoccupations contemporaines et d'une difficulté de la critique à en prendre la pleine mesure. On distinguera ainsi un premier moment, autour des années 2010, qui suit deux directions : d’une part, la critique interroge l’œuvre au prisme d’un imaginaire cinématographique de la littérature française, à partir des réflexions fondatrices sur les enjeux de l’intermédialité ; elle réfléchit d’autre part au statut de l’adresse et de la figure du lecteur chez cette écrivaine. Un second moment, actuel, coïncide avec l’avènement d’une préoccupation critique de plus en plus affirmée pour la littérature hors du livre ainsi que pour les protocoles et épistémologies des littératures dites « de terrain ». L’introduction s’applique ensuite à saisir et déployer une dynamique essentielle, visible depuis les premiers textes mais de plus en plus remarquable au fil du temps : le positionnement de l’écriture rosenthalienne aux aguets, impliquant une vigilance de tous les instants, chez l’autrice comme chez ses lecteurs, devant les formes utilisées mais aussi une capacité d’accueil de l’autre sans naïveté ni paranoïa

Medieval markets: A soil micromorphological and archaeobotanical study of the urban stratigraphy of Lier (Belgium)

Market places remain underrepresented in studies of archaeological soil micromorphology. In Lier, micromorphology was applied to gain understanding of the stratigraphy and formation processes of the medieval “Grote Markt”. Block samples were obtained from a sediment profile that spanned the 11th-15th century and contained three separate phases of thick, dark-coloured, humic, homogeneous layers - so-called ‘dark earth’. Combined with textural and archaeobotanical analyses (seeds, fruits and phytoliths), the results shed light on the formation processes that shaped this site. The oldest dark earth, dated to the 11th century, was characterised by agricultural activities. The second dark earth (12–13th century) formed as a result of intensive human activities, witnessing the site's transformation to an urban space. This layer contained large amounts of organic matter and anthropogenic inclusions and developed gradually in situ. It probably represents an early market or open space close to dwellings or small courtyards. Units that contain evidence for intensive building activity separate the second and third dark earth, and are possibly the result of a spatial re-organisation of the square. The formation of the third dark earth, which started in the 14th century, is characterised by an intensification of traffic and craftworking activities. Surfaces may have been maintained by spreading organic matter such as leaves, sand and hearth detritus. However, there is no evidence for a kept, empty urban square before a thick layer of levelling sand was deposited (in the second half of the 14th century at earliest) and the market was cobbled. The analysis shows that mixed market activities took place in this intensively used zone, and presents a number of micromorphological characteristics and inclusions typical of a medieval market place in a temperate climate

Phytoliths as a tool for investigations of agricultural origins and dispersals around the world

Agricultural origins and dispersals are subjects of fundamental importance to archaeology as well as many other scholarly disciplines. These investigations are world-wide in scope and require significant amounts of paleobotanical data attesting to the exploitation of wild progenitors of crop plants and subsequent domestication and spread. Accordingly, for the past few decades the development of methods for identifying the remains of wild and domesticated plant species has been a focus of paleo-ethnobotany. Phytolith analysis has increasingly taken its place as an important independent contributor of data in all areas of the globe, and the volume of literature on the subject is now both very substantial and disseminated in a range of international journals. In this paper, experts who have carried out the hands-on work review the utility and importance of phytolith analysis in documenting the domestication and dispersals of crop plants around the world. It will serve as an important resource both to paleo-ethnobotanists and other scholars interested in the development and spread of agriculture