Like the Dao De Jing, Rene Leys opens with a wonderful gesture of abandonment in which, even before the text begins, it is disowned, negated, made absent rather than present.I shall know no more then. Well, I shall not insist.
Rene Leys
The way that can be spoken of
Is not the constant way;
The name that can be named
Is not the constant name...
Dao De Jing
2 comments:
Fascinating stuff, Murr, and I can't help but be reminded, in the idea of the text being abandoned or negated before its ever begun, of Raymond Federman's work. Federman had a specific word for this (I forget it though damn it!) in which the narrative erases itself as it's being written. It may have been "surfiction," but don't quote me on that, I could be thinking of something else. Anyway, nearly all of Fed's novels are evocations of such. I'm still trying to get my hands on this Rene Leys; I highly recommend you likewise get'cher good catpaws on Federman's The Voice in the Closet, the finest example, I think, in his work, of what you're describing in this Fragment.
Walter Abish's Alphabetical Africa also accomplishes this feat, I believe, at least linguistically.
Federman's blog
Thanks for the recommendation! I'll look out for Federman
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