Butor - Michel Butor

French author. Born near Lille in northern France. Studied philosophy at the University of Paris. After teaching in Egypt and Manchester, England, he began his career as a writer. His novels, Via Milano (1954), Timetable (1956), A Change of Heart (1957, winner of the Prix Renaud), and Stages (1960), all use precise techniques to three-dimensionally depict the complex entanglements of time and space hidden behind everyday reality, and attempt to ascertain the relationship between "writing" and "reality." In particular, A Change of Heart attracted attention for its novelty of referring to the protagonist in the second person, and he was considered a writer who was part of the "Nouveau Roman" movement of the 1950s.

His interests then went beyond the bounds of novels. Mobile (1962), born from his first stay in America in 1960, is an ambitious work that attempts to grasp the United States as a whole through a complex structure of quotations and fragments and clever use of type arrangement, and it became the starting point for a new development in the possibilities of books. In Between (1973), he introduced the same collage-like technique, as well as the author's own notes and production diary, aiming to theatricalize the book itself. A Portrait of the Artist Like a Little Monkey (1967) is a kind of autobiography that depicts his memories of a summer stay in southern Germany in his youth, interwoven with quotations from various fields, as a parody of Tales of the One Thousand and One Nights. In this way, by constantly working more subtly on the book itself, he continues to seek more complex explorations of time and space.

He traveled to an astonishing number of places around the world, including three long stays in the United States, and published travel impressions in a variety of styles, from epistles to prose poetry, which served as the material for his five-volume series "Spirits of the Land" (1958-1996). The first volume (1958) was merely a collection of travel notes from several places in the Mediterranean world, but from the second volume onwards, he divided these travel impressions into fragments again, and created a complex interdigitated structure, printing them in a different colour every 16 pages (black, red, and blue), and using a book format that can be read from either the left or right.

In addition to the aforementioned "Spirits of the Land," his literary activities can be grouped into several categories. Four volumes of "Illustrations" (1964, 1969, 1973, 1976) and "Pre-Taste" (1984, 1987, 1989, 1992) are poetry collections that compile texts based on poetry and art books produced in collaboration with artists, which numbered over 1,000 as of 2002, using the same elaborate compositional method. The five-volume series "Dream Substance" (1975, 1976, 1977, 1981, 1985) delve into his inner self while methodically varying and developing dreams. The five-volume collection of critiques "Performance Catalog" (1960, 1964, 1968, 1974, 1982) reinterprets subjects as complex structures across fields such as literature, art, and music. His works include the two-volume collection of short poems and memorial messages written for friends, Okuru Kotoba (Words of Gifts) (1980, 1982).

He taught at the University of Nice from 1972 and at the University of Geneva from 1974 to 1991, but his lectures, which he conducted without lecture notes, became a series of essays on writers, such as "Improvisations on Balzac" (1998), which were rewritten from recordings. "Improvisations on Michel Butor" (1993), based on the lectures he gave in his final year as professor, is important as it tells of his own literary career. His other works include "Dialogues: 40 Years of a Literary Life 1969-96" (1999), in two volumes. His activities, which turned his back on popular appeal and always maintained a sharp methodological consciousness, worked on books, and sought to understand himself and the world more deeply and broadly through the limitless performance of words, are admirable.

[Toru Shimizu]

"Change of Heart" translated by Shimizu Toru (1959, Kawade Shobo Shinsha)" ▽ "Timetable" translated by Shimizu Toru (included in "World Literature 49: Sartre-Butor", 1964, Chuokoron-Shinsha, later Chuokoron-Shinsha Bunko)" ▽ "The Possibilities of Literature" translated by Shimizu Toru et al. (1967, Chuokoron-Shinsha) " ▽ "Portrait of the Artist Like a Young Ape" translated by Shimizu Toru and Matsuzaki Yoshitaka (1969, Chikuma Shobo) " ▽ "Baudelaire" translated by Takabatake Masaaki (1970, Takeuchi Shoten)" ▽ "Via Milano" translated by Matsuzaki Yoshitaka (1971, Takeuchi Shoten)" ▽ "On Montaigne: Essays on Essays" translated by Matsuzaki Yoshitaka (1973, Chikuma Shobo)" ▽ "Words in Paintings" translated by Shimizu Toru (1975, Shinchosha)" ▽ "Literature and the Night," translated by Shimizu Toru and Kudo Yoko (1982, Asahi Publishing)" ▽ "Between Center and Absence," translated by Shimizu Toru and Tabei Reiko (1983, Asahi Publishing)" ▽ "Intervals," translated by Shimizu Toru (1984, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "Dialogues with the Diabelli Variations," translated by Kudo Yoko (1996, Chikuma Shobo)" ▽ "Dialogues with Butor," edited by Georges Charbonnier and translated by Iwasaki Chikara (1970, Takeuchi Shoten)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

フランスの作家。北仏リール近郊の生まれ。パリ大学で哲学を修める。エジプト、イギリスのマンチェスターなどで教鞭(きょうべん)をとったあと作家生活に入る。小説『ミラノ通り』（1954）、『時間割』（1956）、『心変わり』（1957。ルノード賞受賞）、『段階』（1960）は、いずれも日常的現実の背後に潜む時間と空間の複雑な絡み合いを精密な技法で立体化し、「書くこと」と「現実」の関係を見定めようとしたもの。とりわけ『心変わり』が主人公を二人称でよぶという斬新(ざんしん)さにより注目を集め、1950年代の「ヌーボー・ロマン」の動向の一翼をなす作家とみなされた。

　ついで関心は小説の枠を越える。1960年の最初のアメリカ滞在経験から生まれた『モビール』（1962）は、引用と断章の複雑な構成や活字配置のくふうなどによりアメリカ合衆国そのものを全体として捉(とら)えようとする野心的著作で、書物の可能性の新しい開発の出発点となる。『合い間』（1973）では同じコラージュ的方法に作者自注や制作日誌まで導入して、書物それ自体の劇場化が目ざされた。『仔猿(こざる)のような芸術家の肖像』（1967）は、若いころ一夏南ドイツに滞在した思い出を、さまざまな領域からの引用を織り交ぜた『千一夜物語』のパロディとして描いた一種の自伝である。このように書物そのものへとつねにより精妙に働きかけることによって、より複雑な時間と空間の探索を求め続けてゆく。

　3回のアメリカ長期滞在をはじめ、驚くほど多く世界各地へと旅をして、書簡体から散文詩にいたる多様なスタイルによる旅行印象記を発表しており、それが連作『土地の精霊』全5巻（1958～1996）の構成素材の役割を果たす。第1巻（1958）は地中海世界のいくつかの土地の旅行記の単なる集成でしかなかったが、第2巻以後では、それらの旅行印象記を改めて断章へと分割したうえで、複雑に相互嵌入(かんにゅう)する構成、さらに黒・赤・青と16ページごとに色を変えた印刷、左開き右開き両方から読める書物形態など、次々と書物構築を複雑に多様化させていった。

　前記の『土地の精霊』のほか、彼の文学活動はいくつかの系統にまとめられてゆく。2002年時点で1000冊を超えた画家との共同製作による詩画集に基づき、そのテクストだけを同じく精緻(せいち)な構成法によってまとめた詩集『挿絵集』全4冊（1964、1969、1973、1976）や『前味』全4冊（1984、1987、1989、1992）。夢を方法的に変奏し展開しながら自らの内部を掘り下げる連作『夢の物質』全5冊（1975、1976、1977、1981、1985）。文学、美術、音楽などの分野にわたり、対象を複雑な構成体として改めて読み解いてゆく批評集『演奏目録』全5冊（1960、1964、1968、1974、1982）。友人たちのために書いた短詩や追悼文を編集した小品集『贈る言葉』全2冊（1980、1982）など。

　1972年からニース大学で、1974年から1991年までジュネーブ大学で教えたが、講義ノートなしに進められた講義は、録音の書き直しによる『即興演奏、バルザックについて』（1998）などの作家論シリーズとなる。教授最終年における講義に基づく『即興演奏、ミシェル・ビュトールについて』（1993）は自分の文学的経歴を語ったものとして重要である。ほかに『対話――文学生活40年　1969-96』全2巻（1999）がある。大衆性に背を向けてつねに先鋭な方法意識をもち続け、書物へと働きかけ、ことばのかぎりない演奏を通して自分と世界とをより深く、より広く捉えていこうとするその活動は驚嘆に値する。

［清水　徹］

『清水徹訳『心変わり』（1959・河出書房新社）』▽『清水徹訳『時間割』（『世界の文学49　サルトル・ビュトール』所収・1964・中央公論社、その後中公文庫）』▽『清水徹他訳『文学の可能性』（1967・中央公論社）』▽『清水徹・松崎芳隆訳『仔猿のような芸術家の肖像』（1969・筑摩書房）』▽『高畠正明訳『ボードレール』（1970・竹内書店）』▽『松崎芳隆訳『ミラノ通り』（1971・竹内書店）』▽『松崎芳隆訳『モンテーニュ論――エセーをめぐるエセー』（1973・筑摩書房）』▽『清水徹訳『絵画のなかの言葉』（1975・新潮社）』▽『清水徹・工藤庸子訳『文学と夜』（1982・朝日出版社）』▽『清水徹・田部井玲子訳『中心と不在のあいだ』（1983・朝日出版社）』▽『清水徹訳『合い間』（1984・岩波書店）』▽『工藤庸子訳『ディアベリ変奏曲との対話』（1996・筑摩書房）』▽『ジョルジュ・シャルボニエ編著、岩崎力訳『ビュトールとの対話』（1970・竹内書店）』

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