Henri Michaux

French poet and painter. Born in Belgium, he became a French citizen in 1955. He belonged to the same generation as the Surrealists, and while he shared the same inner quest, he developed his own unique world without belonging to any group. He began writing poetry under the influence of Lautréamont, and while he was tormented by anxiety about the inexplicable hostility of the outside world, the difficulties of living there, and distrust of language, he tried to overcome his anxiety by creating innovative expressions filled with unique humor through a bold act of destruction of language. As a result, language took on a kind of exorcism effect. His poetry collections include travelogues such as "Ecuador" (1929) and "A Savage in Asia" (1933), which depict lands with strange customs based on his experiences traveling abroad, "A Journey through Grand Garabany" (1936), which depicts an inner territory full of bizarre fantasies, and "Plume" (1938), which caricatures the difficulties of life. His exploration of the inner world using hallucinogens such as mescaline, which has anesthetic properties, can be seen in his books such as Miserable Miracle (1955) and Perception from the Abyss (1961), as well as in his vast number of drawings. His paintings, which mainly feature hieroglyphic lines and splashes, are considered to be the forerunners of Informel painting, and many of his later works blend text and drawing. His other works include the poetry collections Former Me (1927) and Exorcism (1945).

[Junichi Tanaka]

"The Complete Works of Henri Michaux, translated by Eiji Koumi, 3 volumes (1953, Seidosha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

フランスの詩人、画家。ベルギー生まれだが、1955年フランスに帰化した。シュルレアリストと同世代に属し、共通する内的探求を課題としながら、いかなるグループにも属さずに独得の世界を開拓した。ロートレアモンの影響下に詩作を始め、外界の不可解な敵意への不安、そこに生きる困難さ、言語への不信感にさいなまれながら、言語に対する大胆な破壊作業を通じて特異なユーモアをたたえた斬新(ざんしん)な表現を生み出すことで、その不安を克服しようとした。その結果、言語は一種の悪魔祓(ばら)いの効用を帯びることになる。海外旅行体験をもとに奇妙な風俗の土地を描いた『エクアドル』（1929）、『アジアの一野蛮人』（1933）などの旅行記、奇怪な幻想に満ちた内的領土を描いた『グランド・ガラバーニュの旅』（1936）、生の困難を戯画化した『プリューム』（1938）などの詩集がある。また、麻酔性をもつメスカリンをはじめとする幻覚剤を用いた内部世界探求の軌跡は『みじめな奇蹟(きせき)』（1955）、『深淵(しんえん)からの認識』（1961）その他の著作や膨大な数のデッサンにみられる。象形文字的な線や飛沫(ひまつ)を中心とするその絵画作品はアンフォルメル絵画の先駆とみなされ、晩年の著作では文章とデッサンが混じり合った例も多い。ほかに詩集『かつての私』（1927）、『試煉(しれん)・悪魔祓い』（1945）など多数の作品がある。

［田中淳一］

『小海永二訳『アンリ・ミショー全集』全三巻（1953・青土社）』

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