Bernard Noël's Body Politics: A New Volume Celebrates the Writer's 80th Birthday

A new volume in the 'Figures' collection, published by Revue Ah! and Cercle d'art, honors French writer Bernard Noël on his 80th birthday in November. Edited by Jacques Sojcher, the book includes an interview with Noël, two unpublished texts ('Jardin d'encre séquence 6' and 'Le Goût du temps'), and contributions from friends including painter François Rouan, poets Mathieu Bénezet, Jean Daive, Eddy Devolder, and philosopher Michel Surya. It also features a letter to Serge Fauchereau and an interview with Noël's publisher Paul Otchakovsky-Laurens. In the interview, Noël discusses the political dimension of the body, referencing his censored novel 'Le Château de Cène'. He advocates for a 'return to the body' through writing, arguing that the body is inherently a force of revolt against power. He distinguishes between old censorship and a new, more insidious form he calls 'sensure', which attacks meaning rather than speech. The volume aims to revive the surrealist slogan 'Poetry and Revolution' in a contemporary context.