Blaise Cendrars's Complete Autobiographical Works Published by Pléiade

The Pléiade / Gallimard has released a two-volume set of Blaise Cendrars's autobiographical works, edited by Claude Leroy. The publication challenges the conventional dichotomy between world-oriented and self-oriented literature, positioning Cendrars alongside Proust, Céline, Malraux, and Leiris. Cendrars's works, originally marketed as novels and described by the author as "memoirs that are memoirs without being memoirs," blend poetry, fiction, and autobiography. Key texts include L'Homme foudroyé (1945), La Main coupée (1946), Bourlinguer (1948), and Le Lotissement du ciel (1949). The edition also gathers fragments of Sous le signe de François Villon, an unfinished essay from 1938, published here for the first time. Cendrars coined the term "prochronies" for these works, suggesting a temporal inversion where past, present, and future intermingle. The collection highlights Cendrars's innovative use of montage and collage, rejecting conventional realism. His amputation of the right hand in 1915 profoundly shaped his later work. The publication aims to secure Cendrars's place as a major figure in 20th-century French literature.