Michèle Bernstein's 1961 novel The Night receives English translation and contemporary détournement by Everyone Agrees
The Night, a novel by Michèle Bernstein published in 1961 and translated into English by Clodagh Kinsella, delves into her unconventional marriage with Guy Debord, a co-founder of the Situationist movement. Featuring characters from her earlier work, All the King's Horses, it parodies the nouveau roman while examining the complexities of marriage. The narrative blends autobiographical details, cultural references, and cinematic allusions, humorously critiquing avant-garde circles, including a satirical take on the COBRA movement through a fictional 'Python' group. It recounts a dérive in Paris on 22 April 1957, coinciding with the Lettrist International's decline. Additionally, the collective Everyone Agrees produced After the Night, a modern détournement finalized on 26 April 2013, which Bernstein found entertaining, as it mirrored her bond with Debord, represented as the character Gilles.
Key facts
- Michèle Bernstein's novel The Night was published in France in 1961
- The English translation was completed by Clodagh Kinsella
- The novel explores Bernstein's open marriage to Guy Debord through fictional characters Gilles, Geneviève, Carole, and Bertrand
- Bernstein's first novel All the King's Horses was published in France in 1960 and translated to English in 2008
- The Night parodies the nouveau roman style but focuses on marital strategies rather than formal experimentation
- The book includes a dérive through Paris on 22 April 1957 during the Lettrist International's final days
- London–New York collective Everyone Agrees created After the Night, transposing the Paris drift to contemporary London
- After the Night was finalized for print on 26 April 2013 and references recent events including material from an ArtReview article about Wu Ming
Entities
Artists
- Michèle Bernstein
- Guy Debord
- Alain Robbe-Grillet
- Clodagh Kinsella
Institutions
- Lettrist International
- Situationist International
- ArtReview
- Everyone Agrees
- COBRA
Locations
- France
- Paris
- London
- New York
- Copenhagen
- Brussels
- Amsterdam
- Yokohama
- Tunis
- Hamburg
- Oslo
- Namur