The early masterpiece of the famous French avant-garde writer Georges Perek, "Deep in the Courtyard, Which Chrome Handle Bicycle" was recently published by Nanjing University Press. Many of the features of Perek's later works are first revealed in this novel, a small book that is like a hidden path that leads to Perek's intricate linguistic jungle and Uripo's art world of potential possibilities and infinite creativity.
"Deep in the courtyard, which little bicycle with chrome handles"
By Georges Perek
Translated by Tang Yangyang
Nanjing University Publishing Company
The storyline of the novel seems simple: a young sergeant named Henri Pollack rides the small bicycle with the chrome handles every day to and from his hometown of Montparnasse and the barracks in The New Castle of Vincennes. In order to stay with his girlfriend and avoid being sent to Algeria to fight in the war, he and his good buddy Kara XX and other friends went to great lengths to try to avoid military service. However, it is such a short and concise novel, but it is vivid and interesting and intriguing. The novel is full of experimental narrative techniques, intertextual techniques, and a large number of word games, and there are seventy-two variations of the protagonist's name Kara XX alone (such as Karamanlis, Caravo, Caravasch, Karakuwe...). The index attached to the author at the end of the article is playful and lively, providing some clues for the interpretation of the work. Writer Zhao Song pointed out in the introduction to the novel that George Perek's "Deep in the Courtyard, Which Small Bicycle with Chrome Handles?" it is intended to "express the heartfelt disgust and ridicule of the war that discredited France, the collapse of the Fourth Republic, the birth of the Fifth Republic, and especially the complete liberation of Algeria from its colonial position and the realization of independence."
George Perek (1936–1982)
As a true language explorer, Georges Perek is an important and indispensable figure in the history of French literature in the 20th century. He was born in Paris in 1936 to Polish Jewish parents, both of whom died in World War II. Perek studied literature in Paris and later worked as a neurophysiological data clerk at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). In 1965, his first novel, Things, won the Lenodo Prize for Literature. A year later, he published the novelty and bold "Deep in the Courtyard, Which Little Bike with Chrome Handles?" 》。 In 1967, Perek joined the "Ulibo" (potential literary workshop) and soon became an important member of it. He is obsessed with various forms of expression and constantly questions the challenges and boundaries of writing. His work is stunning, complex and changeable. He authored numerous and well-known texts, including Disappearing (1969), Reappearance (1972), W or Childhood Memories (1975), and Life Puzzle Edition (1978, Medici Prize).