Arguments

by Ulises Carrión

Arguments est emblématique de la poésie visuelle et concrète des années soixante-dix. Ce livre n’est composé que de prénoms ; chaque série de prénoms forme un argument ; chaque argument est en soi une petite nouvelle. La mise en scène typographique, les jeux de répétitions et de permutations donnent toutes les indications : pour autant que le lecteur recompose et imagine le fil narratif…

87 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1973

About the author

Ulises Carrión (Veracruz México; 1941 - Amsterdám; 1989) fue un escritor, editor y artista mexicano nacido en San Andrés Tuxtla. Celebrado inicialmente como un talentoso y joven escritor, a principios de los años 70 Carrión abandonó al mismo tiempo México y la literatura ortodoxa para iniciar en Europa una obra en el arte contemporáneo. Heriberto Yépez lo llama "el escritor post-literario más innovador que haya nacido en México".

Reviews

[Raul De · Rating 5 out of 5]

In one of the books about the bibliography of Ulises Carrion, it is explained how and why the bookwork Arguments was composed. I forget where that explanation was, but I believe it is in Sonnet(s). From what I remember, it was modeled after the interactions of real people who bore these names, and many of these are recognizable as people in Carrion's orbit: Felipe [Ehrenberg], Marta [Hellion], David [Mayor], are the founders of the bookwork's publisher, Beau Geste Presse; Aart [van Berneveld] is Ulises' partner. And so on. What we see at play is these interactions of friendships, partnerships, socialization, laid out in their components. These webs could have particular meanings. It is not necessary to associate the names to real people to operate this book. All that is necessary is to face the pages and the words in it in a way that is unique to this bookwork. I opted for reciting all the names as fast as I could - this way you can feel the cleanliness of the structure in its symmetry and asymmetry. Definitely a fun book to experience and have. I'm thankful for Helios Limité's revival of Carrion's second bookwork.