- Anne Portugal
Anne Portugal (born
March 29 ,1949 ) is a Frenchpoet who lives and works in Paris. She was born inAngers (Maine-et-Loire ) and attendedVincennes University in the suburbs of Paris.Her work is influenced by, and often references,
Jacques Roubaud as well as contemporary sources such as instruction booklets and video games.Her recent work "Définitif bob" (translated by
Norma Cole as "Virtual bob") has been the subject of considerable critical and popular interest. It is speculated that bob is short for bobine, "a coil". bob (lower-case is mandatory) is a character (a minuscule joker) who lives in a television set ("la télé où il est mais dedans à l'envers", "the telly where he is but inside the wrong way round") who is a specialist in the "mission serrée horizontale" ("close-fought horizontal mission" is one possible translation).A recurring motif is "bob il peut comme ça" (untranslatable, perhaps "bob, just like that, ..."). Another notable feature is the absence of punctuation in the 24 sections of the 128 page book involving the reader in the construction of its meaning.
Works
* Mise en scène de Eric Vautrin, P.O.L, 2003.
* Définitif bob, P.O.L, May 2002.
** Eric Vautrin has created a theatrical 'version', presented at the Théâtre des Ateliers, Lyon. A performance is described at some length in [http://www.ciao.fr/Par_D__Avis_497400 Définitif Bob ou la poésie contemporaine... (in French)]
* Et les gens contents de se baigner, RUP&RUD, 2001.
* Voyer en l'air. Editions de l'attente, "Week-end", 2001.
* Dans la reproduction en 2 parties égales des plantes et des animaux, P.O.L, 2001. (in collaboration withSuzanne Doppelt ).
* La réalité en face/la quoi ?, Al Dante/RROZ, 1999. (in collaboration withCaroline Dubois )
* Le plus simple appareil, P.O.L, 1992.
** A modern re-telling of the biblical story of Susannah and the elders, translated as Nude byNorma Cole , Kelsey St., 2001.
* Fichier, Éditions Michel Chandeigne, 1992.
* Souris au lait, Messidor-la Farandole : 01-Bellegarde, Impr. SADAG, 1989, ISBN 2-209-06113-X
* De quoi faire un mur, P.O.L, 1987.
* Les Commodités d'une banquette, P.O.L, 1985.
* La Licence, qu'on appelle autrement parrhésie, Gallimard, 1980.External links
* [http://www.inventaire-invention.com/lectures/disson_portugal.htm Professor Agnès Disson's article "The Duracell Bunny", (in French)]
* [http://www.durationpress.com/authors/portugal/home.html Translations by Norma Cole]
* [http://www.vacarme.eu.org/article187.html Two poems by Anne Portugal (in French)]
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