woensdag 23 november 2022

Brice Parain

 


This is a quote I cherish.
"We are unable clearly to circumscribe the concepts we use; not because we don't know their real definition, but because there is no real definition to them."
Wittgenstein, the blue book page 44

In my mind there are a number of writers who share a similar starting point.
Camus is one of them.
Imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon this quote:
"Mal nommer un objet, c'est ajouter au malheur de ce monde."
"To name things wrongly is to add to the misfortune of the world".
That seems rather the opposite of Wittgenstein's quote.
It's difficult to speak of a similar starting point when one part is saying A and the other part is saying non-A.

The quote from Camus is extracted from the text "Sur une philosophie de l'expression", published for the first time in Poésie 44.
It is a review of the essays of his colleague and friend Brice Parain.

"II n'est pas sûr que notre époque ait manqué de dieux. On lui en a proposé beaucoup, et le plus souvent bêtes ou lâches. Il semble bien, au contraire, qu'elle manque d'un dictionnaire. C'est une chose, du moins, qui paraît évidente à ceux qui espèrent pour ce monde, où tous les mots sont prostitués, une justice claire et une liberté sans équivoque. Mais la question que vient de poser Brice Parain est juste­ment de savoir si un tel dictionnaire est possible et, surtout, s'il peut se concevoir en dehors d'un dieu qui lui donne ses significations. Les livres que vient de faire paraître Parain traitent du langage Mais c'est déjà l'incertitude du langage qui faisait le sujet de ses premiers essais Cette longue et scrupuleuse réflexion suffirait à lui valoir l'attention et l'estime. Mais pour bien d'autres raisons, que je dirai pour finir, ces livres importent pour notre époque dont, malgré l'apparente spécialité de leur sujet, ils ne se séparent pas un instant."

"It is not certain that our time has had a lack of gods.There have been proposed a lot, and most often stupid or cowardly. It seems, on the contrary, that it lacks a dictionary. It is something, at least, that seems obvious to those who wish for this world, where all words are prostitutes, a clear justice and an unequivocal freedom.
But the question that Brice Parain has just posed is precisely whether such a dictionary is possible and, above all, whether it can be conceived outside of a god who gives it its meanings. The books that Parain has just published deal with language. But it was already the uncertainty of language that was the subject of his first essays. This long and scrupulous reflection would suffice to give him attention and esteem. But for many other reasons, which I will say in conclusion, these books are important for our time from which, despite the apparent specialty of their subject, they don't stand out at any point." (1)


The books from Parain don't stand out at any point, ils ne se séparent pas un instant.
It's the same story you can read everywhere.

"Il s'agit de savoir si notre langage est mensonge ou vérité: c'st la question que pose Parain."
"It's about knowing whether our language is true or false".

Camus resists!

"Mais la question n'est pas là. Il s'agit, au contraire, de savoir si notre langage n'est pas mensonge au moment même où nous croyons dire vrai, si les mots ont une chair ou s'ils ne sont que des coques vides, s'ils recouvrent une réalité plus profonde ou s'ils ne sont que poursuite du vent"

"But the question is not there.
It is, on the contrary, a question of knowing if our language is not a lie at the very moment when we believe that we are telling the truth, if the words have flesh or if they are only empty shells, if they cover a deeper reality or if they are just chasing the wind."

The state of mind where the words have flesh, where the words cover a deeper reality is called "l'être" by Camus. It's the state of mind of writers with starting point A.
The state of mind of the writers with starting point non-A is the state of mind where words are only empty shells, where words are only chasing the wind is called "devenir".
A fellow writer gives Camus a helping hand.
"La connaissance et le devenir s'excluent", dit Nietzsche. Il faut donc, si l'on veut vivre dans le devenir, abandonner tout espoir de connaissance."
"Knowledge and becoming exclude one another", says Nietzsche. Therefore, it is necessary, if one wants to live in becoming, to abandon all hope of knowledge."

In the next pages, Camus gives a little history of the l'être group.
Throughout history philosophers had to choose between starting point A and starting point non-A, between the miracle and the absurd. They all chose for "l' être", for the miracle.
This choice is the only important question in philosophy.
"Il faut choisir entre le miracle et l'absurde, il n'y a pas de moyen terme".
There is no middle ground.
And then he discusses the position of Brice Parain:
"Au terme de ses analyses, il entrevoit seulement qu'il y a dans le langage une puissance qui nous déborde."
"At the end of his analysis, he perceives that in the language there is a power that surpasses us."
And:
"On sent bien ici que, placé devant le choix pascalien, il incline au miracle, et, par lui, au langage traditionnel."
"
You can feel here that, faced with Pascal's choice (i.e. the choice between the miracle and the absurd), he inclines to the miracle, and, through it, to traditional language."
For Camus, it is obvious that Brice Parain is stuck in "l'être".
Ils ne se séparent pas un instant.

The quote "Mal nommer un objet, c'est ajouter au malheur de ce monde" can be found in te section where Camus investigates the position of Parain. He paraphrases Parain.
The idea of "mal nommer un objet" is an idea of Parain.
Camus noticed it earlier in his text.
"On ne peut pas, dit Parain, accuser notre langage d'être l'instrument du mensonge et de l'erreur sans accuser en même temps, et du même coup, le monde d'être mauvais, Dieu d'être méchant."
"
We cannot, says Parain, accuse our language of being the instrument of lies and error without accusing at the same time, and at the same time, the world of being bad, God of being wicked."
Camus has the merit of pouring it in a more catchy phrase.
However, it would be wrong to claim that Camus would'nt agree with it, he most certainly does.
He even admires Parain for it.
Camus agrees with the quote, but it is important to note that Camus doesn't feel addressed by the idea at all.
He is kind of inventor of the "like is no endorsement" clause.
Camus is playing another game. While Parain is playing basketball (you can't touch the ball with your foot), Camus is playing soccer (you can't touch the ball with your hand).
A soccer player understands the fault "running with the ball", but it's of no importance whatsoever to him.

Camus understands the consequence of the quote "mal nommer
un objet, c'est ajouter au malheur de ce monde"
"Cette philosophie de l'expression s'achève en effet sur une théorie de silence."
...
"C'est en vérité un chemin vers le silence, c'est un silence relatif, puisque le silence absolu est impossible."
"This philosophy of expression indeed ends in a theory of silence."
...
"It is in truth a path to silence, it is a relative silence, since absolute silence is impossible."
Or, to say it in the words of Parain:
"Le langage n'est qu'un moyen pour nous attirer vers son contraire qui est le silence et qui est Dieu".
"
Language is only a means to attract us towards its opposite, which is silence and which is God."
Later in his life, in the movie "vivre sa vie" of Jean-Luc Goddart, Parain would say "I'd like to live without talking."

 

"It would be nice to live without talking" is a better translation I think.
Transcription of the dialogue:

À Nana qui s’étonne de ne plus savoir quoi dire quand elle s’est trop demandé si c’était bien cela qu’il fallait dire, BP raconte l’histoire de Porthos dans Vingt après qui meurt pour avoir pour, la première fois de sa vie, pensé : la réflexion l’a arrêté dans sa fuite. Il meurt sous l’éboulis du souterrain où il a jeté une bombe.


[...] - Pourquoi vous me racontez des histoires comme ça ?

- Comme ça. Un peu pour parler !

- Et pourquoi est-ce qu’il faut toujours parler ? Moi je trouve que très souvent on devrait se taire,
vivre en silence... Plus on parle, plus les mots ne veulent rien dire

- Peut-être mais... est-ce qu’on peut ?

- J’sais pas moi

- J’ai toujours été frappé par ceci, c’est qu’on ne peut pas vivre sans parler

Silence

- Pourtant ce serait agréable de vivre sans parler

- Oui ça serait beau, hein, ce serait beau... c’est comme si on s’aimerait plus. Seulement c’est pas possible, on n’y est jamais arrivé



Of course, having said that, there remains little to add.
"C'est ici la limite où le commentateur doit s'arrêter. L'essentiel aussi bien n'est pas encore de savoir ce qu'il faut élire du miracle ou de l'absurde. L'essentiel est de montrer qu'à eus deux ils forment le seul choix possible, et que le reste est sans importance"
This is the limit where the commentator must stop. What is also essential is not yet to know what to choose from the miracle or the absurd. The main thing is to show that together they are the only possible choice, and that the rest is unimportant.

Le reste est sans importance.
If you want to quote Camus, perhaps it's a good idea to choose this quote to honor him.
"L'essentiel est de montrer qu'à eus deux ils forment le seul choix possible, et que le reste est sans importance"
Or, in stead of quoting, trying to show that's the only possible choice.

Suppose you say "X is wrong".
Do you think you're adding wrong to the world at the moment you 're making that statement?
The only way to prevent yourself from adding wrong to the world is by answering: "Of course not, I"m not adding anything at all. I only describe what there already is in reality."

That is, excusez le mot, an exhibition of your choice.

(Here you can find the full text of "Sur une philosophie de l'expression).
(1) My translation.
(There’s an English translation of "On The Philosophy of Expression" by Bruce Parain in the Lyrical and Critical Essays edited by Philip Thody and translated by Ellen Conroy Kennedy")



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