Träume von Räumen

Author text
Georges Perec was one of the most important representatives of French post-war literature and filmmakers. As the son of Polish Jews, Perec had to witness the German occupation of France as a child. His father died in 1940 as a volunteer in the French army, his mother was deported to Auschwitz in 1943. Shortly before her arrest, she was able to send her son to the country on a Red Cross train and save his life. In 1945 Perec returned to Paris where he was adopted by an aunt. He soon abandoned his studies in history and sociology, but continued to publish articles in the "Nouvelle Revue française" and "Les Lettres Nouvelles". In 1958/59 Perec completed his military service with the paratroopers in Pau. In 1959 he married Paulette Petras and worked as an archivist at the Saint-Antoine hospital and the CNRS. In 1967 Perec joined the literary movement Oulipo, which was founded by Raymond Queneau. The abbreviation Oulipo stands for "L' Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle", i.e. "Workshop for Potential Literature". Oulipo's writers, who came from the "Collège de Pataphysique", surrealist groups or the "Nicolas Bourbaki" collective, imposed certain literary or mathematical constraints on their works, such as not using certain letters. Perec's work "Anton Voyls Fortgang" manages without the letter E at all. In the 70's Perec also began to shoot movies with success. Shortly before his 46th birthday, Georges Perec died of lung cancer.

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"George Perec's importance is actually increasing by the hour." Jürgen Ritte"Georges Perec was, and this is sufficient reason to venerate him: doubter, trapper, judge of character, literary maniac and stylist." Verena Auffermann, The Time