What Happened, Mr. Ricardou? A Theatre of Metamorphoses

• Published in: Australian journal of French studies Vol. 55; no. 3; pp. 261 - 273
• Main Author: Meyntjens, Gert-Jan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Clayton, Vic Liverpool University Press 01.12.2018
• Subjects: French literature; Intellectuals; Literary theory; Metamorphosis in literature; Metaphor; Ricardou, Jean; Robbe-Grillet, Alain (1922-2008); Simon, Claude (1913-2005); Sociological aspects; Theater; Themes, motives; Workshops; Writers; Writing; France; New York; United States > US
• ISSN: 0004-9468; 0004-9468; 2046-2913
• DOI: 10.3828/AJFS.2018.23

This article examines the institutional trajectory and theoretical legacy of Jean Ricardou. I begin by observing the reactions to the news of Ricardou's death in 2016, both in the public press and in elegiac texts that circulated online. I then turn to Ricardou's institutional transformation from theoretical leading man in the sixties to background figure as 'conseiller' at the CCIC from the eighties onwards. In the second part, I exhibit the fundamental aspects of Ricardou's theory and make a distinction between his pre- and post-'textique' work. I conclude by arguing for a reconsideration of Ricardou's work in light of the current development of writing workshops in France. To conjure up both his trajectory as a public intellectual and his theoretical premises, I use Ricardou's own metaphor of the theater of metamorphoses.