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Poetics of Multilingualism = Poésie du plurilinguisme
Volume
978-1-4438-3166-6 Serie/Reihe: Poetica et metrica 2
Place of Conference
Budapest
Year of Conference
2013
Publisher
Cambridge Scholars Publishings
Place of Publication
Newcastle upon Tyne
Pages
137 -148
ISSN/ISBN
978-1-4438-3166-6
Keywords
Queneau, Computational Poetry Analysis, Digital Humanities, spoken language, néo-français, stylistics, Digital Humanities, code-switching
Abstract
Although Raymond Queneau employs a variety of canonical metres in his poetry, he appears to avoid the decasyllable almost completely. On the rare occasions when he does use it, he systematically opts for a 5-5 metre instead of the canonical 4-6, thus forgetting both the decasyllable itself and its tradi- tional metre. The 5-5 metre bears neither the epic nor the lyric registers of the 4-6, being linked more to folk song, with connotations of a lower register. In this article I make use of an extensive database developed specifically to analyse Raymond Queneau's versification, in order to assess the form and the meaning of Queneau's decasyllable. I link the use of this metre to the themes of memory and the past. Queneau, whilst forgetting a canonical metre - the 4-6 -, remembers a rare one - the 5-5 - and uses this vulgar verse to address a serious, metaphysical reflection on the passing of time. This mismatching of subject and tone is typical of Queneau's writing practices.
