Lettrist International

The Letterist International (LI) was a Paris-based collective of radical artists and theorists between 1952 and 1957. It was created by Guy Debord as a schism from Isidore Isou's Letterist group. The group went on to join others in forming the Situationist International, taking some key techniques and ideas with it.

Publications

• Internationale lettriste, 4 numbers, Paris, 1952-54.
• Guy Debord, "Les environs de Fresnes (1952-1953)", in Debord, Enregistrements magnétiques, Paris: Gallimard, 2010.
• Visages de l’avant-garde 1953: Internationale lettriste, Paris: Jean-Paul Rocher, 2010. Text from the LI that recalls the adventures of the letterists between 1945 to February 1953, first published 2010.
• Patrick Straram, Les bouteilles se couchent [1953], Paris: Allia, 2006. Semi-fictionalised contemporary account of the scene, written in 1953 but lost until recently.
• Potlatch: bulletin d'information de groupe français de l'Internationale lettriste, later Potlatch: bulletin d'information de l'Internationale lettriste, 29 numbers (28 issues), Paris, 1954-57; new ed., augm., Paris: Champ Libre, 1985; Paris: Gallimard, 1996.
• Les Lèvres Nues, 12 numbers, Brussels, 1954-58; facs., Paris: Plasma, 1978; Paris: Allia, 1999.
• Ed Van der Elsken, Love on the Left Bank, 1956; repr., Stockport: Dewi Lewis Publishing, 1999. Ed van der Elsken was a Dutch photographer, who captured the scene around Moineau's during the period. Included among the people depicted in this book are a few members and associates of the LI (particularly Mension and Papaï).
• Guy Debord, "Histoire de l'Internationale lettriste (1956)", in Debord, Enregistrements magnétiques, Paris: Gallimard, 2010.
• Documents relatifs à la fondation de l'Internationale situationniste, 1948-1957, Paris: Allia, 1985.
• Guy Debord, Le marquis de Sade a des yeux de fille, Paris: Fayard, 2004. Correspondence between Debord, Hervé Falcou and Ivan Chtcheglov in the early 1950s.

Literature

(in French unless noted)

• Jean-Louis Brau, Cours camarade, le vieux monde est derrière toi, Paris: Albin Michel, 1968.
• Eliane Brau, Le Situationnisme ou la Nouvelle Internationale, Paris: Debresse, 1968.
• Jean-Louis Brau, Le Singe appliqué, Paris: Grasset, 1972; Paris: Le Dilettante, 2012.
• Stewart Home, The Assault on Culture: Utopian Currents from Lettrisme to Class War, London: Aporia Press and Unpopular Books, 1988; 2nd ed., AK Press, 1991. (in English)
  • Assalto alla cultura, trans. Luther Blissett, 1996. (in Italian)
  • El asalto a la cultura, trans. Jesus Carrillo and Jordi Claramonte, 2002. (in Spanish)
• Greil Marcus, Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the Twentieth Century, London: Penguin, 1989. (in English)
  • Rastros de carmín. Una historia secreta del siglo XX, trans. Damian Alou, 1993. (in Spanish)
  • Ruj Lekesi: Yirminci Yüzyılın Gizli Tarihi, trans. Ayrıntı Yayınları, 1999. (in Turkish)
• Jean-Michel Mension, La Tribu, Paris: Allia, 1998.
• Richard Grasshoff, Der Befreite Buchstabe. Über Lettrismus. Letters in Freedom, 2000. Dissertation. (in German)
• Jean-Michel Mension, Le Temps gage, Paris: Noésis, 2001.
• Andrew Hussey, The Game of War, London: Jonathan Cape, 2001. (in English)
• Marc Vachon, L’arpenteur de la ville: L’utopie situationniste et Patrick Straram, Montreal: Triptyque, 2003.
• Lettrisme: vue d’ensemble sur quelques dépassements précis, La Seyne-sur-Mer: Villa Tamaris, 2010. Catalogue.
• Giulia Ciliberto, Veronica Vitti, Lettrismo / French Current of the Letter, c2010. (in Italian)
• Guillaume Robin, Lettrisme, le bouleversement des arts: essai sur le lettrisme et les différents mouvements artistiques, Paris: Hermann, 2010. Review.

Links

• Lettriste Pages, eds. Karl Young and Karl Kempton
• "Wolman, Lettrism, Sound Poetry and Beyond", Radio Web MACBA, 2010, podcast.
• http://continuo-docs.tumblr.com/post/35550338714/la-musique-lettriste-hypergraphique
• Letterist International at French Wikipedia