iloveyoumissmystery

SociologyStudy,May-June2020,Vol.10,No.3,149-152

doi:10.17265/2159-5526/2020.03.004

StopLaughing,I’mDead!

LuciaKramárová

ArtEZUniversityoftheArts,Arnhem,theNetherlands

“Stoplaughing,I’mdead”explorestheimplicationsandpotentialitiesofthemodeofaddressinthenovelSuicide

byÉdouardLevéinthevalencesofidentificationandpotentialoveridentificationofthesubjectofthenovelwith

eofaddressinquestionistheconsistentandhighlysuggestiveuofthe

personalpronoun“you”asarouteofinvocationofthenovel’ayisconceivedasan

overlayingdialoguebetweentwopolaritiesofwriting—academicwritingandautomaticjournaling,whichrvesas

areflectionandexplorationofthefissurecreatedbyLevéhimlfthroughhiswritingstrategiesandlifeevents

aythusattemptstospeakfromandspeaktoboththecognitiveand

affectivetensionsthatarifromthereadingandinterpretationofLevé’sopusandcontinuallyrenegotiatethe

positionsofthereader,thewriter,andthecorp.

Keywords:author,reader,death,ruin,anecdote

I’mcomingforyou,Édouard1.

ThenovelSuicidefirstpublishedin2008isthefinalliteraryworkofÉdouardLevé;tendaysafter

submittingthemanuscripttohispublisher,hen,thereceptionand

interpretationofthenovelhavebeenclolytiedinwiththetimingandfashioninwhichLevéchotoendhis

bthenovelapremonition,othersgiveitthemonikerofasuicidenote,butwhatevertheexact

phrasing,thesuggestionofanoverlapbetweenthedeathofthemaincharacterofthebookandLevéhimlf

essay,Iaspiretoexploresomeoftheconditionsandmechanismswithinthenoveland

onally,Iwishtoexplorethis

connectionasanimage

2

whichshedslightontherelationshipbetweenthenatureofwritingitlfandthe

phenomenaofabnceanddeath.

Morethanjustacommondistrustinlanguage,morethanjustatreasurehunt,thisisaMexicanstandoff.I

letsgoofthe

hingbesidesmybreathmovesawayfrom

LuciaKramárová,B.A.,masterstudent,MasterinTheatrePractices,ArtEZUniversityoftheArts,Arnhem,theNetherlands.

1Inthissay,stvoice(italictypeface)uscolloquialandpoeticlanguageand

focusmainlyonthepeondvoice(roman

typeface)speaksinamoreacademictongueand

mydecisiontouthembothonthefeelingthattheysupporteachotherwellandhelpmeachieveacertainfullnessofexpression,

whichIhavedeemednecessary.

2Iuthewordimagedeliberately,sincethatisprecilythemodeinwhichIwillbeoperatingwithLevé’

intendtodehumaniorexploitLevéychoo,forthepurposofthissay,torefrainfromjudgingor

evaluatingsuicideassuchandelaboratingonitsmanyethical,spiritual,ionallywishtoasrtno

ownershiporunderstandingofLevé’everintendtoengagewithhissuicideandundertheconditions,I

findimposingthestatusofan“image”,strictlyspeaking,whatremains:“Theimagedoesnot,

atfirstglance,remblethecorp,butthecadaver’sstrangenessisperhapsalsothatoftheimage”(Blanchot,1982,p.256).

DAVIDPUBLISHING

D

STOPLAUGHING,I’MDEAD!

150

hebodylf-regulates,butmybreathing

table,

omething,itwillsimplyhanginspace.

acetheimpulfrommybrainreachingtheextremityatstickyspeed.

eavyasifemergingfromwater.

Inthenovel,thenarratorcontemplatesthelifeanddeathofhisunnamedfriend,inanon-linear,

free-flowing,yethighlycontrolledfashion,focusingonstoriesfromhisfriend’slife,hisownlife,aswellas

ratoraddresshisfriendinthecondpersonthroughoutthe

novel,exceptforashortappendixcontainingacollectionofbriefconfessionalverdiscoveredinhisfriend’s

deskdrawerafterhisdeath;herethelyricalsubjectspeakxclusivelyinthefirstpersonandthenarratoris

abnt

3

.

Thepredominanceoftheuofthecondpersonmakesforaveryspecifickindofreading,since“itis

unclearwhethertheyouofthenarratoristobeinterpretedasageneral‘you’addresdtothereaderoran

apostrophic

4

on”(Klasová,2018,p.22).Thisparadoxisfurthercomplicatedbythefact,thattheaddreseis

reprecariously,thedeathoftheaddreseemstobethemedium

andpremioftheentiremodeofcommunication;thenarratoradmitstohisfriendshipwiththeaddrese

beingconstitutedandconsolidatedlargelybyhisfriend’sdeath

5

addresecomesintohisrelevancy,agency,coherenceand“tolife”nedbythe

eeriepowerofthecondperson“tocalltheOtherintobeing”,orinotherwords“theundeniabletendencyof

languagetobringtolife,whateveritaddress”(Johnson,1987,p.191,citedinKacandes,1994,p.331citedin

Klasová,2018,p.23),eatesadynamicenvironmentforthe

reader,whichevokesboththefeelingsofclonessandidentificationaswellasthefeelingsofdistanceand

derisbeckonedtoidentifywiththe“you”sthe“you”

simplycannotbefirmlyanchoredandremainsininfinitereflectivemotionbetweentheaddreseandthe

reader.

Édouard,yourascal,amIdead?Andnow?Andnow?Arewethereyet?

OncetheknowledgeofLevé’ssuicideanditsunttlingtimingisintroducedintothisparadigm,he

himlfbecomesatemptingpotentialcandidatefortheidentificationofthenovel’srestless“you”.Heis

sufficientlyreal,sufficientlydead,derpresumablydoesnot

knowLevépersonally,butthenovel,iffollowedasatofinstructionsrvesasaperfecttemplateforcreating

3“Topleapleasme/Todispleadispleasme/Tobeindifferentisindifferenttome”(Levé,2011,p.118).

4“Accordingtocommunicationtheoryanyconversationisconstitutedbythreecomponents:theaddressing,themessage,

addrese,aoftheapostrophethereisno

dialogue,resecanbeabletoreceivethemessage,buthecannotanswer(hedoesnotspeak).

Thus,theapostrophepresuppostwoaddreses:theaddressingisndingamessagetosomeone/something,asifhesuppod

they/itwillanswer,eventhoughsomeone/eptionofthemessageinanapostropheisrealid

throughtheactivationofthecondarycommunicationcircuit—strophediscernsbetweenthe

explicitaddreseandtherecipient;betweenthe‘you’referentandthereader”(Kacandes,1994,p.330citedinKlasová,2018,pp.

22-23).

5“WhenIamindoubt,

abookthatspeaksto

athhaswrittenyourlife”(Levé,2011,p.8).“Tolovesomeonefromthemomentoftheirdeath,isthat

friendship?”(Levé,2011,p.10).“Yourdisappearancebestowedanegativebeautyuponyou”(Levé,2011,p.19).“Asmy

thoughtsturntoyou,moreprentinmymemorythanyouwereinthelifeweshared.

Ifyouwerestillalive,youwouldperhapsbecomeastrangertome”(Levé,2011,p.101).

STOPLAUGHING,I’MDEAD!

151

arelationshipwithadeadman,thereadercareformore

evidencethatLevé“fits”intothenarrator’s“you”,hewillfinduponcomparingthenovelwithknownfacts

aboutLevé’ingLevéintothe“you”shouldthusofferthereader

closure,“fill”the“you”,“solve”hisoffering,thebookshould

swallowupthedeadmanthatitwaswaitingforlikeacoffinmadetomeasureandtheartistshouldthusbelaid

rtlessandelegantasistheoperationofputting

Levéintheroleofthe“you”,readershan’tdespair,sinceitisprecilythis

failuretocaptureLevéinhisartworkdespitehimbeingsofitto“fill”it,thatisaproductivestartingpointin

revealingthatSuicidethenovel,aswellasLevé’sactualsuicidehighlightthegameofnegativitythatwritingis.

Iwouldlovetosternlystate,thatthisisnotfunny,butitveryf***’

onlywanthumourifitfoughtliketragedy,right?

InhisbookTheSpaceofLiterature,MauriceBlanchotwrites:

Theworkrequiresofthewriterthatheloeverythinghemightconstrueashisown‘nature,’thatheloallcharacter

andthat,ceasingtobelinkedtoothersandtohimlfbythedecisionwhichmakeshiman‘I,’hebecomestheemptyplace

arequirementwhichisnorequirementatall,foritdemandsnothing;it

notobligeanyonetodoanything;itisonlytheaironehastobreathe,thevoidonwhichonehasto

getafooting,daylightwornthinwherethefacesonelovesbestbecomeinvisible.(Blanchot,1982,p.56)

Inrespecttothisconcept,Levéalreadyannihilatedhimlfonceintheprocessofwriting,inorderforthe

ittingsuicide,heliteralishisfirstdisappearingact,simultaneously

cemovedfromthewriting,

hesuddenlyappearstohavebecomeanorganicpartofit,emingly“dyingintothebook”.Butthimerging

fusionoftheartistandtheartworkinitsinevitableimperfectiononlyfurtheraccentuatesthatLevéisinfact

abnt—“aspace(…)appearsbetweentheparticularandtheuniversalinwriting,wheretext,byits

quasi-materiality,preventstheuniversalfromrealizingitlfasanideal”(Sleigh-Johnson,2015,p.175).Ifthis

werenotenough,itisintheendtheunsuspectingreader,who“kills”Levéwithafinalblow:

Thereader,withoutknowingit,erintimacymaysubsist

todaybetweenthebookandthewriter,andhoweversharplythefigure,theprence,thehistoryoftheauthormaybe

broughtintofocusbythecircumstancesofthebook’scirculation(circumstanceswhich,whilenotarbitrary,areperhaps

alreadysomewhatanachronistic)—despiteallthis,everyreadingwhereconsiderationofthewriteremstoplaysogreata

roleisanattackwhichannihilateshiminordertogivetheworkbacktoitlf:backtoitsanonymousprence,tothe

violent,impersonalaffirmationthatitis.(Blanchot,1982,p.193)

Thisviolent,impersonalaffirmationisnotonlyaninherentattributeofSuicideasapieceofwriting,but

tyspacecreatedbywritingassuch,

underscoredbythestructureandcontentofthenovelandfurtherguardedbyLevé’sownsuicideresultsinthe

prervingofauniqueautonomousabnce—“adefiantimpressionoffragmentariness”(Sleigh-Johnson,2015,

p.174).Defianceissurelyakeywordhere,sincethisabnceisnostaticpoint,butapointofdepartureand

ffaith.

Salut,ÉdouardTheUncatchable.

References

Blanchot,M.(1982).n,London:UniversityofNebraskaPress.

STOPLAUGHING,I’MDEAD!

152

Klasová,T.(2018).NarratorinnovelUnhommequidortbyGeorgesPerecanditsfilmadaptation(,Academyof

PerformingArtsinPrague).

Levé,E.(2011).ign,Dublin,London:DalkeyArchivePress.

Sleigh-Johnson,S.(2015).manceRearch,20(3),173-178.