Guy Debord's Letters, 1957-1964



I believe that all of the people who prefer personal letters to the [situationists'] journal lack the ability to elevate themselves to the generality of the same problems. Thus, they don't see that it is the same position, the same thing, but more utilizable by more people. Of course, if it is a question of saying, "we are all better than that" (than all writing), this is obvious. It is one of our basic themes. But an epistolary correspondence, even with a friend, even if one is understood, seems to me further away from the importance of living than the most profoundly calculated texts. It is even less satisying. (Guy Debord, letter of 2 September 1964 to Ivan Chtcheglov)



Despite Guy Debord's reservations about epistolary correspondences, he engaged in a great many of them -- so many, in fact, that it's going to take six full-sized volumes for Editions Fayard to publish them all. To date, four of them have come out: Volume 1, 1957-1960 (published in 1999); Volume 2, 1961-1964 (2001); Volume 3, 1965-1968 (2003); and Volume 4, 1969-1972 (2005). It isn't known what will be contained in Volume 5 (1973-1976? 1973-1994?). But it is known that Volume 6 will include the pre-1957 period, plus letters that have been received between 1999 and the conclusion of this immense work.

In her introduction to Volume 1, Alice Becker-Ho (a.k.a. Alice Debord) writes:


This global correspondence, which is rich in lessons on the personality and active role that he had during these forty years, thus take their place in the complete works of Guy Debord. It will perhaps orient differently the always growing number of biographers who are pressed to draw premature conclusions from all sorts of legends that have surrounded someone who was especially pleased to have a well-known bad reputation.


But the publication of these letters -- and the translation of these letters into English -- will not simply help "orient" biographers of Debord. These events will help readers of all kinds reach a better understanding of this modern "Renaissance man," who was a co-founder of both the Lettrist International and the Situationist International, an author of books of critical theory (including The Society of the Spectacle), a filmmaker, and a translator (he was fluent in both Italian and Castellan, as well as his native tongue, which was French).

As a matter of fact, one of the most popular literary forms practiced during the European Renaissance was the "private" letter, which, though usually addressed to a close friend, was also intended for a wider audience and, one hoped, for posterity as well. Unlike more confining literary forms (such as the novella or the epic poem), the "private" letter allowed the writer to express personal feelings as well as objective insights. As a result, such letters were rich sources of valuable information about the lives and times of these writers. They also contained some of the era's best prose.

In Debord's letters, we "hear" him speaking in a variety of tones, some of which may come as a surprise to those readers who think Debord was a stern, self-absorbed, cutting, distant, haughty, or icy man. Some of these tones can indeed be heard in his letters, but so can others: depending on the context and the person to whom he was addressing himself, Debord could be warm, friendly, encouraging, funny, even sensitive and vulnerable. After reading these letters, it is impossible to take for granted the "bad reputation" that he acquired over the course of his life.

In preparing Guy Debord's Letters, 1957-1964, we have not translated every letter that appears in the first two volumes of Correspondance. Instead, we have translated what we feel to be the most interesting, relevant and useful ones. In time -- that is, as we translate the other volumes, for our intention to translate all six -- we may well add a few more to this compendium of the first two volumes. In keeping with the original format, our translations are arranged in chronological order. Though we have been sorely tempted, we have not added any annotations of our own, preferring instead to simply translate those footnotes provided by Alice herself.

-- NOT BORED! 9 May 2005