Ageing, Perec and Time

In the book “The Review of Contemporary Fiction: Georges Perec Issue”

(O’Brien, J. (ed.) (2009) The Review of Contemporary Fiction; Georges Perec Issue. end.: Dalkey Archive Press. ), there is an interview in English of Perec by Kaye Mortley called the Doing of Fiction (pp. 94-111). on p.99 he says, ” … I am, I was a great pedestrian. I like to walk in my town, in Paris, and I chose some years ago 1969, twelve places in Paris and I decide I will go then every month and describe one of them and then I will try to write another text about the memories I have concerning the place.I do that program, not, I didn’t do it all that long time and it was, I suppose it would be very interesting because I would get, when I finish, I would get three kinds of viellissement – ageing. The ageing of the places, the ageing of my writing and the ageing of my memories. And it was very difficult.It was a hard discipline. The interest was to try to get a very close view of what is to be seen in the street, or in the street scene. Most of the time we don’t pay attention to what I call the quotidiennete. the everyday. For instance, we are not aware of how many cars are in our scenery and once I did a radio piece about Carrefour Mabillon where I enumerate all the cars and what I have was very terrifying, because we don’t see them. We don’t pay attention to what exactly is in front of our eyes. So when I do the texts. I try to be precise and flat, I could say, like if I was a Martian going through something he doesn’t know it is and describes only by little pieces what;s going on. I don’t try to interfere and I don’t try to put myself in the position other than an eye looking, but afterwards I think it will nourish some kind of fiction, some kind of details of some kind of everyday which I like to speak aloud.

My thoughts on the above were that this is what I’d been thinking about a lot in the context of time and memories. When we experience something at the moment it happens, then our experience of that moment is coloured by all our past experiences, reflections, prejudices and plans. Then, when we reflect on this experience or place, or artefact at a later date, then we have aged, the artefact has aged and we have changed, not just by getting older, but by having intervening experiences, plans and reflections. Nothing remains the same including the memories.

The Review of Contemporary Fiction; Georges Perec Issue
J. O’Brien ed.
Dalkey Archive Press 2009 Vol. 19 (1)