Queneau and Wright
Since Queneau and Wright devoted their lives to the art of language, their friendship seems a natural extension of their professional work together, and the correspondence that spans their decades of friendship highlights their mutually meticulous approach to literary texts. Wright’s work with Exercises established her lifelong relationship with Queneau, though as with every component of Wright’s life, the relationship revolved around translation.
Whether or not Wright would agree with translation scholar Richard Howard’s claim that “relations with the writers has turned out […] to be the greatest single reward the profession of translating has to offer” is unknown, but their decades of correspondence make it clear that Wright cherished her role in the literary recreation of Exercises in Style.
Photo of Raymond Queneau by Roger Parry.
Interview between Anne Atik and Queneau. Like Wright, Queneau usually declined to discuss his personal life unless pertinent to his linguistic and authorial choices. Instead, he focused on his writing process, an act with which he was "preoccupied...all day long," an engrossment that contributed to the foundation of his relationship with the equally concentrated Wright.
Front page of typescript.
Typescript from "Raymond Queneau, Novelist," a radio show written and narrated by Wright about Queneau's life and writings. Following both her and Queneau's preference to forego disclosing personal information unless related to their work, she created a picture of Queneau through the autobiographical characters he used as "mouthpieces" as well as his personal commentary on his own literature.
Excerpt from typescript taken from section of show concerning Exercises in Style.
Excerpt from typescript taken from section of show concerning Exercises in Style.
Letter from Queneau to Wright discussing details of her translation choices. The stationery bears the name of the "Collège de 'Pataphysique," an experimental and absurdist school of philosophy to which both Wright and Queneau belonged. Queneau's in-depth commentary on Wright's translation of the "Apropos" exercise illustrates the author's profound involvement in Wright's process.