Raymond Queneau

Corinne François Denève (Versailles Saint Quentin University)

Ed. by David Houston Jones, University of Exeter, Hugo Azerad, University of Cambridge
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.07: French Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Kate Averis (University of Western Australia), Hugo Azerad (University of Cambridge), Patrick ffrench (King's College London), Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Akane Kawakami (Birkbeck, University of London), Siobhán McIlvanney (King's College London), Sinan Richards (King's College London), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Dates

Born 21 Feb 1903
Died 25 Oct 1976
Activity 1933-1976

Places

Born in France
Active in France

Activities

Primary

Film/TV Script-writer/ Screenwriter
Novelist
Poet

Other

Song-writer
Translator

Resources

Queneau's Works

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Writing a short biography of Raymond Queneau might at first appear a useless task: speaking about Proust’s life in

Bâtons, chiffres et lettres

[

Letters, numbers, forms

]

Queneau argues: “I will not devote much time on the last point, as people as subjects do not matter much”. Queneau has indeed always been eager to draw a line between personal and literary life. Yet biographical aspects do emerge in some of his books – particularly in

Chêne et Chien

and

Les Derniers jours

[

The Last Days

], but also in

Odile

[

Odile

] and

Le Dimanche de la vie

[

The Sunday of Life

], so we will include some of these here.

Raymond Auguste Queneau was born in Le Havre on 21 February 1903. His father was Auguste Queneau, a former volunteer who served in the colonies (Tonkin, Sudan), left the army

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2386 words

Citation: François Denève, Corinne. "Raymond Queneau". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 September 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12765, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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