Épigrammes

Épigrammes created by Jean-Pierre Balpe in 1997 and published in DOC(K)S/ alire 10 is a text generator that formulates epigrams or short satirical writings. These satirical writings use sarcasm and irony to show truths of human beings, or rather, delicate truths that are normally private. The role of the viewer is to examine the generated fragments and to find the links within the text. The viewer always has his/her own history that contributes to the sense of the text. Therefore, the viewer is never naïve, and, according to Balpe, each time that the viewer reads the work, he/she sees a new text that provides the opportunity for a new meaning. Each short epigram describes or speaks of a different situation for one or several characters, and these small anecdotes show thematic coherences. The women in the epigrams swear and gossip about the superiority of women, creating a satirical, often sarcastic, theme of the higher morality of women that is proven or established with a false assurance by the feminine characters. One epigram says : “Evelyne glose, Evelyn jase tout le temps, Ses compétences sont reconnues de tous, Tout un chacun déclarerait ses mérites, et proclamerait sa supériorité…” In the epigrams with masculine characters, the text offers a different tone that consists of the use of satire and sarcasm in a pejorative sense, which is also often vulgar. A strong coherence of theme is not evident between the two sexes, but, one could say that the characters show the faults and the traits of humanity according to Balpe. The repetition of phrases and forms in the epigrams also adds a thematic and structural coherence. In the two epigrams that follow, the structures repeat and follow a formula found in the other epigrams. The formula consist of a name, then an ellipsis (that suggests the elimination of information), and then three lines (with the same general sense and format), followed by an ellipsis and an expression or a proverb. « Zoé… Zoé jure que la femme est l’avenir de l’homme, Elle l’assure, elle le promet Le souvenir n’est jamais certain … La douleur embellit l’écrevisse. » « Guillaume… Evelyne dit : la femme est l’avenir de l’homme, Il l’affirme, il le répète Rien n’est sûr à qui se souvient… A toute chose sa saison. » The phrase that repeats itself, « la femme est l’avenir de l’homme », references a verse in « Le Fou d’Elsa » by the poet Louis Aragon. This use of phrases as repeating scriptions, as well as structural forms, is a mark of a generator, but Balpe uses repetition to give an impression of coherence that supports the interpretation of the theme. Balpe strongly uses satire in the words of the generator that shows the two sexes in a pejorative sense. The text comments on humanity and life with an underlying dark tone: « La vie n’est pas un long fleuve tranquille ».