Even a hundred times more worthy of being thought". Failure and poetics of negativity. [Afterword to "Léolo" (Jean-Claude Lauzon, 1992)

Abstract

Taking as a reference the film Léolo (Jean-Claude Lauzon, 1992), the purpose of this article is to contribute to an exploration around possibilities of a poetics of negativity. To this purpose, we ask how poetic transcendence is possible to give prestige to motifs (especially existential motifs) of the poetic act, and not so much to celebrate them. Focusing on film immanence, and trying to avoid distractions, we seek, at the same time, to clear that question and clarify the discursive flow of this extraordinary film of Lauzon, approaching a crescendo Léolo’s own failure, and the essential figure, in the film, of “The Word Tamer”, genuine architect of poetic transcendence.