lettrisme

Lettrism (French: Le Lettrisme) is an avant-garde movement that emerged in Paris in the mid-1940s, founded by the poet and artist Isidore Isou. It centers on the materiality of language, treating letters, phonemes, and typography as primary artistic elements rather than mere carriers of meaning. Lettrism seeks to subvert conventional poetry, narrative, and visual art by reorganizing signs of language into new forms and experiences.

Lettrist practice encompasses poetry, cinema, and graphic experiments. In poetry, it emphasizes the primacy of letters and sounds over traditional syntax and sense. In cinema, ciné lettriste and related experiments foreground text, phonemes, and abrupt juxtapositions, often eschewing conventional plot in favor of visual and sonic materiality. The movement also produced manifestos, visual art, and publications that circulated its ideas beyond literary circles.

Organizationally, Lettrism evolved into the Lettrist International in the early 1950s, expanding the movement's reach and collaborations. Key figures alongside Isou included Maurice Lemaître and Gil J. Wolman, among others. In 1957, tensions within the LI contributed to the formation of the Situationist International, which brought former Lettrists into a broader project combining art with social critique. Lettrism thus influenced later avant-garde currents, particularly in poetry, film, and the development of the Situationist critique of consumer culture and spectacle.

Notable figures associated with Lettrism include Isidore Isou, Maurice Lemaître, and Gil J. Wolman, with later involvement by Guy Debord and others who helped shape the adjacent Situationist movement.