SOURCE: Miller, Elinor S. “Butor's Beautiful Decay.” Romance Notes 29, no. 1 (fall 1988): 61–69.

In the following essay, Miller analyzes Butor's representations of death and decay, arguing that—while our culture attempts to deny the process of physical decomposition that comes with death—Butor treats decay as a process of reunification between man and nature.

In Explorations in 1982, Butor published the poem, “L'école des gisants,” which he reprinted intact in Exprès (Envois 2) in 1983, adding only an introductory paragraph. The fourth section of this poem is a grim invitation to join Butor in the exploration of a corpse in the process of decomposition. We are warned that this is not pleasant, but “au retour vous deviendrez capables d'admirer cette dénudation progressive des ossements” (171). Butor placed the poem at the very end of Explorations and maintained it in that same final position in Exprès, indicating its special significance to...