Conditioning and geometric harmonizing: “Des autres machines de Butor”

Summary

Proceeding from the information provided to us from Butor's philosophical discussions and “La Modification” itself, one observes, first the extraordinary number of references to the “losange”, then the verbs of movement and change which accompany each of these references, and finally Butor's penchant for phenomenology. Given this information, we have constructed an argument which suggests that the text is harmonized with the explicit geometric referent-the “losange”, i.e., the “losange” signals and therefore recalls to the reader Léon's process of introspection and the modifications which that process engenders. Further, the losange is more than just a conditioning key-word; it is the phenomenologic referent of the story: the initial project is represented by the “losange” in Fig. 4, the stages of change are signaled by the references to the “losanges” which are associated in each instance with verbs of change, and, finally, the “dénouement” as represented by the “losange” in Fig. 5.

Therefore in “La Modification” we find yet another instance of Butor's genius. He has, in effect, set down, in his own unique manner, a model of phenomenologic text articulation using the ideas of instrumental conditioning.