Catastrophic Encyclopedism: War and Cataclysm in Jean-Yves Jouannais.

Jean-Yves Jouannais examines the history of war in L'Encyclopédie des guerres, a performance piece at the Centre Pompidou, which is ongoing since 2008. Compiling citations on the theme of war while also interrogating the possibilities of literary form, the work stages itself being composed session by session and year after year. Proposing itself as a "fiasco," the work initially insisted on its protean, unpublishable nature. What began as a project with undefined contours has resulted in several published volumes, including MOAB: Épopée en 22 chants. Adopting the form of the epic by using a montage of citations from across the ages, MOAB stages the "Mother of All Battles." This idiosyncratic use of montage foregrounds the chaos of warfare, while also insisting on its burlesque qualities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]