Translation of De Bruid van Marcel Duchamp by K. Schippers. Notes Accompanying the Translation of the Ninth Chapter, ‘Amsterdam’

Abstract

K. Schippers’ novel, De Bruid van Marcel Duchamp, published in 2010 by Querido (Amsterdam), is an expression of the admiration the author has held for Marcel Duchamp from the beginning of his career. In the 1960s, Schippers distinguished himself by introducing the readymade into Dutch-language poetry. Unlike the many works dedicated to Duchamp, Schippers conceived the writing of this novel based on its content: to capture the Duchampian spirit, Schippers does not engage in yet another analysis or the development of new paradigms of study, but instead works on style. His novel is a blend of detective and biographical genres, punctuated by elements related to Duchamp’s reception in the Netherlands during the 1960s. Schippers starts with the question, “Who is the bride who appears so often in Duchamp’s work?” Like an investigator, he attempts to answer this question by visiting the crime scenes, that is, all the places where Duchamp lived and worked. He conducts interviews with Duchamp’s friends and family in order to better understand who this artist was, someone who loved to cloak himself in mystery and who sought to make his life a work of art.