Marc Lapprand
Professor emeritus
French and Francophone Studies, SLLC
- Contact:
- lapprand@uvic.ca
- Credentials:
- PhD (University of Toronto)
- Area(s) of expertise:
- 20th and 21st French Literature, Boris Vian, Oulipo, Pataphysics
Marc Lapprand is a French literature modernist. His passion for the work and life of Boris Vian (three books, fourteen articles, over twenty prefaces and introductions) has led him to co-supervise the editing team of his Complete Works published by Fayard (15 volumes, 1999-2003), and eventually to lead the editorial team of Vian's Complete Prose Works for Gallimard's prestigious "Bibliothèque de la Pléiade," (2 volumes, 2010). He is currently working on Oulipo, and has published in 2020 a second monograph on the group (Pourquoi l’Oulipo ?). He also has developed an interest in evolutionary psychology and literary Darwinism. Presently research partner of the Institut national des sciences humaines et sociales (CNRS – Paris), on Medical Humanities. Aside from French and English publications, some of his works have been translated in Spanish, Romanian and Arabic.
Bio
Marc Lapprand is a French literature modernist. His passion for the work and life of Boris Vian (three books, fourteen articles, over twenty prefaces and introductions) has led him to co-supervise the editing team of his Complete Works published by Fayard (15 volumes, 1999-2003), and eventually to lead the editorial team of Vian's Complete Prose Works for Gallimard's prestigious "Bibliothèque de la Pléiade," (2 volumes, 2010). He is currently working on Oulipo, and has published in 2020 a second monograph on the group (Pourquoi l’Oulipo ?). He also has developed an interest in evolutionary psychology and literary Darwinism. Presently research partner of the Institut national des sciences humaines et sociales (CNRS – Paris), on Medical Humanities. Aside from French and English publications, some of his works have been translated in Spanish, Romanian and Arabic.
Marc Lapprand est moderniste de formation. Sa passion pour l’œuvre et la vie de Boris Vian (trois livres, quatorze articles, plus de vingt préfaces et introductions) l’a conduit à codiriger l’édition de ses Œuvres complètes chez Fayard (15 tomes, 1999-2003) et à diriger l’équipe éditoriale des Œuvres Romanesques complètes de Boris Vian à la prestigieuse Bibliothèque de la Pléiade (2 tomes, Gallimard, 2010). Il travaille actuellement sur l’Oulipo, et vient de publier en 2020 un second livre sur le groupe (Pourquoi l’Oulipo ?). Il se penche en outre sur l’évolutionnisme en psychologie et en études littéraires. Actuellement chercheur affilié à l’Institut national des sciences humaines et sociales (CNRS – Paris), sur les Humanités médicales. Outre ses publications en français et en anglais, plusieurs de ses travaux ont été traduits en espagnol, roumain et arabe.
Selected publications
« “Rebrousse-poil fort et vert“. Chronique d’un mystérieux journal ». Christelle Gonzalo et François Roulmann, Cosmogonies du Bison : horizons biographiques et bibliographie posthume de Boris Vian, Paris, Les antiquitaires éditeurs, 2025, p. 45-53.
L’Oulipo : Générations. Co-edition of the Proceedings of a Conference on Oulipo at Cerisy-la-Salle (summer 2023). Classiques Garnier, 2025.
Three volumes of correspondences published with Christophe Reig (Université de Perpignan):
- De la ’Pataphysique à l’Oulipo : Correspondance 1950-1999. 2025.
- Mémoires d’un « vieux crocodile » : Correspondance (1952-2001) 2022.
- Noël Arnaud, chef d’orchestre de l’Oulipo : Correspondance 1961-1998. 2018.
Other books :
- Pourquoi l’Oulipo ? Québec, Presses de l’Université Laval, 2020.
- La ’Pataphysique, mythe, mystères et mystifications, essai suivi d’un entretien avec Pascal Ory, membre du Collège de ’Pataphysique et de l’Académie française, to be published with Honoré Champion (2026).