Regarding the structure and layout of Tributes
Julien Perez' novel Tributes (POL, 2025) is a work that at first glance appears fragmentary, but in reality is extremely coherent. It consists of a multitude of voices—letters, speeches, reminiscences, and introspective accounts—all relating to the (presumably deceased) artist Gobain Machín, who disappeared in the mountains. The reader learns nothing directly from Machín's perspective, but receives information exclusively through the recollections of relatives, friends, collaborators, critics, and family members. The literary construction employs the rhetorical form of an obituary—hence the title. Tributes —to talk about the life, personality and work of a fictional artist who apparently has such a strong influence not least because of his ambivalences.
What appears to be a collective memory project is simultaneously a poetically sophisticated puzzle about truth and fiction, intimacy and distance, the self and the other. The multitude of voices merges into a chorus characterized less by factual consistency than by emotional and metaphorical intensification. The narrative emerges through difference: from the juxtaposition of contradictions, overlapping perspectives, gaps, and ruptures, a picture of Gobain arises—and at the same time, a poetological self-portrait of the novel.
The following seven theses are proposed that describe this poetics in its central motifs and situate it within literary-theoretical contexts.
1
Tributes is a polyphonic book of mourning – without a center, without certainty
Julien Perez dispenses with a central narrative voice. Instead, he strings together voices, each narrating monologically, personally, and retrospectively. This technique is reminiscent of polyphonic Structures in the sense of Mikhail Bakhtin: No speaker possesses authority over the truth; rather, a Dialogicity the voices that question, reflect, or overlap each other.
Gobain's death forms the common starting point – but not a coherent biography. The artist remains shadowy because every attempt to describe him also speaks of the narrator himself. The novel thus brings together less Certificates as ReflectionsMemories, projections. In this sense, Tributes to a literary monument of unspeakable character – or, as one might say with Maurice Blanchot, for the narration of the impossible, the unfigurable death.
2
The figure Gobain Machín is at once a projection surface, an artistic figure and a phantom
Gobain is in Tributes He is not the main character in the classical sense – rather, he is a catalyst for other characters. Readers always experience him indirectly, through anecdotes, snapshots, and personal emotions. The imagery of the narratives shows him as changeable: as a child, as a narcissist, as a genius, as an egomaniac, as a lover, as a failure, as a myth.
Gobain defies easy categorization precisely because he appears differently in every story. In that sense, his character also represents the Non-identity, which sees itself as a resistance against biographical writing and against psychological fixation. The artist becomes a cipher for the Other – for that which eludes the grasp of language.
3
Perez's novel deconstructs the genre of the Künstlerroman (artist novel).
Tributes It can be read as a deconstructive Künstlerroman (artist novel) that subverts the genre. Instead of linear development, inner calling, or heroic crisis management (as in Thomas Mann's works), it features... Tonio Kröger) Perez offers a network of perspectives that cannot be bundled into either a coherent subject or a stringent judgment of the work.
Gobain is an artist in constant mutation, torn between hyperreflection and escapism. His practice remains experimental, unfinished, resistant. The novel thus portrays the artist as an open process, as work in progress, and rejects both romanticization and irony. At the same time, questions of art theory – What is art? What is a work of art? Who has the power of interpretation? – are negotiated on a narrative level. Thus, the text not only reflects on art, but also performs the processes of artistic production itself: sampling, montage, fragmentation, repetition, variation.
Gobain's understanding of art and the poetics of the novel Tributes They stand in a close, mirror-like relationship to one another: both defy unambiguous form, definitive statements, and clear linearity. Gobain's work, as described by the characters, is characterized by ruptures, incompleteness, performative self-dissolution, and a distrust of representation—it is an understanding of art that not only accepts failure but uses it productively. Likewise, the novel itself operates as a literary work of art that not only reflects these principles but formally implements them: in its fragmentary structure, its polyphonic voices, its montage of subjective perspectives, and the radical absence of the central subject. Homages is thus not merely a book about an artist, but a text that embodies Gobain's aesthetic stance—as a poetics of withdrawal, ambiguity, and incompleteness. Writing about Gobain thus becomes a continuation of his art through literary means.
4
The structure of the novel follows a "poetics of incompleteness".
The novel forgoes clear markers of beginning and end. Even the supposedly final chapter is neither a climax nor an epilogue, but rather blends into the continuum of voices. This structure is reminiscent of Roland Barthes' idea of the "texte scriptible"—a text that defies closed meaning and is instead read as an open field.
Each character begins their memory "anew," speaking a different language, using a different tone, often even a different medium (letter, speech, conversation, diary). The poetics lie precisely in the unfinished, in the repetition. This approach creates a mood of constant movement, of the ever-returning of the same within the new—Gobain is not dead, but returns in every "homage."
5
language in Tributes It is affective, concrete, dissonant – a poetics of pain
Perez succeed in Tributes Numerous embodied voices: some speak matter-of-factly, others in a highly stylized manner, others fragmentarily or poetically. This polyphony is not only formally, but above all affectively relevant. The text makes pain, incomprehension, anger, longing, and humor audible in its linguistic textures.
Recurring motifs are particularly striking in the language, such as... Loss, depth, fragmentation, Wound, BreakBut also irony and subtle grotesqueness. The language oscillates between love and anger, intimacy and alienation. Perez uses the heterogeneity of language as an expression of a fragmented, precarious community – or, in the words of Jean-Luc Nancy: as a “partage du sensible”.
6
The collective of narrative voices constitutes an archive of affects.
Tributes is not just a book about an artist, but also a book about a milieu—the artistic Paris of the early 21st century—about the art scene, friendship, work, and rituals. The novel is reminiscent of forms of community writing, as seen from artists like Chris Kraus or Rachel Cusk.
But instead of social or psychological analysis, an archive of affective relations is constructed: Who remembers whom? Who was connected to whom? How does memory live in the body? This creates an "emotional network" based not on consensus, but on difference and interaction. The characters inscribe themselves into an open topography of belonging – sometimes affirming, sometimes distancing, occasionally ironically.
7
Tributes is a book about writing as an attempt to create closeness
All characters in Tributes Writing – speaking, remembering, articulating themselves. The novel is entirely written – but not in the sense of fictional prose, rather in the sense of performative writing. Every monologue is an act of invocation: an attempt to speak with the dead, to communicate with the other speakers, or to reassure oneself.
Thus, writing here is not a description, but a form of relationship. It is a practice, a doingA work that aims for closeness, intimacy, remembrance, and processing—and yet fails. Writing cannot bring Gobain back; it can only shape his absence. This tension between gesture and futility forms the deeper foundation of the novel.
Regarding the individual texts
Each tribute is a unique lens through which Gobain's complex personality and enigmatic work are viewed, intertwining recurring themes such as genius and madness, love and disappointment, and the nature of art and its reception. Together, they paint a portrait of a figure who polarized, challenged, and remained unforgettable, even in his absence.
A central theme running through many tributes is the ambivalence of Gobain's character. Farah, his former partner, describes him unflinchingly as unfamiliar, unloving, ungenerous, and lacking in moral conviction, yet simultaneously thanks him for the intensity and addictive effect he had on her. Similarly dispassionate, but with an underlying affection, Esi, Gobain's former roommate, portrays his "shaky" side and his sometimes sociopathic tendencies, while documenting his early eccentricity. Franck, his estranged cousin, delivers a veritable "anti-tribute," depicting Gobain as an "asshole" and a "nerd," yet indirectly admitting to having been shaped by him. These critical voices contrast with the idealized or tender portrayals, but underscore how Gobain, even in his flaws, was a formative force.
At the same time, Gobain is celebrated by many as an artist of exceptional vision and transgressive spirit. Philippe Duglas, the director of an art foundation, idealizes him as an almost superhuman being with "visceral, vital" energy. Lydia, his gallerist, saw his "charming transgressions" and his ability to connect academic art with the public as a "golden goose" for her gallery. Mariam, a colleague, highlights his artistic integrity and innovations, particularly in projects like "Le Terrier oculaire," which she describes as a "battle between memory and interpretation." Ugo, a collector, praises Gobain's intellectual depth, which transcends mere art and touches upon "the ultimate mystery: the human." These perspectives illuminate Gobain's capacity to challenge the art system and create profound works that went beyond mere aesthetics.
The phenomenon of Gobain's disappearance is the catalyst for all these different interpretations and speculations. Kim, Gobain's childhood friend, provides the most shocking revelation when she reports having seen him shortly before in Aubervilliers and finding small, realistic figurines as well as a lit cigarette near a trapdoor, leading her to believe he staged his disappearance. This discovery is so significant that it triggers the transition from individual tributes to a collective, investigative dialogue in which the group attempts to decipher Gobain's final message or last will. Here, the act of homage itself reveals itself as a process of collective meaning-making and the manifestation of their own insecurities and fears as they debate the meaning of the "terrier" and Gobain's supposed madness.
Growing concern about Gobain's mental state in the past is another recurring theme. Simon, a close friend, interprets Gobain's phone call inviting him to Bougainville as a sign of incipient madness and regrets not having acted sooner. Gloria, his partner, recognizes that his "moments of madness" are increasing and that art cannot heal or save him, leading to her painful decision to leave him. Joël, an intellectual friend, describes Gobain's increasingly irrational behavior during a hike in the Pyrenees. Anaïs, Gobain's cousin and an archaeologist, is also troubled by his reactions to the Panguna mine paintings and the waning of his sense of humor. These accounts paint a picture of a man teetering on the edge of reality, his mental stability becoming increasingly questionable.
On the other hand, there are the deeply emotional and personal tributes that reveal Gobain's vulnerability and the unconditional love of his family and closest confidants. Henri, his father, expresses a poetic lament and his powerlessness to understand or protect him while sensing Gobain's presence beyond death. Marianne, his aunt, remembers him only as a child who lulled her to sleep with lullabies, idealizing his fragility and anxieties. Hector, an admirer, feels guilty for not having noticed his decline and vows to search for his remains. These tributes illuminate the human side of Gobain and the profound grief his disappearance has triggered.
The tributes to Gobain Machín reveal the diversity of human relationships and the subjective nature of perception. They range from cynical (Marilyn Messner, Gaël) and pragmatic (Roberta) to profoundly affectionate and tragic descriptions. Gobain's disappearance thus becomes his last, perhaps greatest, work of art—an unresolved performance that compels everyone who knew him to confront their own understanding of art, existence, and the limits of humanity. Collective interpretation becomes the tribute itself, a constant struggle for meaning in a world that Gobain destabilized with both his presence and his absence.
pay homage
At the end of Tributes There is no narrative climax, no final judgment, and no moment of resolution. Rather, what remains is the impression of a literary movement that never ends—because memory and grief never end. The ending, therefore, refuses to be an ending. The novel is not a plot-driven work, but a space of atmosphere, a literary mosaic that constantly reassembles itself. The interest lies not in the plot, but in the friction of voices, in the emotionality of the language, in the poetological reflexivity. After reading Tributes Art appears as an open, fragile process that offers fewer answers than it creates spaces for resonance. It is not an expression of truth, but a play with perspectives, gaps, and affects—a way of circling the unspeakable. Here, art is memory, relationship, disruption—and always also a place of incompleteness.
Farah speaks at the very beginning of how everyone knows that a tribute must be paid to him—but no formula seems to fit. The word sounds hollow in the face of the complexity of the emotions. Several characters address how difficult they find the gesture of homage. They perceive it as inappropriate, formal, lifeless—especially in the case of such a contradictory figure as Gobain. The tribute is thus not addressed affirmatively, but critically—as a ritual that fails and becomes meaningful precisely in its failure. Many contributions in the book revolve around the impossibility of portraying Gobain "correctly." The tributes therefore do not present a complete picture, but rather produce fragments, snatches, self-portraits of the writers. In this sense, every tribute is also a form of self-portraiture in the shadow of another. The concept of homage permeates Julien Perez's novel not only as its title, but forms the poetic, structural, and emotional core of the entire text. Homage is not understood as a conventional gesture of honor or solemn remembrance, but is thematized, problematized and performed in diverse, often fractured ways.
This article is written in German and can be found at https://rentree.de. Automatic translations into English and French are available. English, French.
