from Guy Debord

To Uwe Lausen[1]
21 July [1961]
Dear Uwe:


Thanks for your letter, which is very interesting. Naturally, we must take up again the examination of the anarchist spirit – and even those whom one calls utopian socialists (especially Fourierism) – and all the rich complexity of the possibilities that existed at the moment of the creation of the First International.

I hope that you can translate the Préliminaries[2] into German for Ludus-4.[3] I will write you later if we have the possibility of having a specialist execute the translation, here [in Paris] or Brussels, in which case you would only receive the German version. This would be less tiring.

The idea of having an office for Ludus is excellent. I believe that I must indicate two points for you to examine.

Concerning the journal, your attempt to “infiltrate,” so as to form a complete revolutionary group, can only succeed if the content of Ludus evolves very rapidly – from issue #4 onwards – towards more advanced and more precise texts. The comrades from Ludus must be faced with the problem of clearly approving or not approving certain situationist theories and texts – and, if possible, to openly take part in situationist perspectives, even if several comrades remain outside the SI as individuals. Otherwise, you will still be beaten on the avant-garde terrain by the Spur journal,[3] at least its fifth issue.

The second point is tied to the first one. I have already mentioned it to you in Paris. It is very just and desirable that the German section of the SI expand outside of the Spur group (as a group of plastic artists); and that certain German situationists differentiate themselves from Spur or even produce other publications beyond the Spur journal. But this must not become a complete opposition and separation. If the Spur and Ludus groups appear completely separate from each other, or even rivals on the public plane in Germany, the SI would probably have to choose one over the other. And it would be a shame to abandon one possibility for the other, because a veritable situationist effort in Germany certainly depends on the surpassing of these two current stages through their fusion. I believe that you absolutely must get a “classic Spurist” ([Dieter] Kunzelman, or even [Hans-Peter] Zimmer) to participate in the Ludus group as a situationist who will be detached, along with you, in this work.[3] We will examine this question at Goteberg.[4] It is sure that, if all the Spurists refuse this participation, they will be the ones who are wrong. But the danger of this division of our forces in Munich is, first of all, that there will no longer be young revolutionaries in our old Spur group who would oblige it to go a little further.

We must be in Goteberg between 15 and 30 September, a date that will be precisely chosen soon and that we will communicate to you.

Best wishes,
Guy

P.S. Included are two documents[5]: from Belgian situationists secretly working on the political terrain – and English pre-situationists? We will see.


[1] Uwe Lausen (1941-1970), a member of the German section of the SI.

[2] Preliminaries for a Definition of the Unity of the Revolutionary Program, by P. Canjuers and G.-E. Debord (20 July 1960). [An interesting choice of texts on Debord’s part: the “Preliminaries” had been written in collaboration with Daniel Blanchard, a member of the Socialisme ou Barbarie group, but had not found in audience in it.]

[3] Translator: detached from the SI [qui serait détaché, avec toi, dans ce travail] so that the organization’s rule against dual membership would not be broken.

[4] In Sweden, where the fifth Conference of the SI would be held.

[5] Translator: neither were included by the publishers of this volume.


(Published in Guy Debord Correspondance, Vol "0": Septembre 1951 - Juillet 1957: Complete des "lettres retrouvees" et d l'index general des noms cites by Librairie Artheme Fayard, October 2010. Translated from the French by NOT BORED! March 2011. Footnotes by the publisher, except where noted.)




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