Alice Becker-Ho, also known as Alice Debord (born August 6, 1941), is a Chinese-born French intellectual closely associated with the

Situationist International The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...

. Among other works, she has written poetry, a scholarly study of slang, and a travel memoir. The widow of

Guy Debord Guy-Ernest Debord (; ; 28 December 1931 – 30 November 1994) was a French Marxist theorist, philosopher, filmmaker, critic of work, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situat ...

, she is best known for being the editor of his complete letters, which have been published in eight volumes.

Early life

Becker-Ho was born in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

to a Chinese mother and a father originally from Alsace-Lorraine, a territory under dispute between France and Germany until the end of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1947, claiming French citizenship, her father moved the family to France.

Career

In 1963 Becker-Ho became involved in the

. She began what would be a long-lasting relationship with

; they married August 5, 1972 and were together until his death in 1994. They co-authored '' Le Jeu de la Guerre'' (''A Game of War'') in 1987, an expanded edition of which was republished by éditions Gallimard, Paris, in 2006. An English edition appeared in 2008. Alice Becker-Ho Les Princes du jargon

Becker-Ho has published several works of poetry in French: ''D'azur au triangle vidé de sable'' (Cognac: Le Temps qu'il fait, 2000); ''Paroles de Gitans'' (Paris: Albin Michel, 2000); and ''Au Pays du sommeil paradoxal'' (Cognac: Le Temps qu'il fait, 2000). She has also written a three-volume study of Western European slang. The first volume, ''Les Princes du Jargon'' (Paris: Gallimard, 1993), was translated into English as ''The Princes of Jargon'' by John McHale and published in 2004 by Edwin Mellen Press. The other two volumes, ''L’Essence du Jargon'' and ''Du Jargon, héritier en bastardie'' (Paris: Gallimard), have not appeared in English. She also authored ''Au Pays du Sommeil Paradoxal'' (translated as ''In Slumberpuzzleland'') and ''Là s'en vont les seigneuries'', an account of her travels with Guy Debord in Rello, Spain, with photos by Emmanuel Rioufol (2003). Further works include 2004's ''Le premier ghetto ou l'exemplarité vénitienne'', a book about the

Venetian Ghetto The Venetian Ghetto was the area of Venice in which Jews were forced to live by the government of the Venetian Republic. The English word ''ghetto'' is derived from the Jewish ghetto in Venice. The Venetian Ghetto was instituted on 29 March 1516 ...

, translated into English by John McHale and published by 1968 Press in 2022, and 2018's ''La part maudite dans l'œuvre de

François Villon François Villon (; Modern French: ; ; – after 1463) is the best known French poet of the Late Middle Ages. He was involved in criminal behavior and had multiple encounters with law enforcement authorities. Villon wrote about some of these e ...

''. After Debord's death in 1994, Becker-Ho began the process of assembling and editing his letters. Starting in 1999, they were published by

Fayard Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre. In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayar ...

as eight volumes of ''Correspondance'', the final volume appearing in 2010."Correspondance Series"
''goodreads.com'', Accessed 12 February 2022.

Selected works

*Excerpt from ''The Essence of Jargon'' in ''Parser'', issue 1, Vancouver, May 2007 *''A Game of War'' (''Le Jeu de la Guerre'') by Guy Debord & Alice Becker-Ho, trans. Donald Nicholson-Smith, Atlas Press, London 2007. *''The Essence of Jargon: Argot & the Dangerous Classes,'' trans. John McHale, Autonomedia, 2015. *''The First Ghetto or Venetian Exemplariness'', trans. John McHale, 1968 Press, London 2022.

References

External links

*http://www.mellenpress.com/mellenpress.cfm?aid=5431&pc=10 *http://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/postsi/language.html *http://info.interactivist.net/comments.pl?sid=4596&cid=2374 {{DEFAULTSORT:Becker-Ho, Alice 1941 births Living people Poets from Shanghai Situationists French people of Chinese descent French women poets 20th-century French writers 21st-century French writers 20th-century French women writers 21st-century French women writers French women essayists 20th-century French essayists 21st-century French essayists Chinese people of French descent