Discover astrolinguistics
A few words on a journey through space-time
What is astrolinguistics?
Astrolinguistics comes from bringing together linguistics and astrophysics. The initial idea is as follows: if words follow the same laws as physical bodies, then their movement is similar to the planets and stars in space-time.
What does it mean in practice?
In practical terms, you can draw the orbits of words and produce animations or astrolinguistic maps. It's a way of thinking about or dreaming about the movement of words: by following their trajectory, we understand that a sentence is just a moment when the words are aligned together in linguistic space-time.
For more details, have a look at the Theory section.
I create and sell astrolinguistic maps using the cyanotype photographic process. The result is a work that is unique because the map is made by hand, and original because it brings literature into a new dimension.
Gallery of astrolinguistic maps
A few words from Rimbaud across time and space
The Rimboxing Club shows that words behave like bodies: they follow the same physical laws. This is called astrolinguistics.
Whereas grammar only accepts a limited number of word alignments, astrolinguistics shows the full range of possibilities.
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The Astrolinguistic Manifesto
Through their common natural origins, languages follow the laws of the universe. Their movement is that of energy that dissipates; that of possible expressions that are organised and find meaning. Art is the cerebral energy that continues the expansion of the universe. And because the universe expands, art is unstoppable. Literature is the trace of this movement.
Astrolinguistic maps show where words go beyond us, where constellations of nouns and verbs draw another part of the sky.
Astrolinguistics and its cartography are based on 4 principles:
1. Phrases are in motion in the universe. They follow a linear trajectory that is always moving towards the distant future.
2. Conjugation stretches the space-time of mapped phrases. The trajectory of words follows a tension curve towards the future, the present or the past.
3. The words that compose an expression are arranged in such a way that some are satellites of the others. Words with a low mass of information gravitate around words with a high mass of information.
4. A sentence is a moment in the expression when the words are aligned in their orbits. Grammar accepts only a limited number of these alignments, but many others can exist.
Arthur Letertre,
Rennes, janvier 2025.