French Literature Reviews - 2026

B. Marchal, La religion de Mallarmé (new revised and corrected edition)
Literary Theory, Linguistics and Stylistics

Bertrand MARCHAL

La religion de Mallarmé
New revised and corrected edition

Droz, coll. Titre courant

ISBN-13 978-2-600-00563-0

GTIN13 (EAN13) 9782600005630

Format publication date: 02/07/2018

Page count: 736

This book sets out to recover the underlying thought that unifies and gives coherence to the entire work of Mallarmé. To this end, it offers a historical investigation and, above all, an in-depth reading of prose texts too often deemed incomprehensible—most notably the Divagations, but also his educational works (Les Dieux antiques and Les Mots anglais). What is termed here Mallarmé's "religion" does not raise the question of his personal faith; rather, it unveils an original conception of the sacred dimension of existence. Rooted in a modern consciousness of language, this thought encompasses every sphere of human activity—from poetry and religion to politics, economics, and society—under the sign of fiction, which is another name for literature. Ultimately, this critical reflection on literature and society leads directly into a religious utopia.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

NOTE ON THIS REISSUE

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

FOREWORD

Introduction
RELIGION AND THE IDEA OF GOD IN THE 19TH CENTURY
I. A RELIGIOUS REVIVAL
1. Religious "liberalism"
2. Religious "socialism"
II. THE QUESTION OF GOD
1. Romantic theology
2. Philosophical critique
3. The pantheistic solution: Buddhism
4. From God to the unconscious
5. Unconscious and religion: the crowd
III. THE DESTINY OF CATHOLICISM
IV. THE RELIGION OF THE FUTURE

Part One
THE SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION OF MALLARMÉ FROM HÉRODIADE TO IGITUR

I. THE YEARS OF MATURATION: 1863-1865
1. A debut in life
2. The birth of Hérodiade
3. The "Scene"
4. The early "Ouverture"
II. THE CRISIS: FEBRUARY–MAY 1866
1. The causes
— The "Ouverture"
— Cannes
— The twilight of an idol
2. New perspectives
III. THE INTROSPECTIVE PATH: JUNE 1866–DECEMBER 1868
1. Turning inward
2. Montégut, Phidias, Leonardo
3. Poetry as a spiritual exercise
4. The impasse of the absolute
IV. THE SCIENTIFIC PATH: JANUARY 1869–1870
1. A Discourse on the Method
2. Igitur
3. The Thesis

Part Two
THE ANCIENT GODS

I. MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION
1. The mythology of the Ideologues
2. Romantic mythology
3. The linguistic revolution
4. On the fringes of science
— A Magus: Eliphas Lévi
— A Mason: Ragon de Bettignies
— A mystical pagan: Louis Ménard
II. TOWARDS THE ANCIENT GODS
1. Mallarméan Egyptology
2. From Hachette to Rothschild, via Longman
3. A certain George William Cox
III. FROM COX TO MALLARMÉ
1. General organization
2. The text
— Notes and cross-references
— The Max Müller case
— Typos and misinterpretations
— Interpolations
— Omissions or cuts
3. The religious question
4. The theology of the Ancient Gods

Part Three
ART AND RELIGION

CHAPTER ONE. WAGNER
I. THE "REVERIE OF A FRENCH POET"
1. Theatre and music
2. Myths and religion
— The "primitive stream"
— The national question
— An obsolete mythology
II. THE "HOMAGE" TO WAGNER
1. From "Reverie" to "Homage"
2. The Wagnerian "Book"
3. "God Richard Wagner"
III. LOHENGRIN
1. The scandal
2. From Wagner to Banville
IV. ULTIMA VERBA

CHAPTER II. THE THEATRE
I. HISTORY OF A PASSION
II. THE PARADOX OF CRITICISM
III. MALLARMÉ'S THEATRICAL AESTHETICS
1. A founding myth
2. An impersonal theatre
3. Ballet
4. Pantomime
5. Theatre and book
6. Melodrama
7. Theatre and poetry
8. The crowd
IV. MALLARMÉ'S THEATRICAL RELIGION
1. The theatre of nature
2. Theatre and society

CHAPTER III. FAIRGROUND INTERLUDE

CHAPTER IV. SUNDAY CONCERTS
I. MUSIC AND SOCIETY
II. MUSIC AND METAPHYSICS
1. The musical mystery
2. Music and nature

CHAPTER V. CATHOLICISM
I. "JUST SO"
1. "Artistic pomps"
2. The archaeology of Catholicism
— The nave, or the "direct invitation to the essence of the type"
— The priest, or the invisibility of the divine type
— The organ, or the expansion of the space to infinity
3. A "vision of the future"
II. "CATHOLICISM"
1. The future of religion
2. Religion: a public or private affair?
3. Towards a new religion
— The "concert performance"
— The theatre
— Mass

Part Four
RELIGION, NATURE, SOCIETY

CHAPTER ONE. AROUND VALVINS: NATURE
I. THE POET IN THE FIELDS
1. A hygienic reverie
2. A mysticism of the spring
II. THE TRAGEDY OF NATURE
1. Prehistory of a tragedy
2. The "tragedy of nature"
3. "Glory"
4. "Conflict"

CHAPTER II. SOCIETY
I. FROM ONE CRISIS TO ANOTHER
II. SOCIETY, OR FROM THE "CENTRAL NOTHING" TO THE FOUNDING VOID
1. A philosophical illusion
2. The "central nothing", or the hollow city
3. From the ancient city to the modern city
4. A dream of a dome
III. NATIONAL FESTIVALS

CHAPTER III. GOLD
I. AN IMAGINARY ARCHETYPE
1. Prodigal gold
2. ...to hidden gold
II. THE RELIGION OF GOLD
1. Gold-God
2. The poet and the proletarian
3. The poet and gold
4. Aristocracy and democracy
III. THE TWILIGHT OF A GOD

Part Five
A THEOLOGY OF LETTERS

I. MYTHOLOGY AND POETRY: THE ANCIENT GODS
II. LINGUISTICS AND POETRY: ENGLISH WORDS
III. POETICS AND POETRY
1. "Mystery in Letters"
2. A theology of letters

Part Six
BOOK AND RELIGION

I. FROM THE ANCIENT GODS TO THE BOOK
1. The Book in the Divagations
2. Mallarmé's "Book"
3. The Mystery of Hérodiade
II. RESTRICTED ACTION
1. A religion deprived of the book
2. Book and public
3. Book and theatre
III. A RELIGION OF THE BOOK?
1. A public recitation
2. An academic ritual
3. The sessions of the "Book"

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX OF MALLARMÉ'S TEXTS

INDEX NOMINUM

This volume examines the complete output of Stéphane Mallarmé through an investigation of his prose works, educational writings, and major theoretical statements. By closely analyzing texts such as Divagations, Les Dieux antiques, and Les Mots anglais, the study uncovers an original conception of the sacred that informs the poet's literary output. Rather than focusing on personal faith, the work traces a modern consciousness of language that extends across poetry, religion, politics, economics, and society under the encompassing sign of fiction.

The analysis further demonstrates how this critical reflection on literature and society ultimately culminates in a religious utopia. By connecting the poet's aesthetic theories with broader nineteenth-century intellectual currents, the book provides a structured reading of texts frequently considered challenging or incomprehensible. Readers interested in nineteenth-century French literature and modernist poetics may find this detailed commentary a useful companion to the author's primary texts.