French Literature Reviews - 2026
B. Marchal, J.-L. Steinmetz, T. Roger, Spectres de Mallarmé
Poetry and Poetics
Spectres de Mallarmé
Bertrand Marchal, Jean-Luc Steinmetz, Thierry Roger
Hermann, 2021
*
In 1997, Cerisy hosted a ten-day conference dedicated to Mallarmé. Twenty years later, in the very same location, organizing a new gathering felt essential. The publication of the *Complete Works* in the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, alongside the general correspondence and two new biographies, the ongoing release of journals devoted to the poet, the renewed interest of art historians and philosophers in his work, and 'archaeological' or 'genealogical' studies questioning the reception and uses of his writing, together outline the portrait of a different Mallarmé. The contributions from this 2019 conference thus aim to fully grasp this new critical paradigm by capturing a 'spectral' work that indeed returns to us, better understood within its specific historicity, but which also continuously emerges—ever since the decline of symbolism—with striking contemporary relevance. The figure whose poetry and poetics constantly challenged how we think about fiction and society, as well as the interplay of language and chance, remains a crucial reference point for our times. Academics, essayists, philosophers, and writers found in this event an opportunity to take stock and cast the dice once more.
26 EUR – ISBN : 9791037005465
This volume gathers contributions from a 2019 conference held at Cerisy, marking two decades since a previous gathering dedicated to the author. The collection reflects the ongoing evolution of scholarship surrounding Stéphane Mallarmé, shaped by recent biographical and editorial projects, including the Pléiade edition of his writings, as well as renewed attention from philosophers and art historians. The essays examine how his poetry and poetics continue to inform discussions concerning language, chance, fiction, and society. Readers interested in nineteenth-century French poetry and the reception of symbolist literature may find this collection relevant.
The essays collected here consider both the historical reception of the writings and their enduring contemporary relevance, tracing how critical approaches to the author have shifted over time. Contributors engage with the ways his work is read and utilized across various disciplines, addressing the interplay between his texts and subsequent critical paradigms. The volume brings together perspectives from academics, philosophers, essayists, and writers to reassess the ongoing influence of a central figure in modern literary history.