French Literature Reviews - 2026
Y. Ringuedé, Une crise du moderne. Science et poésie dans la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle
Poetry and Poetics
Une crise du moderne. Science et poésie dans la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle
Yohann Ringuedé
Hermann, 2021
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38 €
540 p.
ISBN: 9791037006899
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The relationship between scientific knowledge and poetry in the second half of the 19th century is complex. Long sidelined by literary history, the dialogue between these two spheres oscillates between scientific modernity and poetic modernities. Alternating between conflict and harmony, these diverse and contradictory modes of dialogue nonetheless reflect an era grappling with a crisis in both the poetic genre and a waning scientism. Through stylistic analysis—systematically grounded in the context of production—and epistemic critique, this study sheds light on a parallel and long-overlooked history of modernity: while the modern poem increasingly asserts its autonomy, and science tends to specialize to the point of becoming inaccessible, the dialogue between science and poetry does not disappear; rather, it grows more intricate. Poets no longer merely incorporate thematic elements of knowledge. The influence of science becomes deeper and more structural: poetry borrows the language of scholarship to articulate the anxieties of the lyrical subject, and poetology steps into the laboratory of experimentation. Consequently, though subterranean, the impact of science on poetic craftsmanship becomes crucial to the innovative reshaping of poetry in the latter half of the 19th century. Two parallel modernities emerge, at times turning away from one another, elsewhere intersecting. This study aims to uncover the history and dynamics of this uneasy coexistence.
The late 19th century was a period defined by rapid intellectual shifts, as the rise of positivism and the professionalization of scientific disciplines began to reshape cultural landscapes. During this era, the boundaries between the humanities and the natural sciences were frequently contested, leading to a period of transition often characterized by a crisis of representation. As literature sought to define its own autonomy against the growing authority of scientific empiricism, poets began to integrate technical vocabularies and methodologies into their creative processes, reflecting broader tensions regarding the role of the artist in an increasingly industrialized society.
Une crise du moderne. Science et poésie dans la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle examines the relationship between scientific knowledge and poetry in the second half of the 19th century. The study analyzes how the dialogue between these spheres reflects an era grappling with a crisis in both the poetic genre and a waning scientism, where the influence of science on poetic craftsmanship becomes structural. Readers interested in the history of 19th-century literature and the intersection of intellectual disciplines may find this analysis of the coexistence between these two fields relevant.