Spatiality and Subjecthood in Mallarmé, Apollinaire, Maeterlinck, and Jarry: Between Page and Stage (Oxford Modern Languages and Literature Monographs)

This study explores the interrelationship between spatiality and subjecthood in the work of Stéphane Mallarmé, Guillaume Apollinaire, Maurice Maeterlinck, and Alfred Jarry. Concerned with various modes of poetry and drama, it also examines the cross-pollination that can occur between these modes, focusing on a range of core texts including Mallarmé's Igitur and Un Coup de dés; Apollinaire's 'Zone' and various of his calligrammes; Maeterlinck's early one-act plays: L'Intruse, Les Aveugles, and Intérieur; and Jarry's Ubu roi and César-Antechrist.. The poetic and dramatic practices of these four authors are assessed against the broader cultural and philosophical contexts of the fin de siècle. The fin de siècle witnessed a profound epistemological shift: the Newtonian-Cartesian paradigm, increasingly challenged throughout the nineteenth century, was largely dismantled, with ramifications beyond physics, philosophy, and psychology. Chapter 1 introduces three foundational notions—Newtonian absolute space, the unitary Cartesian subject, and subject-object dualism—that were challenged and ultimately overthrown in turn-of-the-century science and art. Developments in theatre architecture and typographic design are examined against this philosophical backdrop with a view to establishing a diachronic and interdisciplinary framework of the authors in question. Chapter 2 focuses on the spatial dimension of Mallarmé's Un Coup de dés and Apollinaire's calligrammes—works which defamiliarise page-space by undermining various (naturalised) conventions of paginal configuration. In Chapter 3, the notion of liminality is implemented in an analysis of character and diegetic space as constructed in Jarry's Ubu roi and Maeterlinck's one-acts. Chapters 4 and Chapter 5 undertake a more abstract investigation of parallel inverse processes-the subjectivisation of space and the spatialisation of the subject—manifest not only in the works of Mallarmé, Maeterlinck, Apollinaire, and Jarry, but in the period's poetry and drama more generally. This study explores the interrelationship between spatiality and subjecthood in the work of Stephane Mallarme, Guillaume Apollinaire, Maurice Maeterlinck, and Alfred Jarry. Concerned with various modes of poetry and drama, it also examines the cross-pollination that can occur between these modes, focusing on a range of core texts including Mallarme's Igitur and Un Coup de des ; Apollinaire's 'Zone' and various of his calligrammes ; Maeterlinck's early one-act L'Intruse, Les Aveugles , and Interieur; and Jarry's Ubu roi and Cesar-Antechrist. . The poetic and dramatic practices of these four authors are assessed against the broader cultural and philosophical contexts of the fin de siecle . The fin de siecle witnessed a profound epistemological the Newtonian-Cartesian paradigm, increasingly challenged throughout the nineteenth century, was largely dismantled, with ramifications beyond physics, philosophy, and psychology. Chapter 1 introduces three foundational notionsNewtonian absolute space, the unitary Cartesian subject, and subject-object dualismthat were challenged and ultimately overthrown in turn-of-the-century science and art. Developments in theatre architecture and typographic design are examined against this philosophical backdrop with a view to establishing a diachronic and interdisciplinary framework of the authors in question. Chapter 2 focuses on the spatial dimension of Mallarme's Un Coup de des and Apollinaire's calligrammes works which defamiliarise page-space by undermining various (naturalised) conventions of paginal configuration. In Chapter 3, the notion of liminality is implemented in an analysis of character and diegetic space as constructed in Jarry's Ubu roi and Maeterlinck's one-acts. Chapters 4 and Chapter 5 undertake a more abstract investigation of parallel inverse processes-the subjectivisation of space and the spatialisation of the subject manifest not only in the works of Mallarme, Maeterlinck, Apollinaire, and Jarry, but in the period's poetry and drama more generally. Cover Spatiality and Subjecthood in Mallarmé, Apollinaire, Maeterlinck, and Jarry: Between Page and Stage Copyright Dedication Acknowledgements Contents List of Figures Introduction 1: Space and Subject as Historically Contingent THE LEGACIES OF NEWTON, DESCARTES, AND PERSPECTIVALISM A NEW MIDDLE AGES? SPECTATOR AND READER RECORPOREALIZED 2: Defamiliarizing the Page UP THE GARDEN PATH DEGREES OF SPATIALIZATION IN LITERARY TEXTS THE PAGE REFRAMED Interlude: Between Page and Stage I 3: Staging the Liminal DISCOMFORTING FAMILIARITY EXPERIENCES OF COMMUNITAS REFRAMING THE STAGE 4: Space Subjectivized FROM ALLEGORY TO SYMBOL SPACE–TIME COMPRESSION I: GEOGRAPHIES OF THE SELF SPACE–TIME COMPRESSION II: COLLAGE AND MONTAGE Interlude: Between Page and Stage II 5: Spatialized Subjects ‘MES YEUX NAGENT LOIN DE MOI’ INSTITUTORS OF (NON-)PLACE FULL CIRCLE Conclusion References I. APOLLINAIRE JARRY MAETERLINCK MALLARMÉ II. CRITICAL WORKS PERTAINING TO THE PRINCIPAL AUTHORS III . OTHER CITED SOURCES Index This study explores the interrelationship between spatiality and subjecthood in the work of Stephane Mallarme, Guillaume Apollinaire, Maurice Maeterlinck, and Alfred Jarry. Concerned with various modes of poetry and drama, it also examines the cross-pollination that can occur between these modes, focusing on a range of core texts including Mallarme's Igitur and Un Coup de des; Apollinaire's 'Zone' and various of his0calligrammes; Maeterlinck's early one-act plays: L'Intruse, Les Aveugles, and Interieur; and Jarry's Ubu roi and Cesar-Antechrist.. The poetic and dramatic practices of these four authors are assessed against the broader cultural and philosophical contexts of the fin de siecle. 0 A comparative study that explores conceptualisations of spatiality and subjecthood in the works of Stephane Mallarme, Guillaume Apollinaire, Maurice Maeterlinck, and Alfred Jarry.