Text

ETD_2918

http://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.1/rucore10001600001.ETD.000056770

theses

This dissertation compares fin-de-siècle avant-garde production to the work of Stéphane Mallarmé, who is generally considered to epitomize the solitary writer, withdrawn from public life. A detailed reconstruction of contemporary avant-garde performances and literary journalism enables a new reading, and a shifted understanding of the social and political dimensions of Mallarmé’s poems, critical essays, and theatrical projects in light of these collective activities. The thesis investigates the works of avant-garde groups performing in Paris: the Hydropathes, a group of “Fumiste” artists from the Latin Quarter; the legendary Chat Noir cabaret, founded by Rodolphe Salis in Montmartre; La Plume, a magazine most commonly associated with Symbolism; and finally, the lesser known artists of the Quat’z’arts cabaret, who, at the turn of the century, produced a happening-like wall-journal, entitled Le Mur, in Montmartre. All these groups associated the publishing of illustrated magazines with performances that took place in various cafés and cabarets designed and decorated for this purpose. A certain parallelism, thus, can be identified in the structure of journals and the development of group performances, insofar as textual production, public performance, and interior design equally contribute to the construction and promotion of a communal identity. The extensive exploration of Mallarmé’s work reveals an analogous concern with the necessity of a public representation of writing. From his early poems to the final edition of Poésies and the visual poem Un coup de Dés, from the fashion journal La Dernière Mode to his critical, continually revised essays, from his foreign conferences and the Tuesday reunions with his friends to his ambitious project of a ritualistic “Book,” Mallarmé constantly underlines the significance of institutionalizing the private act of writing and, thus, symbolically links the private space of individual life with the sphere and activity of public feasts. The emerging mass culture of the Third Republic in which newspapers begin to play a central role, challenges the traditional, humanist function of books and canonical readings. This dissertation shows how Mallarmé and avant-garde groups respond to this crisis and invite contemporary elites and crowds to imagine possible communities.

Ph.D.

Includes bibliographical references

Includes vita

by Diana Schiau-Botea

Abstract in English, text in French

doi:10.7282/T3154GR9

ETD doctoral

The author owns the copyright to this work.

ETD

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