French Symbolism:
French Symbolism (approx. 1840-1920)
was a literary movement in the 19th century, which eventually made
its way into art and theater. French Symbolism is what bridged the gap between
Romanticism and Modernism.
Basically, the goal was to represent each emotional experience with a complex
symbol(s:
The “symbols” for which
they are named are emblems of the actual world – as opposed to the purely
emotional world which dominates their work – that accumulate supernatural
significance in the absence of a clear narrative or location (AAP).
Symbolists focused on specific moments of experience and perception; searching
for their significance and a way to organize them (i.e. juxtaposition/collage).
What’s important to consider is that to these poets, a symbol was not a specific
object or idea with a concrete meaning. Instead, it was the “interconnectedness
of an image with a whole range of things or even the more cosmic
interconnectedness of everything else” (Anthology). Instead of clarifying,
Symbolists create more overtones. They used tone to try and approach an
indescribable condition. There is a correspondence between art and the senses,
reached through synesthesia.
Other notable symbolists include Stephane Mellarme, Paul Verlaine, Arthur
Rimbaud, Tristan Corbiere, Jules Laforgue, Guillaume Apollinaire, and Paul
Valery
Charles Baudelaire:
Baudelaire, (1821-1867), was a French poet most known for his involvement with
French Symbolism. In addition to his poetic works, Baudelaire was also an
essayist, art critic, and translator. Most important to our studies in this
class is Baudelaire’s influence on modernity in literature. He is sometimes
credited with coining modernity.
Baudelaire’s early life was fraught with the potential for developing
problematic neuroses. Most of what we now know of Baudelaire’s life comes from
his correspondences with his mother. Their relationship later become rockier as
Baudelaire’s debts increased. Baudelaire’s life was filled with financial
instability, alienation, and highly complex emotions, which sparked most of his
poetry. His earlier career is defined mostly by his non-poetic work, written
when he was attempting to fit himself into a certain lifestyle that he wanted.
His love life was equally complex, which changed how he wrote about women. He
shifted out of a sensualist description into a more multidimensional one.
“By ‘modernity’ I mean the ephemeral, the fugitive, the contingent, the half of
art whose other half is the eternal and immutable… This transitory, fugitive
element, whose metamorphoses are so rapid, must on no account be despised or
dispensed with. By neglecting it, you cannot fail to tumble into the abyss of an
abstract and indeterminate beauty, like that of the time the first woman before
the fall of man” (Baudelaire- “ The Painter of Modern Life).
Baudelaire’s poems were well rounded in the Symbolist sense. Baudelaire includes
the tones, and retains a commitment to the primacy of the aesthetic experience.
However, he is even more invested in the harsh, revolting realities of the human
experience, which is clearly evidenced just by his poems’ titles. These poets
were investigating not the high and low parts of life, rather taking on the
conflict in between the two and how that dualism affects art. This took a moral
turn for Baudelaire, who very strongly believed in the reality of sin.
Shock Experience:
The shock experience comes from Freud and literary psychoanalysis. Freud
ascertained that memory was not actually in the conscious, rather in other
systems of the body. The conscious is instead a shield against stimuli. This
shield is self-powered, and its energy is threatened by shocks. A person could
train to receive these shocks regularly without traumatic effect, and eventually
receiving a shock could be narrowed into an isolated experience. If remembered,
it can become a poetic experience.
Baudelaire places a great deal of emphasis on the shock experience in his work.
To achieve an isolated experience, the consciousness is long trained in
receiving shock. It would only grow if it was reflected upon, causing a small
shock which is usually unpleasant. Baudelaire incorporates this process into his
perception of the experience of the artist. Shock was vital to his personality,
and is reflected in his work.
Fear, Revulsion, and Horror:
These feelings were a common response for someone encountering the crowd of a
big city for the first time. These areas are savage and isolating. There is an
overwhelming amount of external stimuli and the potential for shock. Traffic
represents a giant flow of energy, which Baudelaire has specifically referenced.
This kind of revulsion of the big city overflows into other kinds of horror in
his poems, which can be very graphic or gory.
Sin:
There is a very defined presence of Satan in Baudelaire’s poetry. This arose out
of his moral struggles and a pronounced awareness of the reality of sin.
Baudelaire is trapped within his perceptions and cries out for help. His
perception of women were that they were demonic or of a more somber, angelic
nature. Baudelaire is struggling to define evil for himself, leading to this
increased interaction with it and Satan.
Correspondence:
Correspondence is a vital motif in a great deal of Baudelaire’s work. Baudelaire
was somewhat disassociated from time, and therefore only significant events
really stood out to him (isolated
experiences). Correspondence, especially in this period, was greatly
ritualized, and Baudelaire used them as a method to examine the breakdown of the
modern man.
The
correspondence is a crisis free experience if within a ritual, allowing it the
potential to be beautiful. A correspondence is a data of recollection and
prehistory. Baudelaire, with his correspondences, influenced later Symbolists
who would use simultaneous correspondences. Correspondence is not referring to
simply letter writing, it is any kind of exchange.
French Symbolism & Conrad:
In Heart of Darkness, there is a
combination of the symbolists and impressionism. He uses some polyvalent
symbols, but he also writes with a haziness that is more impressionistic.
The use of the darkness symbolism is part of what makes
Heart of Darkness more symbolist. The
darkness is polyvalent, meaning pre-colonization Africa and negativity, and its
opposite representing the purity of the Europeans. According to Ian Watts,
Conrad uses delayed decoding, revealing things piece by piece without explaining
or naming anything.
The kernel metaphor (Marlow isn’t a typical seaman, and the whole life and
meaning of a typical one can be within a cracked nut) is symbolist. The meaning
of the story, with the haze around the glow, is larger than the narrative, or
the shell. However, the actual haziness is again more impressionistic (Lewis).
Links:
Debussy’s Musical Adaptations “Cinq Poèmes de Baudelaire”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIDMGLzimok
“The Painter of Modern Life”
Website Dedicated to Baudelaire’s Collection
Fleurs du Mal