Paul Claudel, an interpreter of the Song of Songs

Abstract

«Paul Claudel interroge le Cantique des Cantiques» («Paul Claudel questions the Song of Songs») is a landmark work in the oeuvre of Paul Claudel (1868-1955), it is one of the largest artistic and exegetic commentaries in the collection of prose «Le Poëte et la Bible» («The Poet and the Bible») (1998, 2004). The writer creates a new «Claudelian novel» in Bakhtin’s understanding of the novelistic word, based on the centuries-old tradition of multiple interpretations, on the one hand, but built into a work of art, on the other. Claudel draws on his experience of reading the Vulgate, working with concordances and the works of the Fathers of the Church, updating the text of the Holy Scripture through the prism of his work. The artistic world of prose allows us to trace themes, motives, images, as well as the style of working with the text in Latin. Upon fi nishing his work on the commentary, Claudel makes his own translation of the Bible. It reveals the principles that Lemaistre de Sacy and Fillon adhered to, as well as the typical Claudelian methods of translation, which the writer stated in his discussions about language, French verse and orthography. The translation becomes part of the work: the interpreter places it at the beginning of each chapter. Claudel makes a new translation, pursuing other goals: he does not translate the Bible from the sacred language into the profane language, he translates it into the «Claudelian», adding the meanings that he puts into the text himself, which develops in the second part of each chapter – a poetic commentary.

Keywords

• french literature
• catholic revival
• paul claudel
• bible translation
• biblical poetic commentary
• countertext