L’Amour dans « le système symboliste » : prolégomènes à une future théorie de l’expression

Abstract

Pierre Citti (1987) detects in fin-de-siecle French literature the existence of a “symbolist system”: a common way of conceiving art, of defining the author, the public, the work as well than the general rules of representation. The article sets out to examine the role played by passions, especially love, within this system of thought. Texts by Remy de Gourmont, Teodor de Wyzewa, Marcel Schwob, Andre Gide, Jean de Tinan and Villiers de l ’Isle-Adam are analyzed in order to establish a small typology of the roles played by love in fin-de-siecle literature. It is also demonstrated to what extent symbolist novelists anticipate in their works on future theories of expression, as well as on the current notion of “artialisation”.

Keywords

• French literature
• Symbolism
• love
• theory of expression
• artialisation