Balzac, fantastique fantaisiste? L’année balzacienne 2012 éd. par Michel Lichtlé

Abstract

of the fan structures the project, which unfolds coyly, beginning with considerations of the various meanings of fantaisie, fantasque, etc. in the early to mid-nineteenth century, followed by an examination of the literary scene in which Musset débuted and quickly became a leading figure, and finally closing again with reflections on Musset’s literary life and legacy. One of the commonplaces of Musset criticism is that the author’s later work represents a poet in decline and is not worthy of notice. Ledda counteracts that view and takes into account all of Musset’s oeuvre, regardless of chronology or genre. As he argues in his introduction,“[i]nterroger la fantaisie, c’est [...] questionner les formes mineures et majeures de la littérature, c’est interroger la ‘situation’ des œuvres dans une aire géographique, intellectuelle [...] l’étude de la fantaisie permet de considérer la place de Musset dans l’histoire littéraire non en fonction de ‘dates-événements’, mais grâce à des notions esthétiques” (25). Ledda is largely successful in this enterprise, but it must be noted that readers not already in possession of an intimate knowledge of Musset may struggle to find their footing among the myriad allusions, some quite elliptical, to both major and minor works. This book was clearly a labor of love to Ledda, who is one of the leading scholars of nineteenth-century theater in France and has published a great deal on, among other topics,Musset’s theater.Although Ledda’s insights here are,as usual,globally convincing and evocative, they remain somewhat superficial, not unlike the “dandy” of his title. The first part of the book, the section outlining the evolving meanings of fantaisie and its semantic cousins, is the strongest and will be of interest to the widest group of scholars.The second section,which deals in part with Musset’s literary models,presents an original view of the author’s development and brings forth often overlooked influences . Comparatists, especially Germanists, will wish to consult Ledda on fantasy in particular and romanticism in general. The final section treats Musset as artist and it is in this part of the book that Ledda makes the best case for a reexamination of Musset’s later work. For all its stylistic idiosyncrasy, L’éventail et le dandy is a compelling work of scholarship and a significant contribution to Musset studies. University of South Alabama Susan McCready Lichtlé, Michel, éd. Balzac, fantastique fantaisiste? L’année balzacienne 2012. Paris: PUF, 2012. ISBN 978-2-13-0617-31-0. Pp. 419. 45 a. Featuring communications from the 2012 conference, this volume adopts a fresh approach to the iconic realist by highlighting the place of the creative imagination in his works. Many of the studies seek to clarify ambiguous terms, such as fantastique, fantaisie, fantasme, fantasmagorie, which enhances the interest of the collection. Launching the foray into Balzac’s literary imaginings, Bernard Vouilloux investigates the novelist’s early écriture fantaisiste, ultimately judging the writing style incompatible with a realist portrayal of society.Alex Lascar, on the other hand, considers la fantaisie 278 FRENCH REVIEW 88.4 Reviews 279 essential to Balzac’s oeuvre because, as “un outil de déstabilisation” (32), it calls into question meanings, facts, and the very notion of truth, thereby ensuring a more accurate depiction of life. Juxtaposing Balzac’s“fantaisie partielle de forme”in Lettres sur Paris and Musset’s “fantaisie de fond” in Revues fantastiques, Patrick Berthier and Sylvain Ledda bring to light “deux nuances d’un regard romantique” (60) in these creative visions. For his part, José-Luis Diaz underscores the subtle interplay of le fantastique et le réel in Sarrasine, Le chef d’œuvre inconnu, and La peau de chagrin, which to his mind mirrors the spread of social decay in Paris during the nineteenth century. Along similar lines, Brigitte Méra suggests that the novelist’s inventiveness offers an opportunity to“corriger et compléter le réel”(119). Other contributors to the collection pursue the moral and artistic ramifications of Balzac’s creative imagination. Régine Borderie, for example, calls attention to Balzac’s use of fantaisie, both for aesthetic purposes (especially...