Fans, Silks, and Ptyx: Mallarme and Classical Chinese Poetry

Abstract

'Although Mallarm6 could not read Chinese and never visited China, it would have been impossible for him to be unaware of japonisme that gripped Paris in 1860s and accelerated in 1870s and 1880s, and during this Europeans seldom distinguished Japan from China. We know that Mallarm6 moved in circles ofJapanomaniacs. Mallarm6's friend Philippe Burty, noted critic, was not only prominent collector ofJapanese objects, but was also a founder-member of secret Socidtd duJ ing-lar, whose members did much to promote enthusiasm for things Japanese, although its name sounds more Chinese than Japanese (Millan 191). In 1874 Mallarm6 met and became friendly with critic Theodore Duret and engraver and printer F61ix Bracquemond, both of whom, like Manet and himself, were keenly interested in Japanese art (Millan 202). Mallarm6 also counted among his friends Monet and Whistler, both heavily influenced by Japanese art. Indeed, Mallarm6 had his own Japanese-decorated salon in his home at Valvins. The question of what Mallarm6 knew specifically about Chinese language, writing and literature is more difficult to answer. The 1860s saw two major translations of classical Chinese poetry into French. Judith Gautier, translator of one of volumes, was guest, as Mme. Catulle Mendas, at Mallarm6's Avignon residence 'just after outbreak of Franco-Prussian War of 1870 (Lloyd 55). We imagine that they had great deal to say to each other, since M. and Mme. Mendas had just returned from long visit with Wagner, figure crucial to Mallarm6. We also know that Mallarm6 read Gautier's novel about China, Dragonimpirial, describing it as doublement cher: une grande merveille in an 1869 letter to Henri Cazalis (C1, 307). At end of 1869 Mallarm6 wrote to several of his friends indicating desire to obtain doctorate in linguistics, which he saw ?l la fois comme une th6rapie contre l'impuissance litt6raire, et comme le fondement scientifique de son oeuvre (Marchal 128). The reply of Eugine Lef6bure, an Egyptologist and professor of Egyptology in Algiers, offers tantalizing, detailed, and accurate description of hieroglyphic writing systems, among which he includes clefs chinoises (Cl, 316). He offers to send book by L6on de Rosny, presumably Les Ecrituresfiguratives et hidroglyphiques des diffirents peuples anciens et modernes, published in 1860. We know that Rosny's own expertise tended toward Far East. He was considered the leading French authority on Japan at this time and made an extensive contribution of books, manuscripts, prints and photographs to Chinese display of 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris (Johnson 78, 87). Unfortunately, we do not have Mallarm6's reply. The only direct reference Mallarm6 makes to China is in Las de l'amer repos, in which he describes scene painted on porcelain cup by Chinese artisan.