Les deux versions de Sac au dos : le processus de réécriture chez J.-K. Huysmans

Abstract

Rewriting is widely practised by Huysmans in his novels as well as in his works of prose poetry. This article explores the process of rewriting in his first short story: Sac au dos. The two versions of this story (contained respectively in L'Artiste, a magazine published in Brussels, and the collective work Les Soirees de Medan) are compared. The comparison reveals a triple transformation between the two versions of the story. First, Huysmans changes the name of the characters. The main hero designated by Je in the first version becomes Eugene Lejantel in the second. Secondly, the story moves from the mixture of the narrator's discourse and that of the characters in the version of L'Artiste to a discourse based on the main character and expressed in the first person. Finally, Huysmans introduces additions at the beginning and end of the story, and at the same time reduces his focus in the first version on art, politics and religion. Broadly, Huysmans performs a process of fictionalisation which consists...