Marcel Proust 5: Proust au tournant des siècles 2 by Bernard Brun, Juliette Hassine

Abstract

MLR, I02.2, 2007 5I9 feared no one, and no writer or topicwas above his powers of criticism, as shown in detail byMillet-Gerard, who underlines Bloy's paradoxical faith inHistory alongside his unclassifiable status as a critic and his fearless attitude towards ideological and aesthetic convention. His recognized influence on Huysmans, Claudel, and Bernanos can be extended to include the late twentieth-centuryChristian writer Jean Sulivan (I9I3-80), particularly regarding the latter's stance 'a l'endroit des bien-pensants en tout genre' (p. 6o). The article by Parisse and her recent thesis, also reviewed here by Glaudes, deal with themystical model as a tool inunderstanding Bloy's work. The loss of the father which prefigures the (apparent) absence of God is a critical element in Bloy as it is in the inspiration of Sulivan, whose creative work, like that of Bernanos, shares Bloy's visionary and prophetic tone; inSulivan's case, however, unlike Bloy, the early psychological and spiritual turbulence prefigures the spiritual abandonment, detach ment, and passivity of thewriter inhis latteryears. Parisse analyses masterfully the spiritual, psychological, and philosophical dimensions of Bloy's work inwhich all that is profound advances wearing themask ofmystery. Questions of interiority/ exteriority, rebellion/peace, doubt/conviction, freedom/passivity,meaning/void, and detachment/activity are dealt with from the literaryand spiritual points of view, con firmingthe importance of themystical in a contemporary understanding ofBloy, and concluding that,although Bloy was not amystic, hiswork does extolmystical virtues and themystical does constitute 'le fermentde l'aeuvre passee et a venir' (p. 247). The Berdiaev text translated here sees Bloy as a 'Fol en Christ' (p. 2I8); mystical experi ence forces language to reveal its fragilityas itbreaks down under pressure from the ineffable;one would welcome, therefore,on another occasion a close reading of Bloy texts from theperspective of confirming or invalidating theperceived authenticity of his spiritual experience. NATIONALUNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, GALWAY PADRAIG O GORMAILE Marcel Proust 5: Proust au tournantdes siecles 2. Ed. by BERNARDBRUN and JULIETTE HASSINE. (La Revue des Lettres Modernes) Paris and Caen: Lettres Modernes Minard. 2005. 299 pp. E22. ISBN 978-2-256-gi9O8-2. This collection continues theproject on 'Proust au tournant des siecles' begun in200 I at the Faculte des Lettres of Bar-Ilan University, Israel. It divides the articles into two sections, 'Sur la lecture' and 'L'ecriture infinie', and is notable forvariety, but also forunevenness. The proceedings are represented by three types of investigation: factual and comparative articles, articleswith a thesis, and freelyappreciative essays. As a prelude, the collection isheaded by the voice of themaster himself in an un published letter toLeon Blum presented by Ilan Greilsammer. It portrays Proust in an unattractive light.His attitude towards someone who was eventually responsible forhis award of theLegion d'honneur isuncomfortably ambivalent and reminds us of how tetchyhe could be even when dependent on friends forsupport inhis career. As iftopursue Proust's sensitivity over his own importance, PyraWise examines his attitude toRousseau with unrelenting thoroughness in 'Legrandin: un pastiche de Rousseau?' Proust tries to hide any connection with or contamination by Rousseau even when echoes of Rousseau abound in Legrandin's lavishly eloquent manner. Proust is revealed as pervaded by Rousseau without being fully aware of it,but anx ious not to have his own achievement of confession overshadowed by Rousseau's Confessions.Of items in a similar vein of influence,Danielle-Claude Belanger's article on A rebours traces hints and parallels with themadeleine episode and concludes that Proust probably did readHuysmans. Likewise, Akio Ushiba's 'Proust etMallarme 520 Reviews claims an equal place for Mallarm6 along with Baudelaire as favourite poet. Typical of this line of analysis, there is often no direct point of contact with Proust. Thus articles on Gracq, Pirandello, and Smilansky Yizhar remain at the level of curiosity rather than revelation. More strongly assertive, and with a sense of a thesis to be proved, isVolker Roloff's 'Correspondance des arts et intermedialite'. La Recherche is treated as a reference-point for music, painting, and the use of the arts generally to give thework some structural strength. Roloff seeks to show thatProust's aesthetic requires deliberate and interactivework from the reader to allow its truemeaning...