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Reviewed by:
  • Les Modernités de Victor Hugo
  • Bradley Stephens
Les Modernités de Victor Hugo. Edited by David Ellison and Ralph Heyndels. Paris, Schena Editore, 2004. 181 pp. Pb $16.00.

There was a time when the notion of Hugo as a modernist would have been met at best with amusement and at worst with vehement resistance. Nowadays, however, [End Page 218] and thanks to the critical shifts of the 1960s, Hugo fits far more comfortably into modernist discourse. The stereotypical image of the white-bearded patriarch exuding authority and optimism has been considerably blurred by the spotlights thrown onto his consistently unsettled way of thinking and the deep sense of disparity in his work. This collection of 10 essays from a Miami conference held during the 2002 bicentenary draws together a mixture of approaches that demonstrate the pluralistic character of Hugo’s varied output. These approaches come from an enviably well-qualified ensemble of scholars for a single volume on Hugo, including Victor Brombert, Pierre Brunel, Béatrice Didier and Kathryn Grossman. In covering a range of media, from poetry and narrative to visual art and music, the different contributors draw on a considerably broad range of expertise. Together, they successfully promote the multiplicity of Hugo’s massive oeuvre, not only in terms of the poet’s different media but also with regard to the array of genres at play in his work. Almost inevitably for a compilation concerned with modernity, later chapters turn to the relationship between Hugo and Baudelaire, charting the biographical and aesthetic intersections in both with much poise and insight, while Rimbaud and Breton also figure importantly at times. Nonetheless, given the overall credentials present here, it is regrettable that the editors chose not to frame the volume in some way. Conspicuous by their absence are any introductory or concluding chapters (although Brombert’s discussion of the prophetic voice as an affirmative but troubled persona in Hugo makes for a suitably engaging opener). As such, the concept of modernity as Hugo might consider it remains for the reader as frustratingly diffuse as it does enticingly diverse. The absence of an attempt to lend a structural coherence to this book beyond the suggestive title is most curious, not least in light of the origins of this publication: surely, panel discussions and dialogue between conference delegates would have offered more than adequate material with which to lend tighter coherence to the arguments? Recurring typographical errors and a distinct imbalance in the length of two of the chapters reinforces the impression that this volume would indeed have benefited from more time and attention during the editorial process. Ultimately, and given the quite singular combination of Hugophiles involved here, the overall rigour of this collection never quite adds up to the sum of its involving parts.

Bradley Stephens
University of Bristol
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