Parody and Decadence: Laforgue's Moralités Légendaires by Michele Hannoosh (review)

Book Reviews257 DAVID WILLIAM FOSTER. The Argentine Generation of 1880: Ideology and Cultural Texts. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1990. 204 p. David William Foster is undoubtedly one of the most distinguished Latin American scholars living and writing in the United States. His contributions in several fields, among them bibliographical and cultural studies, are thought provoking and challenging. His recent study, The Argentine Generation of1880, is a fascinatingjourney into the field ofArgentine cultural as well as literary history. The book begins by tracing the defeat of Argentine dictator Juan Manuel Rosas in 1851 and the way in which several intellectuals, especially writers, began to create a new Argentina where the values of liberalism and democracy were essential. The unique generation of 1880 flourished and to date it constitutes one ofthe most outstanding historical and literary movements of Argentine society. Through key readings of the period, such as La Gran Aldea, La Bolsa, Sin Rumbo, and Memorias de un Vigilante, Foster's study attempts and splendidly succeeds in presenting an integral vision of the period, especially the way in which these works, together with these writers, shaped the world they lived in. The representation of literary texts as well as the role literary ideology played during this crucial generation are the most important contributions of this study. I strongly recommend this well written, well conceived book, especially because through Foster's perception we can understand the way in which the intellectual generation of 1880 was shaped— a generation whose impact and validity can still be felt in present-day Argentina. MARJORIE AGOSIN Wellesley College MICHELE HANNOOSH. Parody and Decadence: Laforgue's Moralités Légendaires. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1989. 275 p. The Moralités Légendaires were written between 1883 and 1887, the last years ofLaforgue's brieflife. They are the only substantial prose work of a poet who died at 27, having nonetheless managed to survive Romanticism, Symbolism, positivism, atheism, Darwinism, and even the Decadent movement of which he was a member. As we are entering the last decade of our own century, it may be of value to look back at this other fin de siècle that seems so long ago, and in this book Michèle Hannoosh is making a major contribution to both the study ofLaforgue and the understanding ofour equally, ifnot more, difficult time. The bulk ofcriticism on Jules Laforgue, most ofit not very recent, has dealt primarily with the decadent characteristics of his poetry, the elegant melancholy, the ennui of the intellect, the nocturnal, shimmering imagery of his verse and his very personal touch of irony and gentle self-mockery, with the poet emerging as a sort of Pierrot Lunaire. However, as we read it today 258Rocky Mountain Review with a fresh mind, it is possible to think that its true originality lies in an unprecedented, cosmic feeling for the endangered, perishable planet Earth. Now that the threats have become so clear and precise, a poem like the "Funeral March for the Death ofthe Earth" takes on new meaning. In it, the whole universe, a solemn procession oîsoleils magnifiques, mourns and grieves for a small dead planet, with accents of passionate tenderness that have not been matched, except maybe in the music of Gustav Mahler or the outcry of young écologiste. However, in the Moralités, Laforgue is not so much preoccupied with the ultimate mortality as he is with salvaging something of the past for an uncertain future, survival in fact. Taking hold of some important or even sacred items in our cultural heritage, giving them a new twist by way of parody, and finding or implying modern meanings in them without being barbaric or destructive, this is the tour de force accomplished by Jules Laforgue. The analysis of this process, which allows literature to go on, is the subject of this brilliant book by Hannoosh, a most serious book, also. Six tales were told, written in outrageous, sparkling, witty, luxuriant style. "Hamlet, ou les suites de la piété filiale," "Le Miracle des Roses" (based on a medieval legend), "Lohengrin, fils de Parsifal," "Salomé," "Persée et Andromède ou le plus heureux des trois" (which was used for...