Maupassant: une littérature de la provocation by Thierry Poyet (review)

Reviews 275 traditions is marshaled clearly and appropriately to open the major intellectual and spiritual journey of Emmanuel. The results are impressive, indeed admirable. They leave little question of Emmanuel’s position as one of the major voices of twentiethcentury France. Emmanuel viewed the “crucifixion as the climactic event in human history” (26), and despite the century’s indifference to the gospels, he exploited the enormously rich possibilities of Scripture to the full. Like French baroque poets, however, his powerful images confront the central Biblical tradition with that of Greek mythology.Often heavily eroticized,he opens both short and long poems to the liturgical tradition, to the human condition, and to current events, especially during the Second World War and the occupation of his homeland. “The connections between blood and tears, or dew and flood, exemplify the tropological, or moral, level of typological symbolism” (51). Like others who have considered Emmanuel’s poetry, O’Neil senses both the influence of Freudian and Bachelardian imagery. Thoroughly at home with poems that, while lacking the narrative thread of the longer poems, fit nonetheless firmly into the poet’s world view, she leaves no doubt of her grasp of the poetry. In the process, she takes the poetics, ranging from free verse to the most traditional of alexandrines, into account.Although a poet who sees himself primarily as a storyteller, “Emmanuel loves strong imagery that enables the reader to feel Christ’s agony, or Orpheus’s plunge into the underworld, or Hölderlin’s descent into madness” (66). Emmanuel forces his readers to become intellectually engaged, using “images from contemporary culture to form conceits that make the notion of spiritual combat more relevant to the reader” (147). His poor health kept him from active military service during the war years, but both his poetic and personal involvement highlight his courage and commitment. In the midst of his apocalyptic vision, however, there shines the inevitable triumph of freedom. While Emmanuel is often difficult, as he sees a “world tottering between catastrophe and redemption” (78), O’Neil provides a sure guide. Whether images previously exploited by medieval troubadours, the French tradition,or fresh eyes confronting nature,the Bible,or contemporary history,her book makes the voyage from myth,faith,to the poet’s psyche a singular pleasure.She bases her interpretations on original texts, while providing excellent translations. Both O’Neil’s command of Emmanuel’s many volumes of poetry and the traditions from which he draws inspiration makes this a very important book, not just for those of us who read Emmanuel, but for those of us who wish a firmer grasp of twentieth-century poetry. University of Kansas Allan H. Pasco Poyet, Thierry. Maupassant: une littérature de la provocation. Paris: Kimé, 2011. ISBN 978-2-84174-573-9. Pp. 191. 20,50 a. This study recasts Maupassant’s narrative fiction in a contentious light while affirming its place within the context of fin-de-siècle unconventionality. Poyet defines Maupassant’s polemical writing as“une littérature du dévoilement”and argues that the stories provoke by peeling off the masks that hide unsavory secrets (47). He substantiates this claim by examining the manner in which the provocation manifests itself and plays out within different spheres such as sexuality, marriage, family, society, religion, politics, and literature. The section dedicated to “Maupassant et la question du sexe,” elucidates how the seeds of controversy are generated and sustained by the author’s choice to depict aberrant sexual practices:“une sexualité hors norme, marquée souvent par la violence, toujours par des attitudes inhabituelles” (37). The chapters on women and sexuality also cite Maupassant’s “acharnement misogyne” as a key factor contributing to the corrosive textual elements (49). They contend that the female protagonists are invariably motivated by money—“chez Maupassant, la femme est intéressée”—(43) and habitually figure as commodity:“une marchandise, qui a un prix” (37). Class-based mockery and social satire provide the focus for “Maupassant peintre de société,” revealing the different ways the writer pokes fun at peasants, bourgeois, and aristocrats alike. Poyet explains that while being fully aware of his bourgeois readership, the aristocratic Maupassant enjoyed vilifying...