Victor Hugo 6 —L'Écriture poétique (review)

Given the growing breadth of scholarly interest in Hugo as regards his political contributions, his place in social history and his novels, there is a slight concern amongst Hugolâtres that his poetry is being ushered out of the critical spotlight. During his 2002 bicentenary, his collections of poetry occupied a smaller share of the publications released to mark the occasion in relation to other media. It is of course not without irony that for a poet who in his times wanted to combat 'toute vieille pensée', he has himself now become 'le vieux classique' derided by his own poem 'Les Oiseaux' in Les Contemplations. This collection of essays works to redress the balance somewhat and place Hugo's verse back on the agenda, addressing why he still holds the reputation of being the greatest poet of his times and, in some quarters, of his country. Ludmilla Charles-Wurtz's four-page introduction focuses our attention on the writing of the poetry, not only in terms of its composition and stylistic flair, but also with an eye to the Romantic worldview behind the words. She is careful to underline that —just as Victor Brombert observed as regards the novels —Hugo's poetry may have found itself somewhat trapped in the display case format of canonical anthologies, but upon closer inspection these works will always wrench themselves loose from such inert positions. That central thesis emphasised, it is a shame that she did not elaborate further and set out some critical parameters for what is an intriguing if inconsistent volume. Each contribution varies considerably in length and indeed in rigour, whilst the final section by Myriam Roman shifts in focus almost entirely to look at Les Travailleurs de la mer, all of which suggests a well-meaning but slightly unfinished product. For example, Mathieu Liouville's intriguing although protracted study of autodérision in Hugo's verse curiously makes no reference to Joë Friedemann's 2002 exploration of laughter as both focus and technique in the novels, thereby missing a potentially productive parallel. That said, there are several particularly thought-provoking arguments throughout, touching upon a wide range of texts. A discussion by Delphine Gleizes of the illustrated editions of the earlier verse offers a fascinating glimpse into attempts to match Hugo's often vibrant poetic images with visual ones, whilst Claude Millet and Roman unpack some of the complexities involved in Hugo's treatment of rhythm and insularity respectively as key figures in his work. Overall, the collection is another sound contribution to the ongoing Lettres Modernes Minard series on Hugo, although it does suggest the need for a still sharper thematic focus for future editions.