title: Symbolism, Decadence And The Fin De Si&egrave;cle: French and European Perspectives (EUROPEAN LITERATURE)
author: Patrick McGuinness
description: <DIV><P>&#8220;The joy of the book is its delightful range of subjects and their inevitable interrelations . . . This is a very important book, and one that should certainly not be left to French Studies alone. It goes a long way towards making sense of a period of literary production that has suffered either from relentless simplification or from meaningless vaguening. The caricature of French Symbolism and Decadence, a product of the English &#8216;Nineties, the Wilde- and Moore-filtered naughtiness and aestheticism, corresponds little to the riven, multifarious and highly differentiated cultural field McGuinness&#8217;s book reveals to us. His finely written introduction provides ample background and context and offers some illuminating judgements, and the book itself is handsome and beautifully produced. In short, its substance and its methodologies are various and interdisciplinary, and its scope is consequently of vital importance to anyone interested in cultural modernity.&#8221; &#8211;<I>PN Review</I>, Vol. 142, 2001</P></DIV> (<i>PN Review</i>)<br /><br /><DIV><P>&#8220;This impressive collection of fifteen essays offers a richly suggestive exploration of the multiple manifestations of Symbolism and Decadence and sheds new light on exchanges between the French avant-garde and their European neighbours. The studies are not limited to the purely literary, but take in a wide range of cultural manifestations which includes the dance, theatre, painting, music and film . . . The volume succeeds in providing a thoughtful, wide-ranging overview of this complex period and will appeal especially to all who are interested in aesthetic cross-currents. Not the least attractive feature is its choice of telling illustrations.&#8221; &#8211;<I>Modern Language Review</I>, Vol. 97:2, 2002 </P></DIV> (<i>Modern Language Review</i>)<br /><br /><DIV><P>&#8220;Subtitled 'French and European Perspectives', this volume is written essentially by British scholars. Nine of the fifteen focus on France, while the other six explore the various ripples which spread from Paris to Brussels, Vienna, Berlin, Madrid, Rome and beyond. To widen the perspectives in this way is no mere nod towards today&#8217;s increasingly integrated Europe, but a strong recognition that literary movements have often moved without passports and beyond language frontiers . . . This is an ambitious and impressive collection, with substantial endnotes and a five-page index.&#8221; &#8211;<I>New Zealand</I><I> Journal of French Studies</I>, Vol. 23, No. 1</P></DIV> (<i>New Zealand Journal of French Studies</i>)<br /><br /><DIV><P>&#8220;A valuable reference work on a number of aspects of the period&#8212;a collection of useful essays&#8221; &#8211;<I>Modern and Contemporary France</I>, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2002</P></DIV> (<i>Modern and Contemporary France</i>)
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  ![Couverture : Kenneth White, Mémorial de la terre océane, Traduit de
  l’anglais par Marie-Claude White, édition bilingue, Mercure de
  France](cover/cover.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Kenneth White
  
  # MÉMORIAL  
  DE LA TERRE  
  OCÉANE
  
   _Traduit de l’anglais  
  par Marie-Claude White_
  
  ÉDITION BILINGUE
  
  ![Illustration](images/Logo_mercure_PC1.jpg)
  
  MERCVRE DE FRANCE
  
  
  # Prologue
  
  Au moment où, au XVIIe siècle, c’est-à-dire au début de la modernité, la
  nouvelle astronomie et la nouvelle philosophie (Newton, Descartes)
  perturbèrent la sphère constituée de l’esprit, bouleversant rhétorique et
  métrique, un poète d’origine galloise, John Donne, inventa une poétique, aux
  lignes fortes ( _strong lines_ ), à la géographie mentale paradoxale, et à
  l’humour transcendental.
  
  Au moment, le nôtre (disons, la fin de la modernité), celui d’une relativité
  générale et de vitesses inimaginables, où la télescopie découvre des millions
  de nouvelles étoiles, le sentiment est largement répandu, à un niveau plus ou
  moins cons