@article{b244cca0d8414eaa9b247fd23b1cd30a,
title = "'Epiphany, Identity, Celebration: Towards a Definition of the Rimbaldian po{\`e}me-f{\^e}te'",
abstract = "This article explores the phenomenon of the po{\`e}me-f{\^e}te in all areas of Rimbaud's poetry. It adopts a broadly chronological approach to the Rimbaud canon, working from the early verse poems through the experimental verse of the Derniers Vers and on to the prose poetry of Une Saison en enfer and the Illuminations. The argument posits the f{\^e}te as a key component of Rimbaldian vision and highlights epiphany, identity and celebration as its three defining characteristics. Two early poems selected for analysis, 'Soleil et chair' and 'Bal des pendus', are presented respectively as illustrations of Rimbaud's proclivity for celebration and revelation and of the poet's ironic detachment from any collective identity. This ambivalence is explored further through 'Qu'est-ce pour nous, mon coeur...?' from the Derniers Vers where he oscillates between a collective commitment to revolution and a withdrawal into the isolation of first person identity. The section on Une Saison en enfer examines two specific instances of Rimbaldian celebration, the study concluding with discussion of several poems from the Illuminations which offer various further perspectives on epiphany, identity and celebration. The closing pages speculate on what the po{\`e}me-f{\^e}te may tells us about the problematics of solitude and partnership in Rimbaud's work.",
keywords = "f{\^e}te, epiphany, identity, celebration",
author = "Gerald Macklin",
note = "Reference text: S. Murphy Le Premier Rimbaud ou l'apprentissage de la subversion, Editions du CNRS, Presses Universitaires de Lyon,Paris and Lyon, 1990 Rimbaud, Oeuvres {\'e}dition de S.Bernard et A.Guyaux, Classiques Garnier, Paris, 1987 Y.Bonnefoy Le Nuage rouge, Mercure de France, Paris, 1977 P.Verlaine Oeuvres en prose compl{\`e}tes, Pl{\'e}iade, Paris, 1972 J-P Richard Po{\'e}sie et profondeur, Paris, Seuil, 1955 Verlaine Oeuvres po{\'e}tiques, {\'e}dition de Jacques Robichez, Classiques Garnier, Paris, 1969 A.Simon Les Signes et les songes: essai sur le th{\'e}{\^a}tre et la f{\^e}te. Seuil, Paris, 1976 P. Val{\'e}ry Oeuvres, vol.II, {\'e}dition de Jean Hytier, Gallimard, Biblioth{\`e}que de la Pl{\'e}iade, Paris, 1960 D. Scott 'Rimbaud and Boucher: 'F{\^e}te d'hiver', JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN STUDIES, IX, 1979, pp. 185-195 A. Guyaux Po{\'e}tique du fragment. Essai sur les Illuminations de Rimbaud, Editions de la Baconni{\`e}re, Neuch{\^a}tel, 1985 R.Char Chants de la balandrane, Gallimard, Paris, 1977 P. Broome 'From Vision to Catastrophe in Rimbaud's Illuminations', FORUM FOR MODERN LANGUAGE STUDIES, vol. 15, no.4, October 1979, pp. 361-379 C Baudelaire, Oeuvres compl{\`e}tes, vol.1, texte {\'e}tabli, pr{\'e}sent{\'e} et annot{\'e} par Claude Pichois, Gallimard, Biblioth{\`e}que de la Pl{\'e}iade, Paris, 1975",
year = "1998",
language = "English",
volume = "82",
pages = "19--31",
journal = "Neophilologus",
issn = "0028-2677",
publisher = "Springer",
}