Guillaume Apollinaire's Rewriting of Merlin's Mother and the Dame
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2005 La Grande Force est le D'sir: Guillaume Apollinaire's Rewriting of Merlin's Mother and the Dame du Lac in L'Enchanteur Pourrissant Allison Bateman Roark Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the French and Francophone Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Roark, Allison Bateman, "La Grande Force est le D'sir: Guillaume Apollinaire's Rewriting of Merlin's Mother and the Dame du Lac in L'Enchanteur Pourrissant" (2005). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 3637. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/3637 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. LA GRANDE FORCE EST LE DESIR: GUILLAUME APOLLINAIRE’S REWRITING OF MERLIN’S MOTHER AND THE DAME DU LAC IN L’ENCHANTEUR POURRISSANT A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In The Department of French Studies By Allison B. Roark B.A., Louisiana State University, 1990 B.A., Louisiana State University, 1992 M.A., Louisiana State University, 1997 December, 2005 © Copyright 2005 Allison B. Roark All Rights Reserved ii La grande force est le désir. Guillaume Apollinaire, Ondes Tout commence avec le mot, et l’aventure poétique est d’abord aventure du langage … la communication langagière donne à vivre une réalité qui n’aurait jamais été vécue sans elle. Jean Burgos, Pour une poétique de l’imaginaire Il n’y a d’inconscient que chez l’Ltre parlant. Jacques Lacan, Télévision iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to the members of my committee. I appreciate Dr. Katharine Jensen’s availability, advice on writing and academia in general, insightful comments, and periodic “pep-talks.” Dr. Stone’s expertise with a variety of critical approaches and generosity in sharing his knowledge has led me to consider different avenues of reading in my work. Dr. Alexandre Leupin’s guidance has nurtured my critical relationship to medieval literature and Lacanian psychoanalytic theory and has had a significant influence on my own work; for example his suggestions to consider female characters’ actions as influential to Merlin’s representation and to question the references to religion in the medieval texts have proved valuable to this project. I especially appreciate his encouragement throughout my studies. Finally, my dissertation director, Dr. Adelaide M. Russo led me to consider the problematic of rewriting and to explore the question of Merlin’s engendering as a metaphor for that of the text. Her unfailing devotion to her students has been of great assistance to me in the completion of this dissertation. I especially appreciate her careful readings of my drafts, availability, and discussions of my work, which have helped me to formulate my ideas and develop a critical approach that would not have been possible without her special kind of direction. During my studies at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Fontenay/Saint Cloud, Madame Michele Gally offered insightful suggestions that led in the direction of my choice of the Prophesies de Merlin as one of the main texts in my study. I wish to express my thanks for her continued interest in and support of my work. iv I especially appreciate the tireless efforts of Dr. Robert E. Chumbley in his careful reading of multiple drafts of my dissertation and suggestions for improvement. I also wish to thank his wife, my long-time friend, Marsha Chumbley, for her support. Dr. Alexandra Reuber, Dr. Carla Criner, Stephanie Coker, Dr. Melissa Stem, and Gail Pinsonat have given me much advice and encouragement, for which I am especially appreciative. Dr. Ellen Thorington carefully proofed my Old French translations. Dr. Ina Pfitzner’s careful readings, and equal doses of criticism and encouragement have been especially meaningful to me. Lori Knox has also been an invaluable source of encouragement and practical help in the completion of this dissertation. I also wish to thank Mrs. Mabel Healy for her interest in and generous support of students of Medieval French literature through the establishment of the Elliott Dow Healy Award for the Outstanding Student of Medieval Studies in memory of her husband, the late Professor Elliot Dow Healy. This award allowed me the much-needed opportunity to research rare editions of medieval texts at libraries in France. The Department of French Studies at Louisiana State University is blessed with an exceptional office staff. For example, Sarah Havens helped with technical support and my deepest thanks go to Ms. Connie Simpson for her considerate help in navigating all aspects of my graduate studies at Louisiana State University. Finally, my deepest appreciation goes to my family for their editing, practical assistance, encouragement, faith in me over the years, and even help with transportation in the final weeks of the completion of this dissertation. My husband, Ken Roark, has been a source of help in every aspect of this project, from editing to encouragement, and from technical support to making the brownies, but most of all in providing v understanding, patience and support. He, along with Dr. Russo, my friends, and my family has shared in both the difficulty and joy of seeing this project to its completion. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………………... iv ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………... x 1. INTRODUCTION – LA GRANDE FORCE EST LE DESIR…………………………… 1 1.1 WHAT IS OLD IS NEW AGAIN………………………………………………. 1 1.2 MERLIN………………………………………………………………………… 3 1.2.1 Merlin in Literature…………………………………………………… 3 1.2.2 Merlin in This Study – His Existence as Influenced by Two Female Characters……………………………………………………………... 5 1.2.3 Merlin and Corporeality………………………………………………. 9 1.2.4 Merlin and Desire……………………………………………………... 11 1.2.5 Apollinaire’s Merlin and the Middle Ages……………………………. 12 1.3 PRIMARY TEXTS……………………………………………………………… 13 1.3.1 Presentation of Texts……………………………………………….…. 13 1.3.2 L’Enchanteur pourrissant…………………………………………….. 15 1.3.3 Les Prophesies de Merlin……………………………………………... 16 1.3.4 Other Medieval Texts…………………………………………………. 20 1.4 ORGANIZATION………………………………………………………………. 22 1.4.1 Methodology………………………………………………………….. 22 1.4.2 Conceptual Organization……………………………………………… 22 1.5 APOLLINAIRE AND MEDIEVALISM…………………………………….…. 25 2. THEORETICAL INFLUENCES…………………………………………………….…. 28 2.1 DESIRE AND EXPRESSION……………………………………………….…. 28 2.2 CRITICAL THEORIES OF THE SUBLIME AND THE MARVELOUS …….. 29 2.3 SIGN THEORY…………………………………………………………………. 35 2.4 PSYCHOANLYSIS AND THE FEMININE…………………………………… 39 2.5 THE FEMININE INEFFABLE…………………………………………………. 41 2.6 REWRITING AND INTERTEXTUALITY……………………………………. 43 2.6.1 Rewriting in Medieval Literature…………………………………….. 43 2.6.2 Rewriting in the Twentieth Century………………………………….. 48 2.7 EXPRESSION AND MERLIN’S BODY………………………………………. 52 3. ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL INFLUENCES…………………………………………. 54 3.1 INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………. 54 3.1.1 Merlin’s Body…………………………………………………………. 54 3.1.2 Merlin’s Body and Language…………………………………………. 58 3.1.3 Merlin’s Body-as-Signifier……………………………………………. 60 3.1.4 Merlin’s Body and the Act of Writing………………………………… 63 3.2 MERLIN AND ANCIENT CONCEPTIONS OF THE BODY………………… 65 3.2.1 Body and Soul………………………………………………………… 65 3.2.2 Aristotle’s Dichotomies…………………………………………….…. 68 3.3 MERLIN AND ANCIENT CONCEPTIONS OF RELIGION…………………. 72 vii 3.3.1 Religion in L’Enchanteur…………………………………………….. 72 3.3.2 The Ancient Daemon…………………………………………………. 73 3.3.3 Merlin’s Father………………………………………………………... 76 3.3.4 Ancient Gods……………………………………………………….…. 77 3.4 IN THE BEGINNING…………………………………………………………... 83 3.4.1 Desire and Stories of Creation………………………………………… 83 3.4.2 Desire in Ancient Creation Stories……………………………………. 84 3.4.3 Desire and Biblical Creation Stories……………………………….…. 88 3.4.4 Desire and Psychoanalysis…………………………………………….. 90 3.5 BLASPHEMOUS CONCEPTIONS……………………………………………. 94 3.5.1 Merlin’s Origin and the Incarnation of Christ………………………… 94 3.5.2 Merlin-as-Intermediary………………………………………………... 96 3.6 MERLIN AND MEDIEVAL CONCEPTIONS OF RELIGION……………….. 99 3.6.1 Desire………………………………………………………………….. 99 3.6.2 Medieval Religion in the Text………………………………………… 100 3.7 MEDIEVAL CONCEPTIONS OF GOD’S INEFFABILITY………………….. 101 3.7.1 Desire and What is Ineffable………………………………………….. 101 3.7.2 Saint Augustine’s Vision – The Desire for Divine Union and the Truth about Language…………………………………………………. 102 3.7.3 God is Ineffable……………………………………………………….. 107 3.7.4 God is Unrepresentable……………………………………………….. 108 3.8 MEDIEVAL CONCEPTIONS OF DESIRE AND CORPOREALITY………… 111 3.9 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………. 115 4. REPRESENTATIONS – WOMEN IN APOLLINAIRE’S WRITING………………… 118 4.1 INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………. 118 4.2 RELATIONSHIPS……………………………………………………………… 121 4.2.1 The Mother – Critical Studies of the Influence Apollinaire’s Relationship With His Mother Had on His Work…………………….. 121 4.2.2 (Failed) Love - Critical Studies of the Influence Apollinaire’s Relationships With Women Had on His Work……………………….. 130 4.3 THE TERROR AND FASCINATION WITH FEMININE BEAUTY…………. 142 4.3.1 Desire………………………………………………………………….