NAMING THE MASTER: THE EVOLVING SIGNIFICANCES OF “VICTOR HUGO” IN 19TH-CENTURY FRENCH LITERATURE by Abigail Alexander A dissertation submitted to Johns Hopkins University in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Baltimore, Maryland March, 2016 Abstract No name dominates the literature of the French 19th Century—and after—as pervasively as Victor Hugo’s. Thanks to this ubiquity, the evolving meanings of this name are visible in works by Hugo and by those who wrote under Hugo’s shadow. This study foregrounds the power of the act of naming to modify the significance of the name “Hugo,” from Sainte-Beuve and Gautier to Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Verlaine, and Mallarmé. The meanings of Hugo’s name, a name that both demands respect and yet also inspires dissent and revolution, depend upon its myriad interpretations from a community of namers that stretches as far as his renown. The import of “Hugo” lies in the hands of the namer, quite like the name of “God.” Through close readings of prefaces, poetry, novels, and essays, this dissertation analyzes these writers’ incorporations and projections of particular meanings of Hugo’s name in their works. While staking out their own subsequent literary revolutions, these writers often incorporate Hugo’s name to express both recognition for his contributions and resistance to their perceptions of his literary mission. By relying upon the philosophical approaches to “naming” offered by Plato, Lacan, Althusser, Genette, and Kripke, this investigation traces the creations and dissolutions of different meanings of the name “Hugo” that he and other 19th-century French writers projected. What does a signature signify? What kind of authority do such references implied in creation itself possess? These are questions developed in this study, which distance it from analyses of “influence” and “reception.” Examining the aftermath of what has been named illuminates how names come to be more dramatically re-appropriated or reductively understood over time. While Hugo’s death immediately renders his name more vulnerable to scathing critique ii from some writers, it also marks the beginning of the immortalization of his name as one to be both honored and confronted by others. Engaging with the conflicting combinations of promulgation, erasure, reverence, and profanation with regard to Hugo’s name leads to a reflection of “authorial authority” in History and on figures of “literary immortality.” Advisor: Professor Jacques Neefs Reader: Professor William Egginton iii Copy of Madame Bovary sent from Flaubert to Hugo iv Au Maître: Acknowledgements & Avertissement There are many people to thank for their continued support of this project. I would rather not imitate Flaubert’s dedication of “Au Maître” (without the name of the maître) seen on the copy of Madame Bovary that he sent to Hugo. Instead, I happily name my maîtres. Professor Jacques Neefs has offered endless generosity in the face of the nebulous ideas I have brought him over the years. It was through the reading for his seminars at JHU that I stumbled upon this project, and it was thanks to his simultaneous openness and ability to elegantly reformulate ideas, with gracious reorientations and a myriad of invaluable sources I never would have found alone, that this project became what it is. Comme toujours, merci, Professeur! As a reader for this project, Professor William Egginton gave me very helpful comments and suggestions for theoretical incorporations. Many family members and friends have put up with hearing far more than they wanted to hear about Hugo over these last few years, and for that I thank them. My heartfelt gratitude goes to my husband, Dr. Christopher RayAlexander, who has been my faithful companion, reader, encourager, and love. As Rumi wrote in The Book of Love, “A pen went scribbling along. When it tried to write love, it broke.” A dissertation is also a labor of love, and a dissertation writer, that inconnu riddled with self-doubt, needs many forms of love, guidance, and care, which these people have given in unique ways and which is pen-breakingly impossible to adequately describe. All references for Hugo’s works come from the Laffont Bouquins editions of his Œuvres Complètes unless otherwise noted. All emphases are original unless otherwise noted. v Table of Contents Introduction: The Fabric of Names 1 I. The Study of Names 6 A. Law & God 6 B. Fiction & Flux 12 C. Recognition & Reference 18 II. The Authorial Name 23 A. De-Capitalizing with Barthes 23 B. Exploring Authorial Onomastic Spaces with Foucault 26 Chapter I: Becoming by Naming: Hugo’s Hugos 33 I. Introduction 34 II. A Brief Study of the Prolegomenon 36 III. L’Enfant Sublime: Hugo between Chateaubriand and Napoleon 38 IV. 31 Years of Odes: Odes et Ballades 44 V. OGUH: Han d’Islande and Bug-Jargal 51 VI. Contradictions: A la Colonne, Préface de Cromwell, and Amy Robsart 59 VII. In the Name of Many: Les Orientales and Le Dernier Jour d’un condamné 67 VIII. Revolution: Hernani 75 IX. A Monument to Erasure: Notre-Dame, Marion de Lorme, and Les Feuilles d’automne 79 X. “[Hugo], c’est nous tous”: Le Roi s’amuse, Lucrèce Borgia, and Marie Tudor 85 XI. “Réformons, ne déformons pas”: Littérature et philosophie mêlées and Les Chants du crépuscule 92 XII. Les Mois Intérieurs: Les Voix Intérieures 98 XIII. Hugo l’immortel: Ruy Blas and l’Académie 102 XIV. A man of many names: Le Rhin, Les Burgraves, Pair, and Exile 109 XV. Author of “nous” and “Dieu”: Napoléon-le-petit, Les Châtiments, and Les Contemplations 116 XVI. Master and Satan: William Shakespeare, La Légende des siècles, Les Misérables, and Les Chansons des rues et des bois 123 XVII. The (banned) name of Paris: Les Travailleurs de la mer, Paris-Guide, and Le Rappel 133 XVIII. A Hugo’s Return: Actes et Paroles 141 XIX. Naming Hugo, Naming a Century: L’Art d’être grand-père, L’Histoire d’un crime, and a pre-posthumous Hugo 146 XX. The Deaths of Masters and Gods 155 XXI. Naming God: Dieu and Post-scriptum de ma vie 161 Chapter II: The Critical Name: Sainte-Beuve’s and Gautier’s Hugos 167 I. Introduction 167 II. A Mon Ami…: Cenacular Names in Dedication 168 III. Naming Hugo in Joseph Delorme 180 IV. From V.H. to YHVH: Les Consolations 193 V. In Love and War: 1830 202 vi VI. Hugo the god: Gautier’s Hugo 210 VII. Ceci tuera cela: Sainte-Beuve’s later reviews of Hugo’s works 225 VIII. Making Public Enemies with Private Details 241 IX. Reviewing Many Hugos: the Revue des deux mondes 254 X. A Stubbornly Hugolian Hugo 268 Chapter III: The génie and the sot: Baudelaire’s public and private Hugos 274 I. Introduction 275 II. A Hugo to Love: Baudelaire’s early letters 279 III. A New Name Rising: Les Fleurs du Mal and the first Figaro article 281 IV. Stacking Masters: The Gautier Article 285 V. Frissons fraternels: Baudelaire’s Hugos in Les Fleurs du Mal 296 A. Introduction 296 B. “Le Cygne” 302 C. “Les Sept Vieillards” 309 D. “Les Petites Vieilles” 321 E. Imitation, Plagiarism, and Dépassement 331 VI. The Stupidity of Believing Praise: Other Articles on Hugo 336 VII. The Stupidity of Genius: Shakespeare article and Brussels letters 340 VIII. The End of “grands hommes” and a “cré nom” 344 IX. The Many Baudelairean Hugos 349 Chapter IV: Hugo the nearly voyant but cabochard idealist: Rimbaud’s Hugo’s 355 I. Introduction 355 II. A Forbidden Hugo 356 III. Voyance: Hindsight is 20/20 360 IV. A Vieillard in Parody 375 V. Seeking more radical liberty: “Le Bateau ivre” 379 VI. De profundis: Une saison en enfer 394 VII. Seeing is disbelieving 402 Chapter V: A Faltering Crown of Names: Verlaine’s Hugos 406 I. Introduction 407 II. The First Maître: Early letters and a poem 408 III. Tempered Defenses 412 IV. Clashing Hugos: Poèmes saturniens and Le Parnasse contemporain 420 V. Recasting 1830 in 1867 424 VI. Doublement hugolâtre: Friendship in radicalism and dreams of poetic unity 431 VII. Le Rappel and the return of the Maître 439 VIII. Conjugal Trouble, Prison, and Conversion to Hugophobia 446 IX. “On change, n’est-ce pas?”: Transforming Namers and Names 453 X. The death of a false god 457 XI. A Satanic Hugo 470 XII. Do Unto (the Names of) Others 474 vii Chapter VI: Abdicating Names: Mallarmé’s Hugos 482 I. Introduction: Naming without Names 483 II. “Hugo! Hugo!”: Early Writings 486 III. Siding with Baudelaire against Hugolian utility 490 IV. The Mystery of a Name: “Toast funèbre” and “Sonnet” 497 V. Meeting the living and naming the dead: “Le vierge, le vivace, et le bel aujourd’hui” 507 VI. A Veil-Tearing Name: “Théodore de Banville” and “Solennité” 515 VII. Proust’s Hugo vs. Mallarmé’s Hugo: A Foray into Obscurantism 519 VIII. “Une inquiétude du voile dans le temple”: The Death of a god 524 IX. A Constellation 535 Conclusion: In His Name 540 Bibliography 548 Curriculum Vitae 561 viii Daumier, Honoré. Victor Hugo. Le Charivari 10 July 1849. Paris: Maison Victor Hugo. ix INTRODUCTION: THE FABRIC OF NAMES “What’s in a name?” - Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet Few names reach the heights of acclaim that Victor Hugo’s attained. From his early renown as a poetic prodigy; to his revolutionary fame in the theater following the preface to Cromwell and Hernani; to his status as an Académicien; to his political influence, power, and opposition as a long-time exile; to his prominence as an author of towering novels; to his triumphant return to Paris and momentous funeral, Hugo comes to embody 19th-century France.