Grotesque Figures Swain, Virginia E. Published by Johns Hopkins University Press Swain, Virginia E. Grotesque Figures: Baudelaire, Rousseau, and the Aesthetics of Modernity. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004. Project MUSE. doi:10.1353/book.60319. https://muse.jhu.edu/. For additional information about this book https://muse.jhu.edu/book/60319 [ Access provided at 30 Sep 2021 19:39 GMT with no institutional affiliation ] This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. swain_9780801879456_swain_9780801879456.qxd 7/17/18 3:43 PM Page i Grotesque Figures swain_9780801879456_swain_9780801879456.qxd 7/17/18 3:43 PM Page ii - Stephen G. Nichols, Gerald Prince, and Wendy Steiner swain_9780801879456_swain_9780801879456.qxd 7/17/18 3:43 PM Page iii Grotesque Figures Baudelaire, Rousseau, and the Aesthetics of Modernity Virginia E. Swain The Johns Hopkins University PRess Baltimore and London swain_9780801879456_swain_9780801879456.qxd 7/17/18 3:43 PM Page iv © The Johns Hopkins University PRess All rights reserved. Published Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper The Johns Hopkins University PRess North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland - www.press.jhu.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Swain, Virginia E., ‒ GRotesque figures : Baudelaire, Rousseau, and the aesthetics of modernity / Virginia E. Swain. p. cm.—(Parallax, re-visions of culture and society) Includes bibliographical references and index. --- (hardcover : alk. paper) . BaudelaiRe, ChaRleS, ‒—CRiticiSm and inteRpRetation. RouSSeau, Jean JacqueS, ‒— Influence. GRotesque in literature. I. Title. II. Parallax (Baltimore, Md.) . ′.—dc A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. swain_9780801879456_swain_9780801879456.qxd 7/17/18 3:43 PM Page v To Harry and To Hannah, Jessica, Samuel, and Katelyn with love 00_FM_6155_JHUP 3/15/05 10:01 AM Page ii This page intentionally left blank swain_9780801879456_swain_9780801879456.qxd 7/17/18 3:43 PM Page vii Contents List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi List of Abbreviations xiii Introduction The GRotesque: Definitions and Figures Rococo Rhetoric: Figures of the Past in “Le Poème du hachisch” Identity Politics: “Rousseau” and “France” in the Mid-Nineteenth Century Baudelaire’s Physiologie: Rousseau as Caricature and Type in the PRose Poems Machines, Monsters, and Men: Realism and the Modern GRotesque The Sociopolitical Implications of the GRotesque: “Opéra” and “Les Yeux des pauvres” Rousseau, Trauma, and Fetishism: “Le Vieux Saltimbanque” Conclusion Notes Select Bibliography Index vii 00_FM_6155_JHUP 3/15/05 10:01 AM Page ii This page intentionally left blank swain_9780801879456_swain_9780801879456.qxd 7/17/18 3:43 PM Page ix Illustrations Claude III Audran and Nicolas Lancret, painted and sculpted panel Jean Berain, acrobats (engraving) Antoine Watteau, Bacchus (wall panel) Pierre Bourdon, smoke as a form of arabesque (engraving) Framed scenes of metamorphosis, painted panels, Montagu House, London Charles Philipon, La Métamorphose du roi Louis-Philippe en poire Types drawn from the Physiologies: Boulanger and Charretier by Gavarni, Le Chiffonnier by Joseph Traviès ‒ Honoré Daumier, Robert Macaire agent d’affaires Honoré Daumier, Les Saltimbanques ix 00_FM_6155_JHUP 3/15/05 10:01 AM Page ii This page intentionally left blank swain_9780801879456_swain_9780801879456.qxd 7/17/18 3:43 PM Page xi Acknowledgments DeteRmining the extent and nature of RouSSeau’S contRibution to the Petits poèmes en prose has always been a thorny problem for Baudelaire scholars, and I have thoRoughly expeRienced the difficulty of thiS undeRtaking. I am veRy much indebted to the numeRouS colleagueS, StudentS, family membeRS, and fRiendS whoSe advice, cRiticiSm, confidence, and SuppoRt have enabled me to overcome many moments of frustration and bring this project to completion. I am eSpecially gRateful to RoSS ChambeRS and RichaRd Stamelman, who each Read pieceS of thiS woRk at an eaRly Stage in itS conceptualization. TheiR geneRoSity and kindneSS buoyed me when I waS floundeRing, and theiR in- Sightful and RigoRouS ScholaRShip Set the StandaRd to which I have aSpiRed heRe. E. S. BuRt, KathaRine Conley, Julie HayeS, Lynn HigginS, MaRianne HiRSch, LawRence KRitzman, BaRRy ScheRR, Donald Spence, Roxana VeRona, and the late SuSanne Zantop all commented on poRtionS of the book in vaRiouS StageS of itS evolution, and I thank them too foR theiR inteReSt and help. SuSan Bibeau, MaRgaRet DaRRow, MaRy-Jean GReen, John RaSSiaS, and Sally Sedgwick deSeRve cRedit foR pRoviding pRofeSSional advice and moRal SuppoRt along the way. Two libRaRianS at DaRtmouth College’S BakeR LibRaRy—RobeRt Jaccaud, the foRmeR RefeRence libRaRian, and PatRicia CaRteR, the inteRlibRaRy loan SpecialiSt— made my research not only easier, but fun. The energy and the enthusiasm of my student Research assistants—Lauren AmbRoSe, HeatheR ChaRleS, Shane Leahy, Rebecca LeffleR, JeSSica LyonS, and Christopher von Ginoven—were a wonderful tonic. I hope their involvement in thiS pRoject haS inSpired them to caRRy out SimilaR pRojectS of theiR own one day. I would also like to express my appreciation to Tessa Murdoch of the Vic- toRia and AlbeRt MuSeum and to Gene GaRthwaite foR laSt-minute help with the illustrations, and to the journals that have allowed me to Reuse elements of articles I originally published in them. Specifically, I thank Dominique Jullien foR peRmiSSion to uSe poRtionS of an aRticle on “Le Vieux Saltimbanque” and “Une MoRt héRoïque” publiShed in Romanic Review (): ‒; the xi swain_9780801879456_swain_9780801879456.qxd 7/17/18 3:43 PM Page xii Acknowledgments xii TRustees of Boston University for permission to Reproduce portions of an arti- cle that appeaRed in Studies in Romanticism , no. (): ‒; and the ModeRn Language ASSociation foR peRmiSSion to uSe paRtS of an eSSay on RouSSeau and peRSonification that appeaRed in the volume Approaches to Teach- ing Rousseau’s Confessions and Rêveries d’un promeneur solitaire, edited by John C. O’Neal and Ourida Moustefai, published in . ThankS alSo go to the Ramon and MaRgueRite GuthRie Fund of DaRtmouth College and the GuthRie Fund Committee foR SuppoRt of thiS publication, and to Stephen G. Nichols, who sponsored the book for the Parallax series. Finally, I want to acknowledge the all-impoRtant SuppoRt of my huSband, HaRRy BeSkind, whoSe love, undeRStanding, and belief in me made thiS book possible. I’m grateful, too, that my mother has not only lived to see the book finished but is ready and able to celebrate it with us. swain_9780801879456_swain_9780801879456.qxd 7/17/18 3:43 PM Page xiii Abbreviations Baud., Corr. Charles Baudelaire, Correspondance, ed. Claude Pichois and Jean Ziegler (Paris: Gallimard, ) Baud., OC ChaRleS Baudelaire, Oeuvres complètes, ed. Claude PichoiS (Paris: Gallimard, ) Encyclopédie Encyclopédie; ou, Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, ed. DeniS DideRot et al. (PaRiS: BRiaSSon, ‒) PRoud., OC P.-J. PRoudhon, Oeuvres complètes, ed. C. Bouglé and H. Moysset (Paris: Librairie Marcel Rivière, –) Rouss., CW Jean-JacqueS RouSSeau, The Collected Writings of Rousseau, ed. RogeR D. MaSteRS and ChRiStopheR Kelly (HanoveR, N.H.: University PRess of New England, ‒) Rouss., Julie Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Julie, ou la Nouvelle Héloïse, in Oeu- vres complètes (PaRiS: GallimaRd, ); Julie, or the New Heloise, tRanS. Philip StewaRt and Jean Vaché, in RouSS., CW, vol. (). Rouss., OC Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Oeuvres complètes (Paris: Gallimard, ‒) xiii 00_FM_6155_JHUP 3/15/05 10:01 AM Page ii This page intentionally left blank swain_9780801879456_swain_9780801879456.qxd 7/17/18 3:43 PM Page xv Grotesque Figures swain_9780801879456_swain_9780801879456.qxd 7/17/18 3:43 PM Page 1 Introduction Why did ChaRleS BaudelaiRe invoke Jean-JacqueS RouSSeau in a title he pRo- posed for the prose poem collection now known as Les Petits Poèmes en prose, or Le Spleen de Paris? Although the title—“Le PRomeneur solitaire” (The soli- tary walker)—was never used, the apparent Reference to Rousseau’s autobiog- Raphy “LeS RêveRieS du pRomeneuR SolitaiRe” iS SuRpRiSing, foR BaudelaiRe RaRely alluded to his predecessor in his letters, criticism, and poetry. And why would he chooSe to bRing up anotheR authoR, let alone one whom he Seldom diS- cussed, in connection with his own new—and innovative—poems? BaudelaiRe waS not noRmally aveRSe to ShaRing hiS cRitical opinionS about other writers, having extolled the talents of Edgar Allan Poe and written with enthusiasm about Théophile Gautier and other contemporaries; and if he was affected by the Style oR ideaS of RouSSeau, he could have joined the fRequent liteRaRy and political debateS about RouSSeau’S legacy. HoweveR, he did not Spell out hiS Reaction to RouSSeau in wRiting. BaudelaiRe’S SpoRadic RefeRenceS to the eighteenth-centuRy authoR do not yield a coheRent explanation of hiS views. Baudelaire mentions Rousseau favorably in his Salon de , choosing Rousseau’s supposed suicide as an example of a singularly modern phenome- non. However, in the s, Baudelaire’s cursory Remarks about him are full of scorn. Rousseau is an “auteur sentimental et infâme” (“a sentimental and vile authoR”), a liaR who haS the audacity to claim that he putS tRuth above life.1 AS if that weRe not enough, he is undoubtedly one of those fools who believe in the innate goodness of man,2 and an abhorrent author given to public confes- sions.3 Yet, Baudelaire also makes notes in