Le mage comme métaphore de l'écrivain: le cas de Joséphin Péladan

Joséphin Péladan, author of Décadence Latine and also founder of the Rose+Croix du Temple et du Graal Confraternity, represents from various angles the symbol of  that cultural atmosphere which characterizes the end of the nineteenth century. As he stigmatizes the moral and cultural decline of his c...

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Main Author: Michela Gardini
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Septentrio Academic Publishing 2012-03-01
Series:Nordlit: Tidsskrift i litteratur og kultur
Subjects:
Online Access:https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/2037
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author Michela Gardini
author_facet Michela Gardini
author_sort Michela Gardini
collection DOAJ
description Joséphin Péladan, author of Décadence Latine and also founder of the Rose+Croix du Temple et du Graal Confraternity, represents from various angles the symbol of  that cultural atmosphere which characterizes the end of the nineteenth century. As he stigmatizes the moral and cultural decline of his contemporaries, Péladan creates the character of Mérodack the Magus, described as a supreme being that arises above the bourgeois mediocrity and who, thanks to a self-sublimation process based on will-power, according to the outlook already traced by Eliphas Lévi, not only can redeem himself, but also can show the direction for a shared redemption. However, as a matter of fact, the solipsistic and narcissistic attitude of the Magus ends by overwhelming any social temptation. In this path which shows preferential connections between literature and occultism, the Magus, former other self of the author, his double in the mirror, as their physical resemblance and the interchange of names prove, rises to the metaphor of the writer: both committed to a self-referring dimension, they transgress the bourgeois rules of productivity by changing magic and writing into an ascesis, a self-commemorative operation only consecrated to the ego. This idea of magic, conceived as a metaphor of writing as well, as a hermetic and mystic operation appears, in conclusion as the utmost accomplishment, daintily decadent, of Mallarmé's poetry conception, just a supreme act, which is to find the reason of his own existence solely in itself.
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spelling doaj.art-c399b0df56784e0eb4ba8a6618da52872024-02-02T07:01:04ZengSeptentrio Academic PublishingNordlit: Tidsskrift i litteratur og kultur0809-16681503-20862012-03-0115210.7557/13.20371903Le mage comme métaphore de l'écrivain: le cas de Joséphin PéladanMichela Gardini0Université de BergameJoséphin Péladan, author of Décadence Latine and also founder of the Rose+Croix du Temple et du Graal Confraternity, represents from various angles the symbol of  that cultural atmosphere which characterizes the end of the nineteenth century. As he stigmatizes the moral and cultural decline of his contemporaries, Péladan creates the character of Mérodack the Magus, described as a supreme being that arises above the bourgeois mediocrity and who, thanks to a self-sublimation process based on will-power, according to the outlook already traced by Eliphas Lévi, not only can redeem himself, but also can show the direction for a shared redemption. However, as a matter of fact, the solipsistic and narcissistic attitude of the Magus ends by overwhelming any social temptation. In this path which shows preferential connections between literature and occultism, the Magus, former other self of the author, his double in the mirror, as their physical resemblance and the interchange of names prove, rises to the metaphor of the writer: both committed to a self-referring dimension, they transgress the bourgeois rules of productivity by changing magic and writing into an ascesis, a self-commemorative operation only consecrated to the ego. This idea of magic, conceived as a metaphor of writing as well, as a hermetic and mystic operation appears, in conclusion as the utmost accomplishment, daintily decadent, of Mallarmé's poetry conception, just a supreme act, which is to find the reason of his own existence solely in itself.https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/2037PéladanMérodackdécadencemagemagie
spellingShingle Michela Gardini
Le mage comme métaphore de l'écrivain: le cas de Joséphin Péladan
Nordlit: Tidsskrift i litteratur og kultur
Péladan
Mérodack
décadence
mage
magie
title Le mage comme métaphore de l'écrivain: le cas de Joséphin Péladan
title_full Le mage comme métaphore de l'écrivain: le cas de Joséphin Péladan
title_fullStr Le mage comme métaphore de l'écrivain: le cas de Joséphin Péladan
title_full_unstemmed Le mage comme métaphore de l'écrivain: le cas de Joséphin Péladan
title_short Le mage comme métaphore de l'écrivain: le cas de Joséphin Péladan
title_sort le mage comme metaphore de l ecrivain le cas de josephin peladan
topic Péladan
Mérodack
décadence
mage
magie
url https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/2037
work_keys_str_mv AT michelagardini lemagecommemetaphoredelecrivainlecasdejosephinpeladan