De l’impressionnisme littéraire

Translated title of the contribution: From literary impressionism

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This article proceeds by a series of oppositions. Starting from painting, two opposite conceptions of the term impressionism are examined: (i) the first - without forgetting that some of these exponents, notably Cézanne, Gauguin and Seurat have gradually moved away from the movement towards a style subsequently called, " post-impressionists ”- specifically designates the aesthetic principles of painters who participated in so-called impressionist exhibitions held in Paris between 1874-1886, (ii) the second, which adopts a broader perspective, explains Impressionism by a change of attitude compared to the function of light: for the Ancients, it conveyed a spiritual meaning; on the other hand, the painters of the second half of the nineteenth century, influenced by scientific advances, were interested in light especially as a sensory and psychological phenomenon. Critic Richard Bretell opposes immediate (“transparent”) impressionism , where the painter confines himself to faithfully reproducing the content of his visual field, to media impressionism, where the representation proposed by the painter is inseparable from his social context. Next, the influence of impressionist painters on writing is discussed. The first critic to speak about it turns out to be the fearsome Ferdinand Brunetière who, in 1889 in an essay on a novel by Daudet, speaks of literary impressionism.. But we must not forget the precursors: in France, Baudelaire's essay "The painter of modern life" (1863) and in England, Walter Pater's book on the Renaissance. The essay continues by opposing two conceptions of literary impressionism, (i) the first which places it in the niche of pictorial impressionism, that is to say, in the interval between Realism and Modernism, ( ii) the second which covers a broader period from Flaubert to Virginia Woolf. The initial reluctance of some writers, such as James and Conrad, is opposed to the enthusiasm of Ford who immediately gave it to heart. It also offers two models of literary impressionism, the first where a multiplicity of impressions spontaneously overlaps, and the second, where contrasting perspectives follow one another, producing an effect of instability and uncertainty. Literary impressionism also produces moments of alienation, when the identity of being is threatened and its way of being in the world is called into question. The resulting increased awareness of reality provides the basis for the stream of consciousness of modernism. Like pictorial impressionism, it is a mode which insists on style, on matter, on construction and on formal means. In this context, V. Woolf, given the way in which she combines impressionism and modernism, is presented as an exemplary artist. However, certain modernist critics express a certain embarrassment in relation to the absence of intrigue in his romantic writing. Some critics also criticise literary impressionism, a preference for vagueness and ambiguity which leads to excessive obscurity; this tendency is also condemned by post-colonialist Marxist criticism which deplores the way in which social and political realities are concealed.
Translated title of the contributionFrom literary impressionism
Original languageFrench
Article number7
Pages (from-to)155-170
Number of pages14
JournalModèles Linguistiques
Volume29
Issue number75
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

Bibliographical note

Issue title: 'Écriture impressionniste et monologue intérieur'; Articles réunis et édités par Davide Vago

Keywords

  • impressionism
  • printing
  • literature
  • Henry James
  • Joseph Conrad
  • Ford Madox Ford
  • Virginia Woolf
  • Monet
  • Manet
  • Baudelaire
  • Cezanne
  • Richard Brettell
  • realism
  • modernism

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