la d�cadanse

[Monica Belevan]

Yes, Gregorovius, but if we are going to reduce everything ad absurdum ad 
nauseam, then we better discuss Husserl and solipsism, or ourobouros, or 
algebraic reversibilities.

I appreciate the link, I´ll fish through it soon. Perhaps the system in 
France is different; however, in the chronology of literary history, the 
peak manifestations of the decadent spirit are set in the 
Parnassian-Symbolist intervals. It´s not set in stone, Gregor, but it´s 
fairly consensual.

--Monica


>From: alfredjprufrock at club-internet.fr
>Reply-To: alfredjprufrock at club-internet.fr
>To: pynchon-l at waste.org
>Subject: la décadanse
>Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 18:48:06 +0200
>
>hey monica,
>
>décadence (or anything, for that matter) can be traced back forever, you 
>know, if you want to go
>there. you're the one who mentioned it in relation to the
>"poètes maudits" and the 19th century, so i was just pointing out that here 
>it's not
>really what we understand by décadents, but something more specific,
>but that's ok monica, and i actually know what you mean (and agree) but we 
>just
>don't use the same terms, you see. In France. Not my fault. No
>affectation here or whatever. That's how we learn about it. I swear. Check 
>this out for
>example (i don't know if you read french): 
>http://www.bmlisieux.com/curiosa/jtellier.htm
>Get my point?
>oh and please, when you're done looking down on me, dear, could you start
>spelling my name right?
>thank you
>
>Grégory (not Grégoire, i used to beat people up for that one...
>just kidding(i figure i should make that clear, seeing how natural
>humor is around here...)!)
>MB> Gregoire-- ´´decadentism´´, is, in fact, the art of supreme 
>affectation, and
>MB> if you are merely picking at the smaller threads and timelines you only 
>have
>MB> part of the picture. More than decadent art ( a contradcition in terms,
>MB> perhaps?), there is a decadent cosmovision. That is precisely what
>MB> Parnassians, Symbolists and even French proto-Surrealists like 
>Lautreamont
>MB> share, that special disposition, that agriculture of spleen. The term 
>itself
>MB> is English and was coigned by Baudelaire, who set the definitive 
>antecedent
>MB> for this form of aestheticism. If you trace it further back, you shall
>MB> discover a rich Gothic influence as well. Abridging the decandent 
>esprit to
>MB> schools and petit comites, however, testifies to your own affectation, 
>and
>MB> fails to do much justice to it´s historical import in the 
>reconstruction of
>MB> aesthetics.
>MB> This was all discussed to some extent in recent p-list postings, ´´ The
>MB> Aesthetics of Ugliness´´.
>
>MB> David-- I don´t have either M&D or V. with me, so it is impossible for 
>me to
>MB> address you an answer as punctually as I would like to. No less, I was
>MB> referring to a more global atmosphere to Pynchon´s texts. To reading 
>the
>MB> Pynchon that Paul likes to read, he´s the Pynchon I like best as well. 
>And
>MB> your quotations testify to this. If you read them, as they are, you 
>will
>MB> notice that V.´s intrinsic polyhedric architecture makes of Decadence 
>an x
>MB> variable, a term of multipe acceptations, and shifting affectations as 
>well.
>MB> One of the quotations, in fact, even points to a particular vitality in
>MB> decadence:
>
>MB> ´´This sort of arranging and rearranging was Decadence, but the 
>exhaustion
>MB> of all possible permutations and combinations was death." 298
>
>MB> I do not believe we disagree.
>
>MB> Love, Monica
>
>
>
>MB> _________________________________________________________________
>MB> MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos:
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>
>
>
>--
>Best regards,
>  alfredjprufrock                            
>mailto:alfredjprufrock at club-internet.fr




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