Essai et fiction : à propos de Hieroglyphics, a Note upon Ecstasy in Literature (Arthur Machen, 1902)
When mentioned at all, Hieroglyphics is usually described as an essay in which Arthur Machen exposes his views on literature. The aim of this paper is to show how the “Prefatory Note”, a sort of frame narrative, blurs the borderline between essay and fiction and makes the status of the text problema...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée
2010-06-01
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| Series: | Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/cve/3107 |
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| _version_ | 1832581223318290432 |
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| author | Sophie Mantrant |
| author_facet | Sophie Mantrant |
| author_sort | Sophie Mantrant |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | When mentioned at all, Hieroglyphics is usually described as an essay in which Arthur Machen exposes his views on literature. The aim of this paper is to show how the “Prefatory Note”, a sort of frame narrative, blurs the borderline between essay and fiction and makes the status of the text problematic. In this preliminary text, a narrator bearing the initials “A. M.” explains that he spent long hours listening to a scholarly hermit whose views on literature he later put down on paper. Machen thus encourages the reader to identify him not as the enunciator but as the listener ; he dissociates himself from the essayist, even though the latter expresses ideas that are also his. This is part of a game of masks that is played on several textual levels. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-387676d96b5d4f52b4d1fe400be0417f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0220-5610 2271-6149 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2010-06-01 |
| publisher | Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
| spelling | doaj-art-387676d96b5d4f52b4d1fe400be0417f2025-01-30T10:22:02ZengPresses Universitaires de la MéditerranéeCahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens0220-56102271-61492010-06-017150751810.4000/cve.3107Essai et fiction : à propos de Hieroglyphics, a Note upon Ecstasy in Literature (Arthur Machen, 1902)Sophie MantrantWhen mentioned at all, Hieroglyphics is usually described as an essay in which Arthur Machen exposes his views on literature. The aim of this paper is to show how the “Prefatory Note”, a sort of frame narrative, blurs the borderline between essay and fiction and makes the status of the text problematic. In this preliminary text, a narrator bearing the initials “A. M.” explains that he spent long hours listening to a scholarly hermit whose views on literature he later put down on paper. Machen thus encourages the reader to identify him not as the enunciator but as the listener ; he dissociates himself from the essayist, even though the latter expresses ideas that are also his. This is part of a game of masks that is played on several textual levels.https://journals.openedition.org/cve/3107 |
| spellingShingle | Sophie Mantrant Essai et fiction : à propos de Hieroglyphics, a Note upon Ecstasy in Literature (Arthur Machen, 1902) Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
| title | Essai et fiction : à propos de Hieroglyphics, a Note upon Ecstasy in Literature (Arthur Machen, 1902) |
| title_full | Essai et fiction : à propos de Hieroglyphics, a Note upon Ecstasy in Literature (Arthur Machen, 1902) |
| title_fullStr | Essai et fiction : à propos de Hieroglyphics, a Note upon Ecstasy in Literature (Arthur Machen, 1902) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Essai et fiction : à propos de Hieroglyphics, a Note upon Ecstasy in Literature (Arthur Machen, 1902) |
| title_short | Essai et fiction : à propos de Hieroglyphics, a Note upon Ecstasy in Literature (Arthur Machen, 1902) |
| title_sort | essai et fiction a propos de hieroglyphics a note upon ecstasy in literature arthur machen 1902 |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/cve/3107 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sophiemantrant essaietfictionaproposdehieroglyphicsanoteuponecstasyinliteraturearthurmachen1902 |