Textual Secrecy: Arthur Machen and ‘The True Literature of Occultism’

Arthur Machen (1863-1947) read The Book of NicholasFlamelas a child and later in his life spent several years cataloguing books on occult matters for the antiquarian bookseller George Redway. The result of his work was an annotated catalogue, The Literature of Occultism and Archaeology(1885), that referenced works on alchemy, astrology, witchcraft, and animal magnetism (among others). The Welsh writer was more than well versed in the occult and esoteric philosophies that are often referred to and sometimes discussed in his works of fiction. In an article entitled ‘The Cult of the Secret’ (1926), Machen underlines that humanity has always been drawn to secret societies and mysterious rites, a powerful attraction he personally experienced.

« All London was one grey temple of an awful rite » : Londres dans The Hill of Dreams d’Arthur Machen (1907)

Cet article étudie les métamorphoses de la capitale britannique dans The Hill of Dreams, en s’attardant sur la transformation de la ville en scène de théâtre flamboyante (« fiery stage ») sur laquelle se joue un rite orgiaque ancien. Cette transformation obéit au principe de persistance qui sous-tend toute l’œuvre de l’auteur gallois, le passé se révélant être toujours présent. Dans les récits fantastiques, le passé prend la forme d’une race primitive qui a survécu dans la campagne galloise. Dans The Hill of Dreams, Londres a également son « Petit Peuple » (Twylidd Teg) : la classe laborieuse. La peur du prolétariat qui hantait les esprits de l’époque est ainsi exprimée dans un langage typiquement machenien.This article examines the many metamorphoses of London in The Hill of Dreams, dwelling in particular on its transformation into a ‘fiery stage’ upon which an ancient orgiastic rite is played out. This transformation is part of the thematic thread of ‘persistence’ that runs throughout Machen’s work, the past persisting in the present. In the supernatural tales, the past is embodied in a primitive race of horrifying creatures who have survived in the Welsh countryside. In The Hill of Dreams, the Little People (Twylidd Tweg) undergo a metamorphosis, as it were, appearing in the guise of the labouring classes. Fear of the proletariat is thus expressed in a typically Machenian idiom

L’univers sonore de Sredni Vashtar (Andrew Birkin, 1981)

In 1981, Andrew Birkin was awarded the BAFTA for Best Short Film for his adaptation of Saki’s ‘Sredni Vashtar’ (1911). This article explores the film’s soundscape to show how it participates in the construction of the oppositional system that underpins Saki’s short story. Carl Orff’s ‘O Fortuna’ is used as a symbolic signifier strictly associated with the world of the child, as opposed to the adult’s. The piece interacts with diegetic sounds to create a complex web of echoes and dissonances. Thus, ‘O Fortuna’ is set in sharp contrast with the tick-tock of the clock that can be heard in the dreary Edwardian house. As it is associated with the colour red, the music also highlights by contrast the greyness of a constraining adult world. Colour and music thus combine to give shape to the world of a child chafing under the yoke of the real

Montague Rhodes James, Collected Ghost Stories

A biblical scholar, palaeographer and lover of old manuscripts, Montague Rhodes James (1862–1936) published a great many scholarly works, but he is best remembered for his ghost stories, many of which were originally read aloud to friends. One of their distinguishing features is the richness of their antiquarian background and they are usually considered as among the finest achievements in what is sometimes labelled the ‘antiquarian subgenre’ of the ghost story. In his ‘Supernatural Horror in..

À mourir de peur/rire : The Great God Pan d’Arthur Machen (1894)

The Great God Pan, Machen’s first major success, is a dark tale that exploits late Victorian anxieties about scientific progress, especially the post-Darwinian fear/fantasy of regression to bestial levels. The text seems intent on making the reader’s flesh creep, and yet many early reviewers stated that it failed to do so, some going as far as claiming that the novella made one shake with laughter rather than with dread. The aim of this article is to highlight the semantic, structural and stylistic ingredients used to arouse dread or anxiety and, ultimately, to try and determine why Machen’s text has failed to generate the « appropriate » emotional response

Pagan Revenants in Arthur Machen’s Supernatural Tales of the Nineties

In his Geography of Victorian Gothic Fiction (1999), Robert Mighall presents ‘anachronistic conflict’ as the defining feature of the mode. The resurgence of pagan gods and the discovery of a fossil race are the two main triggers of such a conflict in Arthur Machen’s supernatural tales of the Nineties. The aim of this paper is to explore how the horrifying returns articulate with the Anglo-Catholic writer’s sacramental worldview, focusing in particular on the use of the wine symbol in his texts. The Dionysian theme reverberates throughout Machen’s fiction, where the double-natured god may induce either debasement or elevation. In both cases, sacramental wine enables man to partake in the reality that lies beyond the veil of appearances

Journée d’étude : « Autour de la frontière/ Around Borders»

Cette première incursion dans les border studies se concentrera sur la frontière physique, fixe ou mouvante, et ses représentations culturelles. On interrogera la vision binaire de la frontière comme pont ou séparation, qu'elle soit visible ou invisible, matérielle ou immatérielle. Dans leurs représentations de la frontière, artistes, écrivains et intellectuels mettent au jour ses enjeux socio-politiques, identitaires et éthiques. On peut également se demander comment différentes manifestations et/ou représentations culturelles témoignent d'une vie propre à l'espace frontalier. Ici la présence même de la frontière comme lieu et objet de négociation construit un territoire complexe et hybride, marqué par l'interaction de diverses cultures et de différents langages. On s'intéressera plus particulièrement aux paysages physiques et mentaux qui émanent de la spécificité de l'espace frontalier. This first foray into border studies will focus on the physical border, whether static or moving, and its cultural representations. We will question the binary vision of the border as a bridge or a separation line, be it visible or invisible, material or immaterial. In their representations of the border, artists, writers and intellectuals reveal its socio-political and ethical dimensions as well as the issues it raises in terms of identity. We may also wonder how different cultural representations reflect the specificities of life at the border. The very presence of the border as a place and an object of negotiation constructs a complex and hybrid space, fashioned by the interaction of various cultures and languages. The emphasis will be put on the representations of border landscapes, both physical and/or mental