White Space: Reflections on the Poetry of Stephane Mallarme

Abstract

How can one approach the oeuvre of Stephane Mallarme, the French symbolist poet notorious for his indecipherable writings? Mallarme was idolized by his generation of artists, though even his contemporaries often found themselves unable to disentangle his intractably coy but brilliant poems. As one critic noted, the poet's work seems "suspended in permanent uncertainty," and the sheer density of wordplay is enough to dishearten any reader, but with the help of several modern critics and the guidance of Mallarme's own character, the lustful Faune who figures in one of Mallarme's most recognizable pieces, the reader may discover an avenue into the mind of one of the most mysterious and exquisitely radiant poets who ever dared to communicate his vision of beauty.