Description:
This scholarly monograph is an original philosophical reflection on poetics, elucidating the metaphysical and mystical potential of poetic language as quasi-religious revelation. It develops a theory of the symbol based on French Symbolist Poetry as culminating in Stéphane Mallarmé.
Review Quotes:
"This volume offers a lucid and intellectually bold reappraisal of Mallarmé's poetics. It charts a distinctive path through Symbolist aesthetics and critical theory, articulating a compelling interpretive vision that reflects the depth and coherence of William Franke's broader philosophical project." --Andrea Schellino, University of Louvain, Belgium; editor of the Pléiade edition of Baudelaire.
"The Sign of the Swan unveils the secret life of symbols in French poetry. Through Mallarmé and his contemporaries, William Franke explores how words conjure new worlds and re-envision reality itself. He reveals how French Symbolist poetry, led by Stéphane Mallarmé, reshapes reality through language and imagination. William Franke offers a masterful analysis of the poetic interplay between image, meaning, and perception in fin-de-siècle France. A rare and precious book for now and tomorrow." --Philippe Beck, French poet (Grand Prix de Poésie de l'Académie française), Professor of Philosophy, University of Nantes, France; and Professor of Poetry, European Graduate School, Saas-Fee, Switzerland.