Mallarmé’s 'A Throw of the Dice': From an Oral Metaphor of Silence to a Written Metaphor of Whiteness Cover Image

'Rzut kośćmi' Mallarmégo – od oralnej metafory milczenia do piśmiennej metafory bieli
Mallarmé’s 'A Throw of the Dice': From an Oral Metaphor of Silence to a Written Metaphor of Whiteness

Author(s): Piotr Śniedziewski
Subject(s): Literary Texts
Published by: Instytut Badań Literackich Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: Mallarmé; French Poetry 19 c.; Logocentrism.

Summary/Abstract: 'Un coup de dés' ['A Throw of the Dice'], the last text on which Mallarmé happened to work before he died, can be approached as a literary testament comprising the most important elements of the French author’s poetics. Above all, it presents a reflection on the role of silence in poetry. In Un coup de dés, the poet performs an anti-logocentric turn. He is primarily interested in the way(s) in which silence could be suggested by a white sheet of paper, margins, and typeface. A text created in this way is an attempt at showing the emerging thought – hence the lack of clear communication (poetry ceases to be discursive) and referentiality.

  • Issue Year: 2010
  • Issue No: 1-2
  • Page Range: 193-207
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: Polish