Petite histoire des etudes banvilliennes de Baudelaire et Mallarme jusqu'a nos jours

Banville is hardly an unknown figure in the world of French poetry. Indeed, he frequently appears as a footnote in the numerous studies of authors whom the critics have designated as the greats of the nineteenth century. Yet all too often, Banville has been either little read, or badly interpreted. This introduction to his literary production, at once prodigious, complex and diverse, offers an overview of the work accomplished in both scholarly analyses and critical editions since the poet's lifetime. Although nineteenth-century critics scorned his apparent frivolity, while admiring his undeniable virtuosity, Banville's true value was first appreciated by Baudelaire and Mallarmé, on whom he had a decisive influence. Despite the many warm tributes which followed his death in 1891 and which marked, in 1923, the centenary of his birth, the poet was then forgotten until his rediscovery in the 1980s by a small group of devoted researchers. This article measures the scale of their achievements and resumes the main themes of current work on Banville: mythology, socio-political satire, Pierrot, the representation of women, painting, music and song, influences and intertexts. It closes by sketching out some of the directions which future work on Banville might take and which might help us better to appreciate the central role which Banville the poet, prose writer, dramatist and critic played in the artistic life of his century.