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Huysmans' Là‐bas : The Apotheosis of the Word
Author(s) -
Bales Richard
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
orbis litterarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.109
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1600-0730
pISSN - 0105-7510
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0730.1992.tb01167.x
Subject(s) - icon , dialogic , theme (computing) , apotheosis , documentation , character (mathematics) , narrative , literature , word (group theory) , sophistication , linguistics , art , philosophy , computer science , aesthetics , world wide web , programming language , geometry , mathematics
The problematic nature of Huysmans' novels is singularly well highlighted in Là‐bas , a work which displays great narrative sophistication. Documentation plays a massive role both in the main character's and in the author's methodology, while the stress on articulating such documentation in dialogic form is ever‐present. Curious turns of language equally serve to underline the self‐conscious manner in which textual production is both a major theme of the novel and the story of the novel's own coming into being. Là‐bas is a ‘verbal icon’ analogous to the visual icon of Grünewald's Crucifixion , a work whose example hovers over the whole of the novel.