Cocteau et l'image. Une dualite du visible et du lisible
Institution:
Paris 7Disciplines:
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Abstract EN:
In his critical texts, jean cocteau has often claimed the poetic unicity of his works, which are apparently numerous and scattered. According to him, poetry, source of sufferings, comes from a fluid felt by the poet and appears under differents forms due to an freeing expiration. So, it can use different vehicles, not only literary ones but also graphic and plastic ones. These latest offer the opportunity to create without being obliged to follow the orders of the "seigneur inconnu". As soon as 1911, cocteau published three articles mixing text and picture. But this reflection about visual was really fulfilled with le potomak and le cap de bonne-esperance. Influenced by mallarme, apollinaire, cendrars, reverdy's researches, but also by cubism and futurism, le cap places cocteau's poetical work in a visible and readable duality. From that moment, the poet gives both to read and to see. The illustrations - in relation or not with the text -, the posters but also the drawings placed in the frontispiece of other writer's books are the visible part of a work which aims at creating an ethical poetry. As for cocteau's relationship with the edition establishment in general and more specially with his publishers, they point out the difficulty to make readable a work being always in achievement, which could have been corrected at any time. Thirty-five years after cocteau's death, this is also revealed by the absence of a complete bibliography of the entire work. So, cocteau and the image is is encloses a bibliography containing 2050 book, article, illustration, interview, letter and exhibition references to which 205 others main studies about the poet are added.
Abstract FR:
Jean cocteau a souvent revendique dans ses textes critiques l'unicite poetique de son oeuvre, apparemment multiple et eparse. Selon lui, la poesie, source de souffrances, provient d'un fluide capte par le poete et qui ressort sous diverses formes grace a une expiration liberatoire. Elle peut donc emprunter differents vehicules, non seulement d'ordre litteraire, mais aussi graphique et plastique, ces derniers offrant la possibilite de creer sans etre aux ordres du "seigneur inconnu". Des 1911, cocteau a fait paraitre trois articles melant du texte et de l'image. Mais c'est avec le potomak d'une part et le cap de bonne-esperance d'autre part que cette reflexion sur le visuel a abouti. Au croisement des recherches de mallarme, apollinaire, cendrars, reverdy, mais aussi du cubisme et du futurisme, le cap inscrit l'oeuvre poetique de cocteau dans une dualite du visible et du lisible. Des lors, il s'agit pour le poete de donner tout a la fois a voir et a lire. Les illustrations - en relation ou non avec le texte au milieu duquel elles prennent place -, les affiches, mais aussi les dessins qui figurent en frontispice de livres d'autres ecrivains, participent du visible d'une oeuvre qui vise a creer une poesie ethique. Quant aux rapports que cocteau a entretenus avec l'edition en general et ses editeurs en particulier, ils mettent en avant toute la difficulte de rendre lisible une oeuvre en train, susceptible d'etre modifiee ou corrigee a tout moment. C'est egalement ce que revele l'absence, trente-cinq ans apres sa mort, d'une reelle bibliographie exhaustive de l'oeuvre entiere du poete. Aussi cocteau et l'image est-il accompagne d'un essai de bibliographie contenant 2050 references de livres, articles, illustrations, entretiens, correspondances et expositions de jean cocteau, auxquelles s'ajoutent 205 references des principales etudes sur le poete.