Маска музы. Визуальность и наррация в «Поклоннике образа» Ричарда Ле Гальена

Studia Litterarum. 2021. Т. 6. № 3. С. 10–39.

Zenkin S.

This article is a close reading of The Worshiper of the Image (1898), a tragic fairytale
by Richard Le Gallienne — a symbolist allegory, whose female character is a
coming-to-life visual image. This character is distinguished by polymorphism which
manifests itself both in the story’s plot and in the character’s mythical autobiography,
namely, in her reincarnations over centuries. The visual hypostasis of this character
is L’Inconnue de la Seine — a popular and mysterious kitsch object, the mask of a girl
who allegedly drowned in Seine in the second half of the 19th century. The interaction
of the Image with other characters is determined by the concept of contagion, i.e.,
immediate power contact which alternates with abstract allegorical interpretations of
the Image (considered, for example, as the embodiment of Art or Beauty); in the course
of the narrative, the contagious image gradually displaces the story’s living characters,
including the wife of the main character who uncannily resembles and doubles the
image. These narrative and visual collisions reflect a precarious position of the visual
image in the decadent culture — a conflict between the visual image and narration:
the narration fails to provide an exhaustive ekphrastic description of the image and
evasively multiplies contradictory impressions of other characters about it instead.

Keywords: повествование, аллегория, фантастика, визуальность литературного текста, Ричард Ле Гальен, "Поклонник образа"