LANGUAGE AND SPACE IN SAINT-JOHN PERSE’S CHRONIQUE

Abstract

In a letter (1955) in which Saint-John Perse emphasizes the language devices that set into motion “the movement that leads to expansion”, his remarks refer to all that which reflects the constructi- vist paradigm of the word. Starting from foundational studies on the poem Chronique (1960) and on the poet’s rhetoric (Camelin and Gardes Tamine, 2002; Rigolot, 1992; and Parent, 1983), this article investigates the usefulness of tools developed by linguists and pragmatics in the analysis of poetic texts. Recent studies (Culioli, 1999; Maingueneau, 2003; Perret, 2005) lead us to observe diverse strategies of spatialization that can be seen in Chronique. Among the different means of inserting space into Chronique, we note the presence of presentatives, of certain microstructural figures, and of spatial connectors. Entering the universe of a poet through pragmatics grants us the chance to reflect on the numerous spatial-temporal markers in Saint-John Perse