Dream of an Absolute Language

Lynn R. Wilkinson is Assistant Professor of Scandinavian and Comparative Literature at the University of Texas, Austin.

• PrefaceIntroduction: Swedenborg, French Culture, and the Dream of an Absolute LanguagePart I: Swedenborgianism, Popular Culture, and the Ends of the Enlightenment in France1. Politics, Magic, and Language: Swedenborgianism in the Works of Alphonse-Louis Constant, a.k.a. Eliphas Lévi Two Names, One Career: From Alphonse-Louis Constant to Eliphas LéviConstant/Lévi's "Les correspondancesEchoes of Les correspondances" in Constant/Lévi's proseMagic, Politics, and Duplicity: Constant/Lévi's Dogme at rutuel de la haute magieLanguage, Mesmerism, and Charisma: The Preface to the 1861 Edition of Dogme et rituel de la haute magie and Histoire de la magie2. Swedenborg's Correspondences and the Cultures of the Enlightenment The Worlds of Emanuel SwedenborgSwedenborg's Interpretation of Dreams: The Journal of 1743-44The Word "Represent" in the Journal of 1743-44Heaven and Hell: Utopian Spheres and the Pleasures of Reading3. Who Has the Word? Swedenborgianism and Popular Culture in France, 1780-1865 Swedenborgian Performances: Alphonse Cahagnet's SéancesCombien en durera cette société? J.-F.-E. Le Boys des Guays and the French SwedenborgiansLanguage, Rituals, and Utopias: Eighteenth-Century Interpretations of Swedenborgianism in FranceHunger and Hallucinations: The Emigré PerspectiveEclecticism and Flanerie: The Interpretations of Edouard Richer and Guillaume OeggerBeyond the Myth? Mid-Nineteenth-Century AccountsSwedenborgianism and Popular CulturePart II: Fictions of Wholeness: Swedenborgianism and the French Canon4. The Underside of History: Swedenborgianism and La comédie humaine Swedenborgianism and Representation in La comédie humaineBalzac's "Swedenborgianism" and Its ContextsDesire and Tradition: The Other Worlds of Les études philosophiquesThough a Glass Darkly: Swedenborgianism in Les études de moeurs5. Baudelaire's Correspondances: Language, Censorship, and Mourning A Volume of Swedenborg under his arm: Baudelaire and SwedenborgianismFictional Polarities and the Aesthete's Dilemma: Baudelaire's References to SwedenborgTowards a Universal Language of Art? Baudelaire's CorrespondancesConclusionAppendix: Baudelaire's "Correspondances" and Constant/Lévi's "Les correspondances"NotesWorks CitedIndex

"Wilkinson offers a thorough and scholarly treatment of an important area of nineteenth-century, mostly French thought, more particularly of the relations between mystical theories about language and poetic practice. Much of what she offers in the way of scholarship is quite new. I found it impressive not only from a scholarly point of view but also quite readable; it will be cited considerably." — Frank Paul Bowman, University of Pennsylvania"...important as a contribution to the study of post-revolutionary French culture." — Inge Jonsson, Professor Emeritus, Stockholm University