Les Chants de Maldoror
| Author | Comte de Lautreamont |
|---|---|
| Original title | Les Chants de Maldoror |
| Language | French |
| Genre | Poetic novel |
| Publication place | France |
Les Chants de Maldoror (The Songs of Maldoror) is a poetic novel consisting of six cantos written between 1868 and 1869 by the Comte de Lautreamont, which was the pseudonym used by Isidore Lucien Ducasse.
Plot summary
An extensive prose poem whose story revolves around the misanthropic character of Maldoror, a figure of absolute evil who is opposed to God and humanity, and has renounced all ties to conventional morality and decency. There is no specific plot in the traditional sense, and the narrative style is non-linear and often surrealistic. The iconoclastic imagery and tone is typically violent and macabre, and ostensibly nihilistic.
Allusions/references to other works
Much of the imagery was borrowed from the popular gothic literature of the period, in particular Lord Byron's Manfred, Charles Robert Maturin's Melmoth the Wanderer and Goethe's Faust. Of these figures, the latter two are particularly significant in their portrayal of a negative and Satanic anti-hero who is in hostile opposition to God.
Allusions/references from other works
Les Chants de Maldoror is considered to have been a major influence upon French Symbolism, Dada, and Surrealism. Several editions of the book have included lithographs by the French symbolist painter Odilon Redon. Surrealist painter Salvador Dalí also illustrated one edition of the book.
The English music group Current 93 has several songs referencing Maldoror, the earliest being their debut track "Maldoror Est Mort" on the Mi-Mort cassette.
Maldoror was used as the name for Merzbow's 1999 noise collaboration with Mike Patton.
Skinny Puppy's lead singer niveK oGre is stated to have based his early lyrical stylings on Maldoror.
Avant-garde cellist Erik Friedlander released an improvisational album entitled "Maldoror" in 2003 based around his impressions of the novel.
Portuguese alternative-rock band Mão Morta, together with some portuguese colaborators, conceived a show mixing music, theatre, video and declamation, based on the novel. It premiered in Braga on the 11th of May 2007.
Original French text
English translations
- Lykiard, Alexis (translator). Maldoror and the Complete Works. (1994) ISBN 1-878972-12-X
- Wernham, Guy (translator). Maldoror. (1943) ISBN 0-8112-0082-5
- Knight, Paul (translator). Maldoror and Poems. (1988) ISBN 0-14-044342-8
- Rodker, John (translator). The Lay of Maldoror. (1924)
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