International colloquium organized by William Marx and Matilde Manara as part of the Comparative Literatures chair, with the support of the Fondation du Collège de France and the Fondation Hugot du Collège de France.
Paul Valéry represents an exceptional moment in the history of literature : the moment when a writer, more and better than any other before him, became aware of his art and its psychological and physiological, social, historical, economic and cultural conditions of practice.
What does it mean to create ? This is the big question, one that Paul Valéry explored in all its facets at the Collège de France, where he was professor from 1937 to 1945. Now that his Cours de poétique (Gallimard, 2023, 2 volumes) has been published, it's an opportune moment to revisit the content of this reflection, which is as demanding as it is free and multi-faceted, and to consider what it means for us today.
This is the aim of this international colloquium, in which Valéry's work at the Collège de France will be the subject of a wide-ranging investigation. Initial readings and analyses of the Cours de poétique will be presented. The theories of literature and poetry expressed therein will also be examined. Neuroscientists and psychologists will debate the topicality of Valéry's proposals on the workings of the mind and brain. The political and ideological context of the lecture will be highlighted. Particular attention will be paid to the reception of Valéry's thought by professors at the Collège de France up to the present day.
The symposium will be preceded on June 14 by a public screening of Pierre Franck's 1971 television production of the play Mon Faust, starring Pierre Fresnay, Danièle Delorme, Pierre Dux and Philippe Laudenbach. The first day will close with an exceptional recitation of the poem La Jeune Parque by Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet.