창문을 바라보는 시선과 순간으로 그려낸 전설 - 보들레르의 산문시 「창문들Les Fenêtres」과 「과부들Les Veuves」에서 알레고리적 형상들을 그리는 한 가지 방식 에 관하여

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the way Baudelaire depicts allegorical figures in relation to the specific use of the word ‘legend’ in the poems in prose “Les Fenêtres(The Windows)” and “Les Veuves(The Widows)”. In “Les Fenêtres”, the poet says that he does not care whether the legend he has generated about the old woman in the window is ‘true’, and that if his reverie, through the legend, enables him to live and makes him feel what he is, then it is ‘reality’. With regard to the ‘prostitution’, this is also the appropriate designation for the activities of the poet, which Baudelaire emphasizes elsewhere, and here it is the core of the legend that is associated with reality which is newly constructed by the poet in the context of the poem. It is also noteworthy that in the two poems mentioned above, their ‘legends’ are based on the fragmentary actions and expressions displayed by a fleeting figure in a window or in a crowd. In his critique of Constantin Guys, Baudelaire makes mention of the ‘flâneur’ who becomes at once a ‘prince’ who enjoys the walking incognito and a mirror which reflects various elements of human life. The poet looking at the various spectacles of the big city and seeking something poetic in the scenes in front of him overlaps with this concept of the flâneur. Thus, the method of constructing a legend using happenstance glimpses of figures which are drawn upon in such moments appears to suggest a clue to the work of a poet of the big city. The poet who sketches a new ‘reality’ by gathering together various fragmentary elements of life does not seek a fecund, unified, and transcendent poetic ideal, but perceives what is poetic which is possible only in the way of combining momentary elements that have been plucked from the temporal flow. Accordingly, this study suggests a way of reading “Les Fenêtre” and “Les Veuves” that takes stock of the ‘legend’ which sometimes the poet creates by recognizing a person over the waves of windows through his window, or which sometimes he derives from a singular person who appears in the crowd. Furthermore, the depiction of the ‘legend’ in these poems is examined as a way of constructing allegorical figures, as one way of allegory in the modern sense.