Abstract
After reading the first four letters of Laclos’ Les Liaisons Dangereuses the reader is struck with the remarkable number of polyphonic nuances that are clearly present. What Bakhtin has mentioned about Dostoevsky in Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics—that there is “a plurality of independent and unmerged voices and consciousnesses, a genuine polyphony of fully valid voices” (Bakhtin, 6) is characteristic of Laclos’ poetics as well. What is specifically novel about Les Liaisons Dangereuses is not only the epistolary method that Laclos uses, but the multiplicity of voices that he creates which all but nullify Laclos’ own voice. Unlike Prévost’s monophonic tones, Laclos structures his characters’ voices so that they reflect not only the character’s character, but also, syntactically, his/her manner of being.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Works Cited
Bakhtin, Mikhail. Problems with Dostoevsky’s Poetics. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1984.
Laclos, Choderlos De. Les Liaisons dangereuses. Trans. P.W.K. Stone. London: Penguin, 1961.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2014 Mark Axelrod
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Axelrod, M. (2014). Narrateur, Narratrice: Polyphonia in Laclos’ Les Liaisons Dangereuses. In: No Symbols Where None Intended: Literary Essays from Laclos to Beckett. Palgrave Pivot, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137447326_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137447326_2
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-49835-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-44732-6
eBook Packages: Palgrave Literature CollectionLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)