Mallarmé’s Instruments: The Production of the Individu-Livre

What is it about?

What does Mallarmé mean when he characterizes the book as an "instrument spirituel"? This article answers this question in three sections. First, it considers Mallarmé’s speculative theorizations of the book. In this section, it argues that the book is both a place and an event. Next, the article analyses what will be called the "practice of the book", how readers and writers engage with the book (and its worlds). Finally, the article draws on the philosophy of Gilbert Simondon to present the view of subjectivity that underpins Mallarmé’s understanding of the book as a spiritual instrument. Throughout these sections, Mallarmé emerges as a radically ecological writer, defiantly dreaming about how fiction can help to align humans and their environments.

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