Loss and Presence in Three Poetic Texts of Mourning

What is it about?

This article compares three poetic texts of mourning, as poets reflect on the loss of writers or artists who were also their friends: Philippe Jaccottet on the death of poet Andre Du Bouchet; Yves Bonnefoy on artist Alberto Giacometti; and Andre Du Bouchet on Paul Celan. Using Derrida's work on mourning, the article argues that it operates in three different ways: Jaccottet concludes with an overwhelming sense of loss; Bonnefoy retains the concrete presence of the elemental world after the artist's death; and Du Bouchet focuses on the unassailable, concrete nature of foreign language as he writes on and with Celan's words.

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Why is it important?

The work of Jaccottet, Bonnefoy, and Du Bouchet is often described as 'ontological', or focused on 'presence', which Derrida's writing seeks to deconstruct. Nevertheless, the texts of mourning discussed in this article offer accounts of the writer's relationship with 'strangeness' that nuance a simple association of their endeavours with a search for presence.

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