Criticism > Contemporary Literary Criticism > Cocteau, Jean (Vol. 16) - Neal Oxenhandler

1. Printable Version
2. Download PDF
3. Cite this Page
4. Tweet This

NEAL OXENHANDLER

What Cocteau has attempted to do in his films is to convey, through the cinematic medium, the conception of poetry which exists in his purely literary works. Let me begin then by briefly characterizing this conception of poetry.

For Cocteau poetry is not primarily a dramatic representation of experience as in Racine, Baudelaire, Rimbaud. He is definitely in the tradition of "pure" poets for whom poetry is an end in itself and for whom morality is essentially an esthetic function. He insists in his poetry on purely verbal and syntactical manipulations. (p. 14)

Cocteau is not fundamentally interested in dramatic action; nor is he interested in ideas. His concern is less philosophical than that of other pure poets such as Mallarmé, Valéry or Giraudoux. He manipulates language like a kaleidoscope, creating new and surprising combinations, enjoying the illusion that poetry can change the face of reality.

Poetry has also a...

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

eNotes Pass

1. Introduction
2. C. G. Wallis
3. Bosley Crowther
4. Bosley Crowther
5. A. H. Weiler
6. Bosley Crowther
7. Jean R. Debrix
8. C. A. Lejeune
9. Neal Oxenhandler
10. William Whitebait
11. Peter John Dyer
12. Roger Manvell
13. Bosley Crowther
14. Roy Armes
15. George Amberg
16. Copyright