Charles Baudelaire Les Chats 1847

1. Charles Baudelaire Les Chats 1847

2. Jakobson’s analysis ofBaudelaire’s Les Chats • Purpose: to show the connection between the language, the structure and the meaning of the poem Sonnet Structure: two quartrains and two tercets Rhymes: a BB a C dd C ee F g F g a a d d e e g g = feminine rhymes (ending with a silent “e”) BB CC FF = masculine rhymes (ending with the sound of a consonant)

3. Role of grammar Relationship between the arrangement of rhymes and the role of grammar: • all lines end with either nouns or adjectives, and they are all feminine. • In the eight lines with feminine rhymes, the final noun is plural. These lines are all longer than the masculine ones. • The lines ending with masculine rhymes are shorter, and end with a singular noun. > Binary principle in the grammatical organization of the text > Same binary principle in the structure of the sonnet: antinomy between the section with quartrains and the section with tercets. The sonnet is based upon a tension between symmetry and asymmetry.

4. Role of syntax Syntactic parallelism between the two quartrains and the two tercets: the first quartrain and the first tercet are formed by two sentences in which the last portion is a relative clause introduced by the pronoun “Qui” (Who) associated with a plural masculine noun.

5. Role of meaning (semantic aspect) • The meaning of the grammatical subjects reinforces the parallelism between the two quartrains, on the one hand, and the tercets, on the other. • The grammatical subjects of the first quartrain and of the first tercet designate only animate entities whereas • one of the two subjects of the second quartrain and all the subjects of the second tercet are inanimate objects. • Likewise, all the direct objects in the two tercets are inanimate objects whereas • the only object of the first quartrain is an animate one (the cats) • Jakobson notices a pattern that alternates animate and inanimate references from the first to the last stanza of the sonnet.

6. Role of phonetics (structural importance of sounds) • Relevant role played by nasal vowels especially in the first quartrain; • liquid consonants in the second stanza and in the second section of the poem tend to replace the presence of “r”, as the metamorphosis of the cats into fabulous creatures progresses.

7. THE CATS = Central structural and semantic element • Mentioned only once in the sonnet, but able to encompass all the contrasts presented by the poem (at various levels: grammatical; syntactical; semantic; phonetic). • they take on at once animate and inanimate qualities; • they appear as both human beings and animals; • they mediate between the opposite human traits presented in the first line: sensual (amoureux) /intellectual (savants); • they absorb both feminine and masculine references; • they provide the transition from an objective presentation to their own transfiguration in the two tercets; • they trace the progression from the real to the surreal and mythological. • Metamorphosis, tension between opposites > Ambiguity of the cats, associated by Baudelaire with a sort of androginous notion of femininity.

8. Jakobson’s conclusion • Putting together the pieces of his analysis, conducted at various linguistic levels, he wants to demonstrate that • the different levels individually analyzed overlap, complete one another, and are combined. They give the poem the quality of an ABSOLUTE OBJECT. • The poem appears as a system of equivalences connected with one another, which turn the poem as a whole into a CLOSED SYSTEM.