{"title":"J.-K. Huysmans with Wilhelm Wundt: Ennui, or a Mind-Body Problem","authors":"John D'amico","doi":"10.1353/ncf.2022.0019","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Taking a cognitive approach to Huysmans's 1887 novel En rade, this article studies the writer's aesthetic transmutation of the theories of Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920)—a figure widely known as one of the founders of modern psychology. The protagonist, Jacques Marles, invokes Wundt's claim that an extended foot during sleep may prompt the experience of falling in a dream. This explanation has led critics to cast Wundt as a foil for psychoanalytic readings, dismissing wholesale his writings despite their pertinence to the author's portrayal of Jacques's errant thought. Considering Wundt's perspectives on the mediating work of consciousness, I examine Huysmans's use of the scientist's ideas on the physiological unconscious, reaction times, and apperception to portray the struggle of the conscious mind when confronted with its unconscious other. In so doing, I argue that ennui functions as the conscious register of unconscious activity to become an agent of psychic change over time.","PeriodicalId":42524,"journal":{"name":"NINETEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH STUDIES","volume":"51 1","pages":"136 - 152"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1000,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"NINETEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH STUDIES","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/ncf.2022.0019","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LITERATURE, ROMANCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
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Abstract
Abstract:Taking a cognitive approach to Huysmans's 1887 novel En rade, this article studies the writer's aesthetic transmutation of the theories of Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920)—a figure widely known as one of the founders of modern psychology. The protagonist, Jacques Marles, invokes Wundt's claim that an extended foot during sleep may prompt the experience of falling in a dream. This explanation has led critics to cast Wundt as a foil for psychoanalytic readings, dismissing wholesale his writings despite their pertinence to the author's portrayal of Jacques's errant thought. Considering Wundt's perspectives on the mediating work of consciousness, I examine Huysmans's use of the scientist's ideas on the physiological unconscious, reaction times, and apperception to portray the struggle of the conscious mind when confronted with its unconscious other. In so doing, I argue that ennui functions as the conscious register of unconscious activity to become an agent of psychic change over time.
期刊介绍：
Nineteenth-Century French Studies provides scholars and students with the opportunity to examine new trends, review promising research findings, and become better acquainted with professional developments in the field. Scholarly articles on all aspects of nineteenth-century French literature and criticism are invited. Published articles are peer reviewed to ensure scholarly integrity. This journal has an extensive book review section covering a variety of disciplines. Nineteenth-Century French Studies is published twice a year in two double issues, fall/winter and spring/summer.
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