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A Typology of the Pygmalion paradigm

A Typology of the Pygmalion paradigm. Nina Beguš Poggioli Colloquium March 21. nbegus@fas.harvard.edu. Illuminated Roman de la rose , 13 th c. Jean -Léon Gérôme. Le travail du marbre ou l’Artiste sculptant Tanagra, 1890. Pygmalion et Galatea , 1881.

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A Typology of the Pygmalion paradigm

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  1. A Typology of the Pygmalion paradigm Nina Beguš Poggioli Colloquium March 21 nbegus@fas.harvard.edu

  2. Illuminated Roman de la rose, 13th c.

  3. Jean-LéonGérôme Le travail du marbreoul’ArtistesculptantTanagra, 1890 Pygmalion et Galatea, 1881 Pygmalion et Galatea, 1890 (www.wikiart.org, www.batguano.com, www.daheshmuseum.org)

  4. The Pygmalion Paradigm Bloom, Michelle E. “Pygmalionesque delusions and illusions of movement: Animation from Hoffmann to Truffaut.” Comparative Literature 52/4 (2000): 291-320. Materassi, Mario. “Artificial Women, the Pygmalion Paradigm, and Faulkner's Gordon in Mosquitoes.” Global Faulkner: Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha. Eds. Annette Trefzer, Ann J. Abadie. Jackson: UP of Mississippi,2009. 135-150. Gacoin-Marks, Florence. “Pigmalion.” Tematologija: izbranapoglavja. Ed. Tone Smolej. Ljubljana: Študentskazaložba, 2007. 136-149.

  5. A few re-interpretations of the Pygmalion myth • Galatea 2.2 (1995) by Richard Powers • Pygmalion (1913) by George Bernard Shaw • The Bell-Tower (1856) by Herman Melville • Rappaccini’s Daughter (1844) by N. Hawthorne • The Oval Portrait (1842) by E. A. Poe • Le Chef-d’oeuvre inconnu (1831) by Honoré de Balzac • Der Sandmann(1816) by E. T. A. Hoffmann • Pygmalion, scène lyrique(1762) by J. J. Rousseau • Le Roman de la Rose (Jean de Meun’s portion, 13thcentury)

  6. Main criterion for the Pygmalion motif romantic, passionate man-made, human-like = falling in love with one’s own creation

  7. Florence Gacoin-Marks (2007: 137) Michelle Bloom (2000: 293) Mario Materassi (2009: 141) “1) Pygmalion is in love with a female statue that he himself made, 2) the statue is animated, 3) animation is allowed by a unearthly entity (goddess), 4) the creator and the creation get married.” Until 1700s included: the artist(absent or substituted after 1800) the artificial woman who is the object of his passion, and the metamorphosis (absent or presented negatively after 1800). Tragic ending (French), happy ending (American). “1) the male artist (subject, creator) and the female work of art (object, creation); 2) the work of art’s representation or simulation of human form; 3) the happy ending.” 1) = falling in love with one’s own vs. someone else’s man-made, human-like, most often gynomorphic, creation, 2) absence vs. presence of metamorphosis of the inanimate creation, 3) irrationality vs. rationality of her suitor and/or creator, 4) happy vs. tragic ending.

  8. Typology:Typology of the Pygmalion paradigm ‘Pygmalionesque type’ • A pair of characters • man-made woman, creator/suitor • Metamorphosis • Rational • Relationship between human and non-human is possible • Ovid’s Pygmalion • J.J. Rousseau, Pygmalion • G. B. Shaw’s Pygmalion • R. de la Bretonne, Le nouveau Pygmalion • H. James, Watch and Ward ‘Agalmatophiliac type’ • A triangle of characters • man-made woman, her creator, her suitor • No metamorphosis • Irrational (illusions, madness) • Relationship not possible, tragic denouement • The Painter and the Mechanical Maiden • E. T. A. Hoffmann’s DerSandmann • N. Hawthorne’sRappaccini’s Daughter • H. de Balzac’s Le Chef-d’œuvre inconnu • V. de l’Isle-Adam’s L’Eve future

  9. Chronologically: Materassi Materassi (141-142): • until the 1700s included: • the artist, • the artificial woman who is the object of his passion, • and the metamorphosis • 1800: • metamorphosis presented in negative light or absent; • artist absent as well: his place is taken by a different character (“a lover, a hysterical young man, a scholar, an artist manqué, a madman”); • “a real woman appears as the model for the artificial one;” • French texts “end in tragedy,” American texts end with “a happy ending” • 1900s: metamorphosis stripped of moral connotations, also treated ironically

  10. Chronologically (19th c.): Bloom • ‘Pygmalion complex’ afflicts much of the literature of the nineteenth century (Lathers 36). • “Pygmalion’s story […] became a major locus classicusof both literature and the fine arts in the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries” (Materassi 140). • “The Pygmalion myth fails or undergoes what I call ‘dissolution,’ as nineteenth-century Pygmalion figures experience the ‘Pygmalionesque delusions’ […]—‘delusions’ that in turn metamorphose at the end of the century into ‘illusions of movement’ made possible by the advent of cinema” (Bloom 291).

  11. Thematologically: Gacoin-Marks Pygmalion, the artist: art vs. life Rousseau’s Pygmalion, Balzac’s Le chef d’œuvre inconnu, Zola’s L’Œuvre, Cankar’sTujci, Poe’s Oval Portrait, Gautier’s Le RoiCandule, Huysman’sTam Pygmalion, the scientist: illusions of science Hoffmann’s Der Sandmann, Villiers de l’Isle-Adam’s L’Éve Future Pygmalion, the educator: groom, guardian, teacher Bretonne’sLe nouveau Pygmalion, Immerman’sDer neue Pygmalion, Gide’s La Symphoniepastorale, Shaw’s Pygmalion

  12. Thank you! Coppélia, English National Ballet (www.ballet.org.uk)

  13. Typology of the Pygmalion paradigm ‘Pygmalionesque type’ • A pair of characters • man-made woman, creator/suitor • Metamorphosis • Rational • Relationship between human and non-human is possible • Ovid’s Pygmalion • J.J. Rousseau, Pygmalion • G. B. Shaw’s Pygmalion • R. de la Bretonne, Le nouveau Pygmalion • H. James, Watch and Ward • ‘Agalmatophiliactype’ • A triangle of characters • man-made woman, her creator, her suitor • No metamorphosis • Irrational (illusions, madness) • Relationship not possible, tragic denouement • The Painter and the Mechanical Maiden (Silk Road tale) • E. T. A. Hoffmann’s DerSandmann • N. Hawthorne’sRappaccini’s Daughter • H. de Balzac’s Le Chef-d’œuvre inconnu • V. de l’Isle-Adam’s L’Eve future

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