French Literature Reviews - 2026

The Symbolist Soul. The Mystic Flowers of Forgotten Poets
Comparative and World Literature

David Totibadze-Shalikasvili

THE SYMBOLIST SOUL The Mystic Flowers of Forgotten Poets

L'Harmattan, Paris
Coll. Literary Critics

ISBN : 978-2-296-02281
Ean 13 : 9782296022812-2
January 2007
354 pages
29.5 €

Publisher's overview:

The origins of the Symbolist movement span the years between 1880 and 1920.
It emerged from various philosophical currents and the works of precursor poets such as Baudelaire and Verlaine. This study recontextualizes Symbolist poetry across Western and Eastern Europe within the historical and literary framework of the final two decades of the 19th century. It first demonstrates how Symbolist poets, gripped by self-loathing and despair, initially succumbed to spleen and a pronounced indulgence in decadence.
It then traces their ascent toward the light, driven by the emergence of the soul that animates them and compels them to create. The poets engage in a profound inward work on the soul, placing it at the very center of their being and the world through their cult of beauty, the creation of Symbolist atmospheres, their pursuit of pure, infinite, and indefinite realms beyond, their connection to the eternal feminine, and their certainty in the existence of an absolute-ruled world.
The essay concludes by examining Symbolism's contributions to poetry, namely the redefining of the poet's role, the development of a new "pure" poetry, and the ambition to transform Symbolism into an idealism—even a mysticism. Symbolist poetry allows both the poet and the reader to feel in symbiosis with the universe and its Creator, reaching beyond all creation to a realm where the poet ultimately recognizes themselves.
Stemming from an exhaustive investigation into the life and work of the Georgian poet Térénti Granéli, this study illustrates how the European Symbolist movement gradually transitioned from a search for idealism to a mystical quest. This work explores the journey of the Symbolist soul, its various manifestations, and the ultimate objective of its quest: the creation of "pure poetry" within the works of well-known and lesser-known European, Russian, and Georgian poets of this movement, from the 1880s to the dawn of the 20th century.

David Totibadzé-Shalikashvili holds a Ph.D. in French and Comparative Literature from the Sorbonne (Paris IV). He also specializes in polytechnical sciences, having earned his degree from the Tbilisi Polytechnic Institute. He was elected a member of the Academy of Phasis (Georgia).

The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries witnessed a profound aesthetic shift across European literature, as artistic circles increasingly turned away from realism toward inwardness, spirituality, and subjective experience. This broader intellectual movement found expression in various literary currents that sought to transcend material reality through suggestion, musicality, and esoteric symbolism. David Totibadze-Shalikasvili examines this landscape by focusing on the emergence of the soul within Symbolist verse, tracing a trajectory that spans Western Europe, Russia, and Georgia. Readers interested in comparative poetry and turn-of-the-century literary history may find this study relevant.

The volume investigates the works of both prominent and forgotten poets, utilizing the life and writings of Georgian poet Térénti Granéli as a focal point. The text outlines how poetic creation evolved from early feelings of spleen and decadence toward a pursuit of absolute realms, pure poetry, and mystical idealism. By analyzing the spiritual ambitions and inward journeys characteristic of the period, the author illustrates how Symbolist writers redefined the role of the poet and attempted to establish a profound symbiosis between humanity, the universe, and the Creator.