A Rebours: A Decadent Manifesto or the Inevitable Unraveling of the Same?*

Introduction

	In 1874 Joris-Karl Huysmans (1848-1907) published a collection of prose-poems after Baudelaire. He then published a series of four novels between 1879 to 1882. In 1884 he published A Rebours which was hailed as “a breviary of decadence” and marked a break from the closely detailed realism espoused by Zola and other novelists influenced by that novelist’s work. (1)

	The title, more or less, translates along the lines of ‘against nature’ or ‘against the grain’. In this short essay I will argue that although the title might be translated as Against the Grain or Against Nature or even A Decadent Manifesto, or similar, more correctly it would be better titled Why You Cannot Go Against the Grain or Why You Cannot Fight Nature or The Inevitable Unraveling of a Decadent Manifesto…. (2)

	In order to argue for this thesis let me proceed through this novel chapter by chapter in order to demonstrate how Huysmans gives amply with one hand and then takes it completely away with the other. In effect, essentially, he seems to deconstruct his own desires for a decadent lifestyle and a decadent style of literature by taking such tendencies to their logical limit and then let them, thereafter, simply unravel. (3)

Prologue

	We are introduced to the protagonist of the novel, effectively, the only main character of this work, namely, Floressas des Esseintes, a last descendant from ‘the degeneration of an ancient house’ (whose members had become ‘less manly’ and ‘had taken to intermarrying among themselves, thus using up what little vigour they had left’). We are told about his education. We are merely informed that ‘like girls who at the onset of puberty hanker after weird or disgusting dishes, he began to imagine and then to indulge in unnatural love-affairs and perverse pleasures’. But this was too much for him and left him ‘completely disillusioned and abominably tired; and he longed to make an end of it all, prevented only by the cowardice of his  flesh.’ In reaction to this state of dissatisfaction he decided to hide away ‘from human society’ and the remainder of the novel is a description of his thorough enactment of this project and its eventual and inevitable unraveling. In effect, our hero or rather anti-hero or non-hero, sets about committing a form of social suicide rather than carrying out an act of physical suicide. (4)

*	For the latest version of this paper refer to:
www.homestead.com/noelshomepage/noelshomepage3.html 
Chapter I

	We discover the main character’s strange tastes in décor, in clothing and have described for us the famous black meal where all the dishes are designed around a black theme accompanied by funeral music ‘in memory of the host’s virility, lately, but only temporarily deceased’. (5)

Chapter II

	He has designed the décor of his house, in the outer suburbs of Paris, isolated on the side of a hill, near a fort, in such a manner through the use of carpet, etc., that his two servants downstairs cannot be heard. He has also rigged it to evoke being on ship and by such means was able to enjoy ‘all the sensations of a long sea-voyage, without ever having to leave home’. (6)

	We are told that by careful contrivance we can ‘substitute a vision of reality for the reality itself’. That the protagonist (and perhaps the author to some extent?) believes ‘artifice was considered… to be the distinctive mark of human genius... Nature, he use to say has had its day… In fact, there is not a single one of her inventions, deemed so subtle and sublime, that human ingenuity cannot manufacture… and the time has surely come for artifice to take her place whenever possible’. (7)

	In effect, by the various strange acts of the protagonist, a decadent manifesto is being unrolled for the reading public. In what sort of relationship with these sets of principles or guidelines, or, rather mannerisms, the practice of attitudes that cut against the grain of tradition and normal patterns of interaction, does the author actually identify with if at all? He does indulge in a degree of fond detail for his readership that might suggest a certain strong predilection in that direction, yet, on the other hand, such tendencies taken to such extremes are always made by the author to unravel for his protagonist. Would that be more indicative of a love-hate relationship in regard to these types of considerations rather than their mere simplistic idealization and desire for their realization? Or, is it the case that through their ruthless simulation and inevitable deconstruction a process is undertaken purely for an aesthetic effect enlivened with a satirical understanding and edge that reflects an exaggerated account of contemporary French culture? Then, again, could the book, perhaps, be treated as if a strange naturalistic mirror into which we see the travails and anxieties of the modern person symbolized through the (self-imposed) sufferings of the protagonist (in dialogue only with himself)? (8)

Chapter III

	We now get a first disquisition on Latin literature and how the protagonist (and novelist?) admires the decadent writings of the author of the Satyricon, e.g. Unfortunately later Latin literature in its ‘deliquescence’ is subject more to decay than the artful delights of decadence. What parallel moral should we draw with respect to the French language? That the decadence of French literature too will also end in its complete decline and demise? At the end of this chapter we are told that in the arrangement of his library we miss a few centuries till we come to ‘modern books’ in the ‘French language of the present day’. This anxiety or concern for the course of modern literature is echoed throughout this book. (9)

Chapter IV

	In this chapter we have the sickening incident of the gilded and bejeweled tortoise as an accessory to highlight the ‘iridescent colours’ of an Oriental carpet. He hits upon the idea of a tortoise wandering over its surface. Then decides to gild the shell of the poor creature. Then, later discerns that that is not quite right and decides to also bejewel the poor creature. The end product of this mis-directed attention is that the animal dies soon after its final delivery. Again, we have both an example, or, rather an incident, of decadence and then its eventual unravelling or demise. In this instance, the literal demise of our poor tortoise (10)

	An organ-like device is next described wherein various alcoholic beverages are blended to create musical-like notes and chords. Upon drinking a single ‘note’ of whisky the protagonist recollects how three years earlier he had to rush out to a dentist early one morning after having suffered severe toothache all night. Is the author already punishing his protagonists for sins that have been committed and about to be committed? Certainly, it would seem, that the project of social isolation, or social suicide, cannot be absolutely enacted without the need for occasional desperate sojourns back to the world of the other in a search for the solace of the other… that can only be delivered by another? (11)

Chapter V

	Now we are subjected to a disquisition on painting, especially the merits of the works of Gustave Moreau and Odilon Redon. The protagonist has no time for faithful reproductions of ordinary life along with its mundane toil and tribulations. Instead we should meet beauty in a more timeless symbolic form. Is he also having a go at the realistic literary style of Zola and his followers? To reinforce this point he notes certain parallels to the poems of Baudelaire. He also tells us of his preference for furniture in the style of Louis Quinze, his antipathy to bright daylight and a desire to escape the silly, senseless conversation of society; in effect, living life like a monk, albeit without a vocation for the state of grace, in an institution with an army-like ambiance, ‘the lack of comfort, the promiscuity, the monotonous idleness’. The author must be ironic in this regard since the protagonist seems to do little else than read obscure texts, re-arrange his library and make ineffectual forays into the real world, and, we must infer, from time to time, enter into bizarre forms of sexual encounter. (12)

Chapter VI

	Des Esseintes elaborates upon his views of marriage – even suggesting that one of his friends should get married – knowing that that arrangement will be a disaster for him. Then, be befriends a young chap in a rather sinister manner. He seduces him into the delights of a brothel, on his tab, thinking that such a habit would be too expensive for him and end up ruining him for life and most likely end up turning him into a ‘murderer’. Fortunately, we are led to assume, that the shock of such a sudden foray seems to have been too much for the young guy and who chooses a more normal, mundane pattern of existence. Another incident where decadent habits do not seem to unfold in a manner as elected for them. (13)

Chapter VII

	After a series of recollections and reflections on education, and then Catholicism, and changes to his diet, now eating food more suitable for the likes of an infant, the protagonist decides to take up the gardening of hothouse plants in his conservatory or thebiad. The parallel to be drawn appears obvious! (14)

Chapter VIII

	What follows is now a disquisition on hothouse plants. Most of which, if not all, usually die! So much gardening leaves him exhausted and, after lying down, dreams about a plant attacking him/sexually attacking him. ‘‘Thank God,’ he sobbed, it was only a dream’.’ As a symbolic manifestation of desire should we read into its message that the protagonist is in need of the intimate comfort of strangers? A topic taken up in the next chapter. (15)

Chapter IX

	Subject to nightmares Esseintes adopts a number of therapeutic methods without success. The topic shifts from flowers to prostitutes and we meet Miss Urania, a famous acrobat at the circus. Then, we meet ‘a dark-eyed brunette with greasy hair parted on one side near the temple like a boy’s, and plastered down so firmly that it looked as if it had been painted on to the head. He had come across her at a café where she entertained customers with demonstrations of ventriloquism…’ and who ‘had given him months of wonderful satisfaction’. Our jaded experimenter invests in a Sphinx and a Chimera and has them placed on either end of the bedroom for a purpose I shall not describe lest I spoil the enjoyment of a reader who has not yet read this novel. Suffice to say our aesthete needs more fertile grounds which seem to be furnished in the form of a rather ‘disconcerting’ and nondescript boy who he passionately encounters for a number of months and whose recollection ensure a considerable degree of ‘morose delectation’. No real details of this relationship are given and we are left to wonder how that satisfaction that lasted several months was arrived at? (16)

Chapter X

	Now our effete aesthete starts to suffer, in addition to his miscellany of neurotic-like conditions, olfactory hallucinations in the form of a strong smell of frangipane. What follows is a knowledgeable and insightful disquisition on the history and manufacture of perfumes. Again, the opinion is raised that certain types of situations could be simulated through the use of complex odours. Unfortunately, in breathing some fresh air from his rarely opened window, the protagonist starts to discern and/or hallucinate a whole laboratory of scents. (17)

Chapter XI

	He has another breakdown. A doctor is called. He recovers. Decides to go to England for the fresh air. But, true to form, in Paris he savours the sights of English people and English food at a certain restaurant catering for such travelers and émigrés and decides to go no further in the execution of his travel plans. Instead, he immediately returns home as if he had just traveled overseas. But, the world could not function if everyone else in this world were to merely simulate or imagine a token of exchange or virtual course of their interactions with others! (18)

Chapter XII

	Now we get a satirical-like examination of recent French Catholic literature (and we might be led to wonder just who is more decadent – this author or the pious authors of contemporary religious propaganda just described?). (19)

Chapter XIII

	Observing some young boys at play and what they eat Esseintes has a craving for the same sort of food. Then he muses on social life between the sexes in the taverns all across France and speculates that it is on a par with a grand confidence trick perpetuated by the females of the species. Is the decadent lifestyle, as exemplified by the habits of our protagonist, to this extent, not much more? (20)

Chapter XIV

	From the maintenance of an improper diet the health of the protagonist further suffers. The topic of contemporary French poetry is seriously examined. Esseintes’ conclusion is that he will probably not be adding any more books to his library. ‘The truth of the matter was that the decadence of French literature, a literature attacked by organic diseases, weakened by intellectual senility, exhausted by syntactical excesses, sensitive only to the curious whims that excite the sick… had been embodied in Mallarmé…’ This was the death agony of the mother tongue… (21)

Chapter XV

	Church music is now given an overview. His overall malaise continues. A doctor is called again. The doctor orders, contrary to previous pills and potions prescribed by other doctors, that his life be re-normalized; that his social isolation should ceased and that he should return to world of others. This he agrees to do. (22)

Chapter XVI

	The experiment in a thorough decadent isolation, as an aesthete and an effete, has failed, indeed, has completely failed! The novel finishes on the prospective note that the protagonist will be back in the city, proper, of Paris within two days (and not merely left in a state of subsistence on its edges). (23)

Conclusion?

	The title of this novel, Against Nature/Against the Grain, could well be read, in hindsight, as an injunction not to go against nature or not to go against the grain! The experiment in decadence and social isolation entered into by our protagonist, Esseintes, essentially was not successful. What else might we read into the final words of this novel? That decadence is the contemporary order of things, that we are approaching the end of (modern French) literature, an exhaustion of culture and the imminent demise of Western Civilization? Or, that life is always a creative adventure and journey that should be undertaken whether real, as enacted with others, or simulated, when re-presented through the medium of literature, poetry or any other form of art? That, our only hope is to be in this world-with-others! (24)

Des Esseintes collapsed into a chair.
In two day’s time I shall be in Paris,’ he told himself. ‘Well, it is over now. Like a tide-race, the waves of human mediocrity are rising to the heavens and will engulf this refuge, for I am opening the flood-gates myself, against my will! Ah! But my courage fails me, and my heart is sick within me! – Lord, take pity on the Christian who doubts, on the unbeliever who fain would believe, on the galley-slave of life who puts out to sea alone, in the night, beneath a firmament no longer lit by the consoling beacon-fires of the ancient hope!’

							   Noël Tointon, Sydney, 18.1.07.