Postures ironiques dans deux poèmes en prose de Renée Vivien

Renée Vivien’s prose poems have been set aside by critics in 1902 and 1903, the publication dates of Brumes de Fjords and Du Vert au Violet. However, even though the use of prose poems seemed outdated at the beginning of the 20th century, it would be a mistake to consider that Renée Vivien was unaware of this. Prose poems provide prime opportunities for the display of irony, which we consider as a discrepancy between what is thought and what is said, as prose poems themselves straddle the line between two genres: prose and poetry. This article highlights the fact that the use of irony in Vivien’s prose poems allows her to subvert what was expected from women writers, enabling her to explore her own poetic principles with a diffracted voice.