André Suarès et le wagnérisme

André Suarès was profoundly influenced by Richard Wagner’s music as well as his theoretical writings on art. While a student at the École normale supérieure (1886–1889), he was an avid reader of the Revue Wagnérienne. At that time, Wagnerism was above all a literary concern: With Wagner, questions arose about the role of the artist in society and the nature of art itself; following in Wagner’s wake, many sought to unite music and literature in a total work of art. The young Suarès embarked on numerous projects—mostly unpublished (poetry, novels, plays, theoretical texts)—and in 1899, he published his book Wagner. This volume allows readers to discover these unpublished texts by Suarès and sheds light on his work by situating it within the context of Wagnerism.