Strange prodigies: grotesque, medievalism, and prose poem in Aloysius Bertrand

Abstract

Bertrand’s medievalism reveals itself much richer than the one in vogue in the 1830s in France, not only because of the richness of details (far from merely picturesque), but above all because of the way they are arranged through imagery. The strong presence of tensions at all levels in the compilation of prose poems Gaspard de la nuit – guaranteed by the grotesque aesthetics of his imagery – allowed the poet to elaborate a rich picture of the medieval period and its worldview. Considering the importance of the rescue of the past to the Romantic movement, we aim to reflect upon the functioning of such mechanisms developed by Bertrand as a means of restoring a full reality, something longed for by the artists of that time.