'Cette Babel du monde' Visionary Architecture in the Poetry of Victor Hugo

This essay focuses on the development and modulation of the figure of Babel in Hugo's poetry. The Tower of BabeI image, which attracted the writer as early as 1828 (Les Orientales), would later be fashioned into an elaborate metaphorical construct that serves as a medium for Hugo's ongoing reflections on the historical process. In his best work, including "La Pente de la reverie" (Les Feuilles d'Automne), "La Vision d'où est sorti ce livre" (La Légende des Siècles), and "La Trompette du Jugement" (La Légende des Siècles), Babel becomes a privileged vehicle of visionary meditation. 0f particular importance in this analysis are the transpositions that occur within the Babelic metaphor, and the ways in which these various figurative "inflections" reflect the shifting contours of Hugo's historico-metaphysical vision. (JCK)