Baudelaire's Canine Allegories: 'Le Chien et le flacon' and 'Les Bons Chiens'

This piece argues that Baudelaire's two dog-centered prose poems covertly invite an allegorical reading of his collection. After briefly outlining the poet's understanding of allegory, it identifies, in both "Le Chien et le flacon" and "Les Bons Chiens," a network of allusions to Rabelais's Gargantua prologue and to Cynic philosophy. The hypothesis that these allusions point to the presence of hidden, ironic allegories in Le Spleen de Paris is then contextualized by reference to Baudelaire's interest in duplicitousness, to current criticism of the collection, and to the poet's association of allegory and anamorphosis. (In English) (MS)