Le faire poétique chez Michel de Certeau

Abstract

This paper aims to shed light on the broad scope of application of the notion of “poetics” in Michel de Certeau’s works, one that extends beyond the mere generic identity of poetry, and which implies a reference to a poetic enactment meant to fulfil two functions, namely ethical and critical. Within the historiographical frame of Certeau’s analysis of early modern mystical speech, the ethical function of the poetic enactmentis to ensure the possibility of a rebirth of the Divine Word, which had been made inaudible by the early modern corruption of both modern language and the ecclesial institution.But the ethical autonomy of the poetic enactmentshould also be viewed in light of its critical relation to heteronomous sets. Such a conflictual relation takes on a dialectic form in the mystical combination of poem and prose; in the contemporary period, the poetic enactment assumes a polemological quality, as it encompasses practices that are not strictly linguistic, but also apply to the tactical appropriations of loci strategically organised by a power.