The Songs of Bilitis ( French: Les Chansons de Bilitis ) is a French collection of erotic poetry, supposedly antique, published in Paris in 1894. In fact, the literary hoax of the French poet Pierre Louis .
The book of sensual poems is written in the manner of Sappho , the introduction states that they were found on the walls of the tomb in Cyprus , written by the Greek woman Bilitis, a courtesan and contemporary of Sappho. Pierre Louis devotes a small section of the book to her biography. The publication misled even professionals. Due to the high artistic merits, Louis's book left a noticeable mark in French poetry.
Content
Literary History
Louis claimed that 143 poems in prose, excluding 3 epitaphs , are the works of an ancient poetess in which she preserved her intimate experiences and actions, from an innocent childhood in Pamphylia to illness and loneliness in subsequent years. Although most of the Songs of Politics is Louis's original work, some of the poems are actually recycled epigrams from the Palatine Anthology , the poet also borrowed a few poems from Sappho. The Songs of Politics are written in the gentle, refined and sensual style of the Parnassus school. To give authenticity to the fake, Louis included in the table of contents the names of several poems with the inscription “untranslated” (actually not written), he also skillfully fabricated a whole section of the book - “Life of Bilitis”, written by him “according to the information” of the fictitious archaeologist Herr G. Jaime, who allegedly discovered the grave of Bilitis. Louis showed great erudition in ancient Greek literature, but his book was ultimately recognized as literary fake. This caused damage to the literary reputation of the collection, however, her artistic merit and open, sensual glorification of lesbian love brought her historical significance and sensationalism.
Form and Content
The book is subtitled "lyric romance" (roman lyrique) and the dedication "This book about ancient love is respectfully dedicated to the girls of the future." The songs of Bilitis are divided into three cycles, each of which corresponds to the life stage of the "poetess": "Pamphylian bucolics" - childhood and first sexual experiences, "Elegies to Mytilene" - the discovery of homosexual sensuality and "Epigrams on the island of Cyprus" - life as courtesans. One of Louis's achievements is the combination of the physical and mental development of the heroine as a woman with a change in her views on the divine and on the world around her: having left Pamphylia and Mytilene, she leaves the mysterious world inhabited by satyrs and naiads . This change is best reflected in the image of the symbolic death of mythical creatures in the poem "Tomb of the Naiad."
Impact
Like some Sappho poems, Bilitis poems are dedicated to same-sex love. The Songs of Bilitis has become a cult book of the English-language lesbian subculture. In 1955, one of the first lesbian organizations under the name “Daughters of Bilitis” was founded in San Francisco.
In 1897, Claude Debussy , a close friend of Louis, composed music for three poems of Bilitis: “Flute Pan”, “Hair”, “Grave Mollusk”.
The Russian translation of the Songs of Politics was published in 1907 by Alexander Kondratiev . It is believed that the experience of Louis influenced Mikhail Kuzmin in choosing the genre of "Alexandrian Songs" [1] [2] . A new Russian translation was made in the 1980s. Julia Pokrovskaya.
In 1977, the French film " Bilitis " was directed by David Hamilton . He is not connected with the story of Pierre Louis, but talks about the modern girl and her sexual awakening.
Notes
- ↑ Lada Panova. “Alexandrian Songs” by Mikhail Kuzmin: The Genesis of Success // “ Questions of Literature ”, 2006, No. 6.
- ↑ Mirsky D.S. History of Russian literature from ancient times to 1925 / Per. from English R. Zernova. - London: Overseas Publications Interchange Ltd, 1992. - S. 731-733.