A study of the writings of Philippe Jaccottet

• Main Author: Low, Peter
• Language: en
• Published: University of Canterbury. French 2010
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10092/4686

This thesis examines the creative writings of the Swiss-French poet Philippe Jaccottet (born in 1925) in four decades - from the 1940's to the 1970's - including in its coverage all his works published up until 1980. It is, to date, the only comprehensive study of his poetry, his prose writings, and his notebooks. Each of Jaccottet's works is introduced and interpreted in turn, in terms of the influence on him of other writers, and in terms of the relationships between his various books. Often individual poems are considered in detail, with reference to their sources of inspiration and in the light of comparable passages in the prose-works. These are also discussed at length. There emerges from this study a picture of the evolution of Jaccottet's themes, ideas, and styles - of how the poetic and spiritual quest which he embarked on in his youth has been subsequently developed and modified and continued.