Mallarméan Magic: Retrospective Necessity, Lucid Illusion, and the Re-Enchantment of the World

Is it possible to take seriously Stéphane Mallarmé’s claim that his poetry is a form of magic? Somewhat surprisingly, it is. For the magic in question transfigures experience in a thisworldly manner, serving as a secular replacement for religious faith. Rightly understood, a Mallarméan sonnet such as Ses purs ongles is a spell each reader can cast upon the world, transforming contingency into apparent necessity. It is, in addition, a spell each reader can cast upon herself, honing her capacity to believe in the illusion thus produced. What this self-reflexive poetry promises, in the end, is nothing short of the re-enchantment of the world.